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World War II, Cryptology, Code Girls are Topics of RMA Program

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The Retired Men’s Association of Greenwich (RMA) will host “World War II – Cryptology – Code Girls and More,” Presentations moderated by Peter Uhry, on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. The program takes place at the First Presbyterian Church, 1 West Putnam Ave.

Code Girls by Liza Mundy is the book selected for the 2018 “Greenwich Reads Together” (GRT) program. It tells the story of the vital role the Code Girls played in the Allies’ victory in World War II, by successfully breaking enemy military codes. During the war, cryptology, the science concerned with data communication in secure and usually secret form, had become significantly more sophisticated, but such advances were deliberately kept out of the public eye. Virtually unknown to the public were the efforts of the ten thousand highly educated women recruited to decipher enemy communication, the code breakers.

Inspired by The Greenwich Reads selection, members of the RMA will delve into the themes raised by the book in a program organized by moderator Peter Uhry. Kate Petrov, Greenwich Library Public Relations Officer, will introduce the program with an overview of the GRT concept and history. Four RMA members will discuss specific cryptology subjects, offering insights into the world of intelligence gathering, the politics of intelligence and deciphering secret messages.

Tad Larrabee will share remembrances of the role of local musician Bob Buttons, a former RMA member, and his high level intelligence role in Europe as a messenger between British intelligence center, Bletchley Park, and General Eisenhower in France.

Two speakers, Bob Robins and Dick Bergstresser, will share their personal experiences as both gatherers and reporters of intelligence following the end of WWII. Bob was in the CIA and Dick was in Army Intelligence.

The most important segment of the presentation will focus on Code Girls and several of its key themes. Tom Moroney, an RMA member, who served on the GRT Selection Committee, will delve into how and why some 10,000 women were chosen for the significant, frustrating and exhaustive task of breaking the codes of the Japanese and Germans.

For additional information, visit greenwichrma.org or contact info@greenwichrma.org

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