Last modified on Sun 2 May 2021 14.41 EDT
Patricia Brown, who has died aged 103, was one of the leading female British codebreakers during the second world war, initially with the Government Code & Cypher School at Bletchley Park and then as the head of its German diplomatic section, based in Berkeley Street in Mayfair. Known then as Pat Bartley, she not only played a key role in the breaking of the main German diplomatic code, Floradora, but her skilful leadership and management of cooperation with her US counterparts ensured a difficult system was broken far more quickly than expected.
She had been persuaded to work at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, by Emily Anderson, the leading British female codebreaker during the interwar period, who was billeted on her parents at their home in Swanbourne, eight miles from the wartime codebreaking base.