invited conference speaker, Newnham college, Cambridge

18 September 2025

I was delighted to accept an invitation to speak at the one day conference 'Codebreakers and Groundbreakers: Women's Work in the Second World War' held at Newnham College Cambridge. Drawing upon new research presented in my book, Her Secret Service, I spoke about the mysterious MI6 women who worked at Bletchley Park in the Mansion and Hut 10.

The conference built on the exhibition Newnham and Bletchley Park: Women’s Work in World War II, which opened at Newnham College, Cambridge, in March 2024 and received national press coverage. The research uncovered 77 alumnae of Newnham College who were employed at Bletchley Park during the Second World War in a variety of analytic, decryption and translation roles. The classified nature of work at Bletchley prevented women from speaking about their employment in later years, requiring researchers to undertake a five-year project to piece together their vital contributions to the war effort.

The conference served as the perfect opportunity to take stock of the research on Newnham, establish important lines of enquiry for research into other institutions from which women were recruited into Bletchley, and set a broader context for the wider mobilisation and employment of women during the Second World War.

Newnham College, Cambridge.