“The Enigma Girls”
by Candace Fleming.
Scholastic Inc, New York, 2024, 371 pages, Grades 6-8.
There are two types of warfare in military conflicts. The first, and most obvious type, is that of the military battles. The second is the unseen warfare. This type of warfare is conducted out of view and relies on spying and undercover strategies. Stealth is the name of the game in unseen warfare.
During World War II, both the German and British governments tried to dupe the other side. This is done with double agents and spy codes. Since all the codes and ciphers are written to make them incomprehensible, both nations spent a huge amount of financial and military resources to crack their foe’s codes.
In Great Britain, some of the greatest mathematical and linguistic experts worked tirelessly to decrypt the famous Enigma Code used by Germany. Most of these brilliant scientists were men, but working alongside them were hundreds of young women doing the filing, indexing and translating of secret Enigma messages. Candace Fleming tells the critical work done by these women, some not yet out of their teen years, in her engrossing book, “The Enigma Girls.”
With World War II in the balance, Great Britain sets up a spy center in Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Located some 50 miles from London, Bletchley Park is a disintegrating estate in the countryside. Britain is desperate to break the Enigma codes sent to all the German commanders. Breaking the code is incredibly difficult because it is changed every 24 hours. The code is sent in ciphers, a mixed-up set of alphabet letters, which the German commanders easily translate each day. They hold battle plans, troop position and strategies for the war.
The code is based on hundreds of thousands of mathematical possibilities each day. Bletchley Park has 24 hours to decipher that day’s code.
Working alongside some of Britain’s greatest intellects are hundreds of young women compiling the information, indexing the material, feeding the data into primitive computers and translating the bewildering code for military commanders.
Of the hundreds of young women involved in this gigantic task, Fleming follows 10 of the girls throughout World War II. They are all teenagers. None of them know the scope of the spying at Bletchley Park. They are each assigned one task that they must do countless times.
Before being allowed to work at Bletchley Park, they must swear to absolute secrecy. Nothing they ever do can be shared with anyone, even the other girls working on the project. If they tell anyone of their work, they are told that they will be tried for treason. The leaders of Bletchley Park also tell them that their work is critical to the defeat of Germany. All 10 take the oath and begin working at the spy center.
What happens to the 10 girls during World War II? Why are some of their discoveries so important in winning World War II? What cost did working at Bletchley Park have on these young women? Why did their clandestine work shorten the war? To find the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out this exceptional book, “The Enigma Girls,” by Candace Fleming.
Candace Fleming is one of the great writers in historical nonfiction. She brilliantly tells a story in each of her many award winning books. You just can’t go wrong reading her books. I hope you get a chance to read this excellent book about the young women involved in the spy craft at Bletchley Park. Highly recommended.
