Cypher Officer

This is an excellent book, one of the best I have read for a long time.

Cypher Officer is set during the war years in Cairo, Kenya, The Seychelles and Caserta . It is action packed from the very first page.

Elizabeth Watkins "June" planned to go to Oxford University but has her academic ambitions put on hold because of the approaching war. She becomes absolutely determined to join the WAAF. While still only 16 year of age, undeterred by her age, she wangles her first job in the Meteorological Office in Nairobi. She pulls it off by donning her elder sisters clothes and applying make up for the first time. Two years later she ups the stakes and applies for the job as a Cypher Officer in order to get a posting to Cairo. This requires a minimum age of 25. Will she be able to pass herself off as 7 years older then she is? Quite a challenge but she's not deterred.

Yes, June arrives in Cairo to take up a position as Cypher Office while, unbeknown to everybody, is only 18 years old. Straight away she finds herself living in an emotionally explosive packed atmosphere. Malta is under siege and Cairo is expected to fall, the German Army is not far away. Coded messages from all quarters of the conflict pass through her hands, some mundane but others so sensitive that they have to be delivered personally by her no matter where of what time of the day or night.

June Watkins is no ordinary young girl. She is well articulated, resourceful, intelligent and has from an early age learnt to cope in a very challenging and constantly changing environment. Her parents were both bright, active, stubborn and eccentric but coming from such very different backgrounds their strong views often were on a collision course. It is this upbringing together with June's innately sensitive, obstinate but pragmatic personality together with her not inconsiderable literary skills that has made this book so unique and such a good read.

When I put down Cipher Officer I picked up Elizabeth Watkins previous book Olga in Kenya, which is a biography of her mother. I reread the final chapters and was deeply moved.

Cypher Officer reviewed by Rodney Gilbert (2/2 people found this helpful)

This is an excellent book. It is a very compelling read, well written and articulate. It will appeal to a large number of different reader types.

It is the story of an exceptionally determined young woman on active service during the Second World War. The fact that she became a Cypher Officer indicates that she had a high IQ and this undoubtedly has helped make this autobiography as graphic as it is.

Readers who were youngsters during WW2 and those whose family members were on active services will empathise with this book. How times have changed ! Anyone who was in or who now is in the services of any of the Allied forces will find this book fascinating.

It has some gems for the military historian especially in the description of her time in the Seychelles as part of the Allied Surveillance Net East . This was a chain of Catalina flying boat bases from Colombo, Ceylon, through the Seychelles and down south. Catalinas flying below Japanese radar cover flew daily reconnaissance missions and were the only intelligence input the Allies had on Japanese movements in the Indian Ocean for two years during the Second World War. As a Cypher Officer Elizabeth Watkins knew everything but faithfully told only whose job it was to know.

At a totally different level it is the story of a young woman growing up in a very turbulent and uncertain time. Elizabeth Watkins describes this era very well and today's young women will find this a fascinating read.

Many men reading this book will find it scary how determined a late teenage, early twenties woman can be. However, they are most likely to be impressed by how well Elizabeth Watkins carried out the responsibilities given to her at such an early age.

This is an exciting book about an exceptional person during a unique and tragic time in world history.

Elizabeth Watkins

Reader Reviews:

Cypher Officer reviewed by Sarah Postlethwaite (2/2 people found this helpful)

Cypher Officer reviewed by Rodney Gilbert (2/2 people found this helpful)

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