Women’s History Month Feature: The Code Girls of WWII

Before my dad passed, he told me his mother had been what he called a “dollar-a-year-girl.” She worked for the United States government in World War II as a senior censorship clerk, intercepting cables and telegrams looking for codes.

I haven’t been able to verify the “dollar-a-year-girl” information, but I did find out that civilian businessmen who helped the government during WWI and WWII were given a token salary of one dollar a year. From what my dad told me, the same was true for women.

I have researched this more and found out these women, like my grandmother, were nicknamed “Code Girls.” The history behind that is fascinating. And since March is Women’s History Month, it seems appropriate to tell about this!

How It Started

Alice McLean formed the American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) in 1940. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, the AWVS had about 18,000 members – one of the largest women’s service organizations in the U.S. during WWII. These women, including Joan Crawford and Betty White, could drive ambulances, assist in evacuations, set up and operate mobile kitchens, deliver first aid, spot aircraft, drive trucks, and more.

*Fun Fact: Over 325,000 women took part in AWVS before it was disbanded!*

Several of the AWVS members asked to help in cryptoanalysis in May of 1941 to aid in World War II, and this group became unofficially called the SWANS.

The SWANS – Special Women’s Auxiliary Naval Service – was a crypto organization. Mrs. Emory Land brought together military officer and foreign service officer wives, and they were trained in cryptanalysis, the method of deciphering coded messages without a key.

According to the U. S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association, the women were required to get a security clearance and take courses in elementary cryptanalysis. Of the 25 original women that started, 21 finished their studies in three months.

The Code Girls

Women made up more than half of the code breakers in WWII. Messages from the Axis alliance were intercepted and decrypted by the code girls. This work was classified. Have you heard the slogan “loose lips sink ships?” It was important that these women keep quiet about what they did, especially what they read. If asked what their job was, they usually responded, “Clerical work.”

Many families didn’t know what their wives, sisters, or mothers were doing for their country!

Famous Female Code Breakers

In her book Code Girls, Lisa Mundy talks about Agnes Driscoll. In 1911, Driscoll earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics. She was also multilingual and fluent in English, French, German, Latin, and Japanese. She had been recruited to be a stenographer, but she became an expert in breaking Japanese fleet code. She ended up teaching code breaking to men.

Genevieve Grotjan also had a degree in mathematics. The U.S. Army Signals Intelligence Service (SIS) hired her to work on breaking the Japanese diplomatic code. In 1940, after working 18 months, she broke the code.

Virginia Aderholt was the code breaker to learn World War II had officially ended. Like Driscoll and Grotjan, Aderholt broke Japanese code, and she was the one who first confirmed the end of the war.

According to Maya Wei-Haas’ article, “How the American Women Codebreakers of WWII Helped Win the War,”

These women continually broke the ever-changing and increasingly complex systems used by the Axis Powers to shroud their messages in secrecy, providing vital intelligence to the U.S. Army and Navy that allowed them to not only keep many American troops out of harm’s way but ensure the country emerged from war victorious.

There is no way to measure the number of lives these female code breakers saved.

Women Have Always Assisted in War

Women have helped in various capacities during wartime for as long as time. Whether they stayed home and kept the home and family running, worked as nurses in the field, worked in traditional male roles when the men were off fighting the war, flew planes from factories to military bases, or broke codes, women have shown over and over how invaluable they have been and are to their country.

But we already knew that, didn’t we?