Betty Webb

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A veteran interview with

Charlotte Elizabeth Webb MBE. who worked at Bletchley Park and then went onto serve in the WRAC

1 / 1 Talking Point: "Pentagon"

Watch the interview

Discover 5 key interview topics and talking points

02:09

Outbreak of WW2

06:43

Bletchley

13:29

Pentagon

23:15

TA (Territorial Army)

27:19

Women in the Army

About Betty Webb

Joining during the Second World War, Betty was sent to train at the Welsh Barracks near Wrexham.

After performing well in her tests, she was sent to interview with the Intelligence Corps in London. She remembers being immediately taken to sign the Official Secrets Act and proceed to working in listing translated messages in Bletchley. It was at this posting that she discovered her talent for paraphrasing, and from this point onwards was given the task of paraphrasing translated enemy messages to be sent on to Burma.

Remarkably, Betty was then sent to work in the Pentagon before moving to the British Army Staff base in Washington DC. In her interview she describes the lack of news made available to American civilians surrounding the war in Europe, and her frustration at the lack of understanding future employment had on the highly classified status of her military work.

When asked her thoughts on the disbandment of the WRAC, Betty felt disappointed that there was no longer a women’s army as she enjoyed the independent identification of the female corps.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Evie Painter
Transcribed by:
Gillian Cousins

Transcripts:
Please note that transcripts and closed captions in the video player are automatically generated by Vimeo.

If you would like a version of the transcript that has been transcribed manually by Gillian Cousins, please complete this form or email info@legasee.org.uk.

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