Ann Dent

 
I was born in 1924. My father, Dr. John Dent, practised in Kensington. Both my parents from Quaker stock hated schools so I had no formal education, slight maths and masses of diverse books. Evacuated to Warwickshire I attended the school aged 16. Came to London aged 17, went to St. Martins School where I passed two exams.

When, aged 18, I was called up for war work, Joan Rubinstein suggested I do the same work as herself in the Foreign Office. This required, apparently, no qualifications, but three references which I obtained from our local vicar, an old friend Blair Broman in the Foreign office, and my father’s cousin Admiral Cunningham. I was interviewed by a woman in an office on Bletchley Street, Mayfair; at this interview I was asked what were my interests regarding sport: none, but I played chess. I signed the Secrets Act and received instructions to go to a town called Bletchley by train, where I would be met.

My recollections here are very hazy as my life was hectic with bombing in London and parting with my family to go to God knows where to do God knows what. I was billeted in George Street Bletchley and given a pass to enter the park where I took up my job in N.S.V Japanese section under Cmdr. Dugmore RNVR.

I started filing for Joan Rubinstein; the traffic was Japanese Kana weather reports and marine activities. I worked for Hugh Benstead in a room with about six others. I was filing and keeping a card index of call signs and marine activities obtained from wireless traffic delivered several times a day. Monica Devas was my immediate boss. I had no idea what everyone else was doing in this place let alone in the rooms next door, the park as a whole. We NEVER discussed our work – simply did what we were told. The hut we worked in had central heating; the loos were clean but very cold. We could not see out of the windows but there was plenty of light. There were many RNVR officers, all very charming - in one case Peter Laslett ex King’s College Cambridge don, a Japanese pundit. Two Cambridge pundits Everett and Outran were connected with our setup, there was a lot of talk about a man who worked tirelessly eventually killing himself. Everyone said he should have been awarded the V.C.

Of course there were many WRNS - the high ranking ones extremely attractive. One was a man eater in a big way. We were visited by high-ranking people from the Admiralty all in resplendent uniforms. The visiting high-ranking personnel from the three services were required to come in mufti so as not to draw attention to the nature of BP. The naval lot refused absolutely, so Bletchley Station platform sometimes exhibited unusual passengers.

My job developed over the months to become a traffic analyst producing deductions based upon sensed wireless traffic activity and reported events in the W/T stations and Japanese Marine activity. The Kana preambles linked up with geographic localities. I had obtained a map of the Pacific area from Stanford’s in London (they never closed during the war) upon which I placed coloured pins locating Japanese W/T stations shipping movement the position of which was obtained from wireless traffic in Kana code. The code signs and other strategic information were charted and card indexed.

Suddenly the Dugmore regime ended. He was replaced by Dr. Jack Plumb (now Sir John) a Cambridge Don. There had been considerable over-staffing, identical work being done in adjacent rooms, a generally relaxed attitude prevailed with impromptu hockey games in the corridor. Our section underwent rationalisation, ending cosy groups, and a three-shift system was introduced. As my work involved contact with Admiralty where in my case did not involve the midnight to dawn shift it would be unproductive. This refusal to conform infuriated the rationaliser Arthur Ramus, who insulted my uniform. As luck would have it I was rushed to the sick bay with acute appendicitis necessitating my leaving for an operation in London thus absolving me from the 3-shift duty much to the fury of Mr. Ramus who suggested that my father being a doctor had arranged this. Needless to say thereafter our relationship was frosty.

Apart from being located in different rooms my work remained the same until the end of the Pacific war. We worked two weeks, nine hours a day on shift, with two days off. Apart from the above operation I was never ill. Regarding payment I simply do not remember.

Angus Johnson Wilson (later Sir) worked in my section and we had terrific fun watching him perform. He was always surrounded by adoring WRENs. His wit was very acid but very amusing; he mimicked middle class women perfectly. I once heard him delight his group with a description of a “perfectly frightful middle class family” whose husband worked in the British Museum with awful daughters on the lookout for “young men”. Angus worked at the British Museum. I did not tell him of my relationship. Later I painted his portrait which is now in the National Portrait Gallery.

Life was very stimulating; one was very aware of the bombing in London. I had to resist the compulsion to ring up home to hear voices. On the trip from Euston Station to Kensington where I lived one passed a huge mountain of debris in Hyde Park; this was the dumping ground for destroyed buildings. One night walking home from a dance in Park Lane the sky was alight over Holland Park, all the birds were singing at 3am. It was beautiful Holland House in flames. Often the train from Bletchley to Euston was held up at Watford Junction owing to bombing, sometimes making passengers leave the train and find alternative transport.

The euphoria produced by V.E day celebrations of course was colossal but the Japanese war continued. The final months were very dismal with most of the park disbanding. Immediately after V.J day I was visited by Mrs. Beaumont who thanked me for my work and said good day. That was it. I collected my luggage and returned home.