Margaret Elizabeth Cooper (née Douglas; 25 January 1918 – 18 July 2016) was a member of the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

during the Second World War who worked at the signal interception and deciphering centre at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

, England.

Early life

Cooper was born Margaret Elizabeth Douglas in Punta del Este, Uruguay, on 25 January 1918. Her father, Jack Douglas, originally from Canada, owned a beach house across the River Plate from Argentina, where he owned a beef ranch. Her mother Vera was Anglo-Argentinian, and she had three siblings, Katherine, Evelyn and Sholto Douglas. She was educated at St Mary's School, Wantage, in England.

Career

Cooper joined the

("Wrens") in September 1941. She was trained at

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

, London, and expected to become a cook but part way through her training a request was received, said to be from

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

himself, for volunteers to do unspecified secret work. Cooper and most of her class accepted and quickly found themselves at the signals interception and decoding base of

in central England and not the naval base they had expected. At first she worked in Hut 11 on the bombes that decoded intercepted messages but in late 1942 she was moved to

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, which ...

where backup bombes were being set up as a precaution against the destruction of the originals by enemy bombing. She then became assistant to

Frank Birch Francis Lyall "Frank" Birch, (5 December 1889 – 14 February 1956) was a British cryptographer and actor. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge. During World War I, he served as a lieutenant commander with the R ...

, head of the naval section in Hut 4, which was known as the "U-boat room". Cooper would also regularly liaise with the Admiralty's Operational Intelligence Centre in London. She was promoted to petty officer, and then commissioned as a third officer, after which in April 1944 she was sent to Plymouth to work at the underground base there at Mount Wise, liaising between Bletchley and Plymouth on the movements of U-boats. She never talked about her secret work until after the nature of the code-breaking operation was revealed by F.W. Winterbotham in ''The Ultra Secret'' (1974).

Personal life

In 1945, she married Craig Cooper, a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

officer, whom she had met three years earlier. Their initial meeting was a brief conversation on a platform at Bletchley railway station, but they did not even exchange names. Later in 1942, she received a letter addressed to "the blonde Wren from Argentina on the platform at Bletchley station". They married in England, and he returned to his teaching career in Canada. They purchased Cherry Tree Farm, a 65-acre farm in

Carlisle, Ontario Carlisle is a community in Flamborough, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The town lies about north of Waterdown. Notable attractions The downtown of Carlisle is located at the crossroads of Carlisle and Centre Roads. The Community Centre includes a ...

, north of

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

, where they raised beef cattle, horses, and had a cherry orchard. They had four children, Elizabeth Salton, Ian Cooper, Jane Toews and Peter Cooper. Cooper died on 18 July 2016 at St. Peter's Hospice in Hamilton, aged 98.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Margaret 1918 births 2016 deaths People from Punta del Este Bletchley Park women People educated at Heathfield School, Ascot People educated at St Mary’s School, Wantage Women's Royal Naval Service officers Canadian people of Argentine descent Women's Royal Naval Service ratings Uruguayan people of Canadian descent Uruguayan emigrants to Canada Royal Navy officers of World War II Women's Royal Naval Service personnel of World War II