Catherine Mary Caughey (née Harvey, 8 December 1923 – 12 April 2008) used

Colossus computer Colossus was a set of computers developed by British cryptanalysis, codebreakers in the years 1943–1945 to help in the cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher. Colossus used vacuum tube, thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) to perform Boolean algebra ...

s for codebreaking at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Catherine Mary Harvey was born in

Eldoret Eldoret is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Located in western Kenya and lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the Eldoret International Air ...

, Kenya, on 8 December 1923, and spent her early life on an isolated farm there. She was educated in England, at

St Mary's School, Calne St Mary's School is a private day and boarding school in Calne, Wiltshire, England, for girls aged 11 to 18. The school is a registered charity. In 2023, the school's A Level results ranked third in the UK and joint second in the south-west of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, and Harcombe House Domestic Science School, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

World War II service

Harvey was called up for war service in 1943. After thorough interviewing and testing, she was chosen to work as a "Wren" in the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the World War I, First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in ...

(WRNS), allocated to "Special Duties X" at

. Here from early 1944, she worked in the " Newmanry" (named after

Max Newman Maxwell Herman Alexander Newman, FRS (7 February 1897 – 22 February 1984), generally known as Max Newman, was a British mathematician and codebreaker. His work in World War II led to the construction of Colossus, the world's first operatio ...

) using the Colossus computers for deciphering German High Command messages. Later she was responsible for the

teleprinter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point and point- ...

room in the Newmanry, where Tunny (

Lorenz cipher The Lorenz SZ40, SZ42a and SZ42b were German Rotor machine, rotor stream cipher machines used by the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army during World War II. They were developed by C. Lorenz AG in Berlin. The model name ''SZ'' is derived from ' ...

) messages were received from the main intercept station located in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Post-war life

After the war, Harvey attended Dorset House in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, trained as an

occupational therapist Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use evidence-based practice, scientific bases and a Holism, holistic perspec ...

. Once qualified, she worked at a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

in Oxford. In 1950, she married Ron Caughey in

. Ron Caughey was awarded a fellowship to work at a children’s hospital in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States. The couple then moved to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, in 1952, living first in

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

and later in

Remuera Remuera is an affluent suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian era, Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy ...

. They had a son and a daughter. In 1975, Catherine Caughey became a naturalised New Zealand citizen. Ron Caughey died in 1975 before secrecy around wartime work at Bletchley Park was lifted in the same year, 30 years after the end of World War II, followed by the declassification of the 1945 ''General Report on Tunny'' in 2000. Caughey was active in the

Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...

in New Zealand, serving on the national council and executive, and in 1976 she was appointed honorary vice president for the Auckland province. In 1978, she founded the Auckland Multicultural Society, and served as its president. In the

1994 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1994 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other ...

, Caughey was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to the community. In 1994, Caughey published the autobiographical book ''World Wanderer'' in the form of her diaries, which was approved by the British

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. She also contributed to a chapter on

bombe The bombe () was an Electromechanics, electro-mechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma machine, Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II. The United States Navy, US Navy and United Sta ...

s in ''

The Turing Guide ''The Turing Guide'', written by Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson, and others and published in 2017, is a book about the work and life of the British mathematician, philosopher, and early computer scientist, Alan Turin ...

'' on

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer ...

that appeared posthumously in 2017. She died in Auckland on 12 April 2008, and her body was cremated at Purewa Crematorium.

Publications

* (autobiography)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caughey, Catherine 1923 births 2008 deaths 20th-century English diarists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century New Zealand non-fiction writers 20th-century New Zealand women writers People from Uasin Gishu County Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom People educated at St Mary's School, Calne Bletchley Park people Bletchley Park women Royal Navy personnel of World War II Occupational therapists British emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand diarists British women diarists Naturalised citizens of New Zealand New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand autobiographers Women's Royal Naval Service personnel of World War II Girlguiding officials