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British codebreaker From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irene Jessie "Mouse" Brown (née Young; 16 February 1919 – 7 June 2017) was an author and codebreaker who worked at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire in Hut 6[1] during the Second World War. She was employed as a linguist and translator working in the Registration Room and the main Decoding Room.[2]
Irene Jessie Brown | |
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Born | Irene Jessie Young 16 February 1919 |
Died | 7 June 2017 (aged 98) Edinburgh, Scotland |
Known for | Bletchley Park codebreaker |
Spouses |
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Children | Iain Gordon Brown |
Irene Young grew up and attended school in Edinburgh (St. Margaret's Convent School, Canaan Park School and Esdaile College).[3] She was interested in French, English literature and Latin. At University of Edinburgh she read English Language and Literature.[1]
She began working at Bletchley Park in the Government Code and Cypher School in 1942.[1] Brown wrote a book (in her maiden name) about her time at Bletchley, Enigma Variations: a Memoir of Love and War.[4] Published in 1990, it was one of the first books to describe what life was like at Bletchley. Women formed roughly 75% of the workforce at Bletchley Park.[5] The book tells of her time in Hut 6, everyday life at “Station X”, her wartime experiences in general and the tragic death of her first husband (Leslie Cairn).[6][7] Irene and Leslie both worked in confidential roles. He in the Special Air Service (SAS), she as a codebreaker.[8] Neither could tell the other much about what they were doing. In 1944, he became missing in action in occupied France.[6]
She married Reginald Sydney Brown in 1948. They returned to Edinburgh and she worked in a departmental library at Edinburgh University. Her papers and correspondence are held there.[3] She lived much of her life in Edinburgh and died in 2017 at the age of 98.[9]
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