The Bletchley Girls by Anna Stuart

Author:Anna Stuart [Stuart, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803147420
Published: 2022-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

DECEMBER 1941

Steffie

Steffie turned Ailsa’s postcard over and over in her hands before forcing herself to put it down and get on with her work. Still, though, her friends’ words seemed to glare out like some enemy searchlight: The farm is in a right mess. It looks like we might have a chicken and cockerel in with the pheasants, and geese creating havoc among the ducks. It was a suitably oblique message but Steffie understood – a German had infiltrated their ranks in one way or another and she needed to be on alert. It made sense of a new tension among the high-ups but, with Operation Crusader, a huge Allied offensive, in full swing against Rommel at Tobruk, and all hands on deck to get signal intercepts out to the front line, there was no time to focus on anything else.

A new SLU had been set up in a rough desert-van to follow the main commanders and Steffie was working all the hours to get the intercepts teleprinted across Europe to the codebreakers in BP and the decrypts back and out to the boys in the van. Alongside that, she was working with her team to break lower-grade ciphers on site and she was worn out. All leave had been cancelled for the last month but today they’d intercepted messages from Rommel, bewailing his lack of supplies and indicating he was ready to pull back.

‘That’s it!’ Freddie Jacobs cried, punching the air. ‘That’s the retreat. He’s ordered the retreat. Tobruk is relieved. Tobruk is bloody well relieved.’

‘I bet it is,’ Steffie said, happiness rippling through her tense shoulders. She glanced at the clock. ‘Does that mean we’re free to go out this evening?’

Freddie shook his head in admiration.

‘If you think you can last the course, Steffie, then it’s fine by me.’

‘It’s Sunday, Freddie – and the first one not spent hunched over our desks. You bet I can last the course!’

He patted her back.

‘The joys of youth. I shall be tucked up in the mess with a large whisky and one of the Bedouin’s finest tagines, but you go for it, you deserve it. You’ve done a fantastic job for us in the last month. Really fantastic.’

‘I… I have?’

‘Of course. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Your energy is impressive but, more than that, you’re sharp, Steffie. You see connections where others don’t. You take in the whole picture and make deductions accordingly, and that’s a skill even some of the top generals out there don’t have. Good work.’

Steffie blinked ferociously; she must have some of the ever-present desert sand in her eye.

‘Thank you, sir,’ she managed.

‘Credit where credit’s due, woman. Now – go find your party shoes and get yourself a lift into town!’

Steffie needed no second urging and, grabbing her bag, she made a dash for the exit. It was only 3 p.m. but there would be afternoon tea at the Gezira Club if she was quick and the thought of their green lawns, flower-draped terraces, and lush lido was desperately tempting.

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