Blackburn woman receives Legion d’Honneur medal for WW2 work

Dorothy Hill, from Blackburn, has been awarded the Legion d’Honneur for her work during the war at Bletchley Park, helping to decipher coded messages from German Generals.

The Legion d’Honneur, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, is the highest French order of military and civil merit and was awarded to Dorothy a few weeks ago.

Dorothy was 17 in 1944 when she attended Blackburn High School whilst the war was on.

She decided to volunteer for the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and was chosen for the secret service by Bletchley Park for the final months of the conflict.

Legion d’Honneur medal

The WRNS volunteer was not told anything about the job other than the fact it was ‘top secret’ and was then drafted down to Bletchley Park; the secret site where Alan Turing and his team famously cracked the Enigma code.

Dorothy said: “I shared a cabin with 40 other girls, and we didn’t know anything about each other’s work.

"We were on three different shifts; the night shift was midnight to 9am and we did nine of those in a row and it was impossible to sleep because there was 40 of us and we were in double bunks.

“I used to get off at 9am on a Friday morning and I’d get the train from Euston back to Blackburn where I was living, and then travel back down on Monday morning and go straight to Bletchley Park. The trains were very good. And straight onto work.

“It was all work and not much play. There was nothing to do, it was very isolating. I was completely secluded.

“I couldn’t mention anything to anybody, not even my parents. My father died not knowing what I did because it was 30 years until it became public.

"It was a fear of death really, it was so important to keep it secret, it was drummed into you how important it was.”

Dorothy was decoding messages during the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front in December 1944 and January 1945.

German generals signed the messages, and they were sending instructions to their Panzer divisions.

She said: “I didn’t speak German, but I knew enough to realise what was going on, which came in pretty handy for our people, didn’t it.” 

Dorothy worked at Bletchley Park for about 18 months until one day the messages stopped, so there was no more work for her to do and she came back to Blackburn.

After the war ended, there were very few opportunities for women other than jobs in teaching or admin roles, so Dorothy became a secretary.

She said: “Everything was very dreary when I moved back, and nothing had been replaced.

"When I was demobbed, I went to Blackburn College and got a job as a secretary which was about the best you could do as a girl.

“There was nothing offered to women back then. It’s funny because I was top of the school, beat all the boys in exams but I couldn’t get the jobs that boys were offered. It’s better now.”

Dorothy now lives with her former husband’s stepson who is 80, and she has one nephew Simon who was the person who nominated her for the honorary award.

She added: “I still can’t believe that I’ve received this award. It’s absolutely beautiful – I’m still in shock.

“I was so excited to receive it through the post. People did a lot in the war didn’t they, they gave their lives so it’s truly an honour to receive this.”

In a letter from French Ministre Conseiller Gerrit van Rossum, he said: "I have the pleasure of informing you the President [Emmanuel Macron] has appointed you to the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur.

"I offer you my warmest congratulations for this high honour, which recognises your military engagement and steadfast involvement in the liberation of France during the Second World War.

"As we contemplate this Europe of peace we must never forget the heroes like you. We owe our freedom and security to your dedication, because you were ready to risk your life."