They Also Served
Many words which have been written or repeated in the past 48 hours memory of the late Baroness Trumpington, a wonderful woman who died yesterday at the age of 96. Some of the most moving, which are reproduced below, are an extract from a speech she gave in support of a posthumous pardon for the brilliant mathematician and Bletchley codebreaker Alan Turing.
She described how civilians who worked at Bletchley park during the war as Foreign Office employees did not originally get any recognition for their work. For many years after the war what the Enigma Code breakers had done was still secret. But someone who realised how unfair it was that people who had carried out work without which we would probably have lost the war had no recognition at all for it decided that they should be entitled to what the noble lady described as a "slightly ridiculous" badge which said "I also served."
The words "They also served" should serve as a reminder to us that behind a description which may at first view appear appropriate to quite modest achievements can sometimes be found quite remarkable service.
She described how civilians who worked at Bletchley park during the war as Foreign Office employees did not originally get any recognition for their work. For many years after the war what the Enigma Code breakers had done was still secret. But someone who realised how unfair it was that people who had carried out work without which we would probably have lost the war had no recognition at all for it decided that they should be entitled to what the noble lady described as a "slightly ridiculous" badge which said "I also served."
The words "They also served" should serve as a reminder to us that behind a description which may at first view appear appropriate to quite modest achievements can sometimes be found quite remarkable service.
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