Book: Code Girls: The Untold
Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
Basic Information :
Synopsis :
Characters :
Thoughts :
Evaluation :
Book Group :
New Words :
Book References :
Good Quotes :
Table of Contents :
References
Basic Information:
Author: Liza Mundy
Edition: eBook from the Fresno
County Public Library
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 0316439894 (ISBN13:
9780316439893)
Start Date: September 20, 2018
Read Date: October 9, 2018
416 pages
Genre: History, Biography,
World War II
Language Warning: None
Rated Overall: 3 out of 5
History: 4 out of 5
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
This books traces the roots of
women in code breaking in the United States War effort during World
War II. It starts pre-World War II moves through recruitment of
people for code breakers. When there was a major effort to replace
the men who either worked as code breakers or the need to add a vast
number of people to the effort, women were recruited. First the elite
women intellects from major women’s colleges and then from other
places which looked like likely possible fits.-such as teachers.
The book then goes through the
process of code breaking and the relationships which these women
formed among their group. In the end, there were several thousand
women who were part of this effort. The book continues on through the
tediousness of breaking code, the frustrations of problem solving,
the inspiration which allows a code to be broken, and the lives lived
outside of the confines of the particular facilities they worked in.
The book also talks about the
friendly rivalry between the Army and Navy’s code breaking groups.
Also the relationships between the US code breakers and England.
This was a great deal of
secrecy involved. They could not talk to outsiders. Even talk among
the internal divisions was not encouraged-you wondered if this would
have sped up the process of could breaking. Then there was the
successes. The shooting down of Yamamoto’s plane, the battle of
Midway, the understanding of diplomatic cables all were talked about.
Cast of Characters:
Agnes Meyer Driscoll-cracking
the Japanese Navy fleet codes in the 1920’s and 30’s.
Elizebeth Smith
Friedman-helped found first government code-breaking bureau.
Genevieve Grotjan-math
professor. Broke code which allowed Allies to listen in on the
Japanese diplomatic communications
Dorothy Ramale-codebreaker
Mary Court
Jacqueline Jenkins
Gwynneth Gminder
Fran Steen
Dot Braden
Ann Caracristi
Edith Reynolds
Ruth “Crow” Weston
Elizabeth Alen Butler
Ruth Schoen Mirsky
Georgia O’Connor Ludington
And others
Thoughts:
Introduction: "Your
country needs you, young ladies"
Theme of the book: the women
who worked in code-breaking were behind some of the significant
individual code-breaking triumphs
of World War II.
By understanding an enemy’s
code, it provides a way to know what the enemy is thinking, doing and
antagonizing over.
Half of those recruited
actually passed their courses. The type of talent looked for was
adept at math or
science or foreign languages.
Also needed to be dutiful
and patriotic. Also
this was not a glamorous job where they could tell what they were
doing. Some of the women kept the secret for over 50 years after the
war was over.
Part I. "In the event
of total war women will be needed"
Twenty-eight acres of girls
Talks about the stories of
various of the code breakers.
Such as Dot Braden. Her
brother thought she possessed a highly analytical mind.
"This
is a man's size job, but I seem to be getting away with it"
Another description of who
these women were almost always school teachers, curious, brilliant,
resourceful. Wanting to find an outlet for their intelligence.
You could not be too concerned
about reading other people’s mail. But isn’t that the whole point
of this kind of operation?
The author traces the World
War II cryptography to a couple who picked up work after World War I.
They even wrote books and had their own publishing company-Riverbank
Publishing. The couple William Friedman and Elizebeth Smith Friedman.
Also there was another couple who did a lot of cryptography- Parker
and Genevieve Hitt.
The most difficult problem
Crossword puzzles are
designed to be solved, while codes and ciphers are designed to
prevent solution.
At one time being able to do crossword puzzles was a sign that you
might be good at cryptography. But Friedman’s thoughts as
paraphrased above shows the opposite. Since crossword puzzles are
meant to be solved, they give you hints and encourage you to the
solution. But a cipher tries to lead you into the wrong paths and
makes it more difficult to solve. He also understood that solving
ciphers was much more like solving a math proof, so a good foundation
of math, particularly statistics was of benefit to solving ciphers.
"So many girls in one
place"
Charles Taft lays out the
dimensions of the social upheaval World War II is bringing. Not just
females coming into the workplace, but also minorities are coming in
and doing jobs which formerly was only white male. How we react will
be an indication of us as a society. This may be the biggest residue
of World War II on America. There was no going back to how things
were before. We needed to figure out a way to accommodate all of
these changes.
Part II. "Over all
this vast expanse of waters Japan was supreme"
"Q for communications"
Congresswoman Edith Nourse
Rogers
started working on the Navy to admit women even before World War II.
There was resistance to this, particularly from Admiral Nimitz. She
was instrumental in getting the Army version going. I wonder about
Mundy’s reference to her. She did not include the Edith. Oversight?
She has included first names before. Did this little factoid just
appear because it was interesting, but not researched?
It was noted that there was
concerns which today seems a bit ignorant, but seemed valid at the
time, Such as a woman’s voice might be too soft to be used in an
aircraft tower. As a note: my mother served in WWII as an air traffic
controller as a WAVE.
Why did women serve? Mundy
says two reasons: 1) There were no males in the family eligible to
serve; 2) They wanted to bring home their own men sooner. Was that
the only two reasons?
While it was the men who lead
the groups who got the credit for breaking the codes in the Pacific,
it was a group effort. Women outnumbered men in the groups. Since the
book is about women code breakers, Mundy does not try to determine
the importance of men vs women in each group. She does talk about how
breaking the code in the Pacific was based upon Agnes Driscoll’s
work. Gary’s note: I think very few breakthroughs happen in
isolation. So it does not surprise me to have the statements about it
being a group effort. Still the leader of a group usually gets the
credit, even if the person is not the smartest or most talented. It
is that person who leads a group to accomplish things.
One of the main places which I
did enjoy this book was when Mundy talked about the WAVES. She traces
the effort to create the WAVES and the resistance for it. What was
really interesting was how the uniforms were created. Josephine Ogden
Forrestal-wife of James Forrestal the secretary of Navy pushed the
design. She engaged a fashion house, Mainbocher to design the
uniform. It was said the utility was sacrificed for looks-later
corrected. A really good description of the way the WAVES uniform
looked is n this chapter. Mundy makes a comment that some of the
women decided to service in the WAVES instead of the WAACS. I can
testify to this as my mother often repeated she went into the WAVES
because of the uniform.
"Hell's half-acre"
What is the mind of an
engineer? Also what kind of an engineer? I think what Mundy is saying
is that Annie Caracristi could problem solve in an orderly manner.
Mundy talks about the Army’s
cryptographic unit as being a flat organization, both from the type
of people who worked their, but also from the desperation of trying
to crack Japanese codes. Ideas could come from anywhere.
"It was only human to
complain"
One of the listening posts was
at a place called Two
Rocks Ranch which
is near Petaluma.
Now it is a Coast Guard training facility.
...they
[women] discovered
what workplaces are and have been since the dawn of time: places
where one is annoyed and thwarted and underpaid and interrupted and
underappreciated.
Yep, sounds about right. Later on, Mundy gives examples of the gossip
and issues. But for the most part they seem to be the normal issues
facing any work places.
Pencil-pushing mamas sink
the shipping of Japan
Mundy explains some terms in
cryptography:
-
Sono-the part number of a
message (first, second, …)
-
Indicator-which code book to
use
-
Discriminant-what code was
being used
-
GAT-Group as transmitted-the
code group plus the cipher
When a Japanese code book on
Okinawa fell into Allied hands, the code breakers were able to figure
out messages which lead the planners to expect over a million
casualties on the Allied side would occur upon an invasion of any
part of the Japanese main islands. thinks that this is what lead
Truman to decide to drop the atomic bomb. For more of the thoughts
and information Truman got, see the book, The
Accidental President
byA.J.
Baine.
Part III. The tide turns
"Enemy landing at the
mouth of the Seine"
During the D-Day invasion,
there was a feeling of great achievement. Going
to church was the only way they could think of to honor the tragedy
and loss, …
Sometimes even when we know we have contributed to our maximum, our
souls will reach out for something more.
The surrender message
On the day when Hiroshima was
bombed, the intercept station at Two Rock Ranch could not hear the
normally strong signal which came out of there. They were at a loss
about why.
Epilogue: The mitten.
This is a good description of
anyone, but Mundy applies it particularly to women: ...rather
than as complicated human beings with quiet but rich interior lives.
Don’t we wish that was a good label for ourselves?
After the war, there was some
people who continued on with cryptography in reading Russian
communications.. One of these was called the Venona project. This
enabled the Americans to understand and prosecute spies in America
who were betraying the American spies against Russia.
=========
I am wondering what
“take-aways” do I get from the book? Like the various other books
like Hidden Figures,
The Girls at Atomic City, and one I am currently reading, Sisters
in Law, the authors
would like you to understand that a woman could fulfill any man’s
job. I am thinking this is a bit passe in the 21st century. While
there is a glass ceiling, some of that is breaking. I think as more
women rise through the ranks, this will go away as well.
So will this book be worth
reading in 20 years? Not as a book, but more as an attempt to gather
a place where women were able to influence and change some of the
course of World War II.
I am also left to wonder, did
any other nation use their women in this way? German’s, Russian’s,
Japanese? British? … Or was the United States the only one? If so,
what made the United States accepting of their input (accepting after
the initial resistance.)?
Evaluation:
I
wanted
to like this book-cryptography is a fascinating subject. Telling
untold stories draws me in. But I do not think the author did her
job. She did extensive research on both the subject and the people
involved. But where she failed was to focus me and make the people in
the book compelling to me.
There was so many stories she
wanted to tell that for the most part, we got snippets of these women
and their contributions. There are a few people whom a fuller story
is told, but usually they are intertwined with the lesser stories.
There is some confusion about the timeline. While told mostly
chronologically, in places she jumps around without giving good
warning. Consequently I would be wondering about where does this fit
in.
So will this book be worth
reading in 20 years? Not as a book, but more as an attempt to gather
a place where women were able to influence and change some of the
course of World War II.
Notes from my book group:
The women of this book are
titled as code breakers. But this is a general classification. What
functions are involved in this process? What skills and/or mindset
does it take to be a code breaker?
Charles Taft notes in his
introductory speech the racial and sexual turmoil World War II was
leading into. Place yourself in that time. How would you have reacted
to now working if you were a woman? Or working alongside a black or a
woman if you were a while male? Did the United States handle this
transition well? How could it have done better?
What is the mind of an
engineer? This is in reference to Mundy’s comment on why Annie
Caracristi was a good code breaker.
Mundy talks about the Army
cryptology group as being a flat organization. So they got innovated
thoughts. Why does a flat organization this? Why doesn’t any
organization try to flatten their structure?
How would you have improved
this book?
Many of these questions are
either from or adapted from LitLovers.
-
Why the title of Code
Girls? Is this a
sexist title? Would it have been OK for a male author to have titled
a book this way?
-
Does this history make sense
to you?
-
Which characters were you
most interested in?
-
Every story has a world view.
Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it?
How did it affect the story?
-
In what context was religion
talked about in this book?
-
Why do you think the author
wrote this book?
-
What would you ask the author
if you had a chance?
-
What “take aways” did you
have from this book?
-
What central ideas does the
author present?
-
Are they personal,
sociological, global, political, economic, spiritual, medical, or
scientific
-
What implications for you,
our nation or the world do these idea’s have?
-
Are these idea’s
controversial?
-
Describe the culture talked
about in the book.
-
How is the culture described
in this book different than where we live?
-
What economic or political
situations are described?
-
Does the author examine
economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious
beliefs, language or food?
-
Talk about specific passages
that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing,
illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
New Words:
-
homogamy: inbreeding,
especially as a result of isolation.
-
putative: generally
considered or reputed to be.
Book References:
-
-
-
-
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
-
-
Cours de Cryptographie
by General Marcel Givierge
-
Manuale di Crittografia
by General Luigi Sacco
-
Elements of Cryptography
by Roger Baudouin
-
Elements of Cyrptanalysis
by William F Friedman
-
The Principles of Indirect
Symmetry of Position in Secondary Alphabets and their Application in
the Solution of Polyalphabetic Substitution Ciphers
by William F Friedman
-
The Index of Coincidence
and Its Applications in Cryptanalysis
by William F Friedman
-
Saga of Myself
by Frances Lynd Scott
Good Quotes:
-
First
Line: The planes looked like distant pinpoints at first, and few who
saw them took them seriously even up to the moment they dropped
their payloads.
-
Last
Line: It feels as if an enemy might still be at the window,
listening in.
Table of Contents:
-
The secret letters
-
Introduction: "Your
country needs you, young ladies"
-
Part I. "In the event of
total war women will be needed"
-
Twenty-eight acres of girls
-
"This is a man's size
job, but I seem to be getting away with it"
-
The most difficult problem
-
"So many girls in one
place"
-
Part II. "Over all this
vast expanse of waters Japan was supreme"
-
"It was heart-rending"
-
"Q for communications"
-
The forlorn shoe
-
"Hell's half-acre"
-
"It was only human to
complain"
-
Pencil-pushing mamas sink the
shipping of Japan
-
Part III. The tide turns
-
Sugar camp
-
"All my love, Jim"
-
"Enemy landing at the
mouth of the Seine"
-
Teedy
-
The surrender message
-
Good-bye to Crow
-
Epilogue: The mitten.
References:
-
-
-
Wikipedia-Book
-
Wikipedia-Author
-
-
-
-
-
-
New York Times
Review.
A good review, helps to put the book into perspective.
-
-
-
-
