Catherine Caughey

Catherine Mary Caughey (née Harvey, 8 December 1923 – 12 April 2008) used Colossus computers for codebreaking at Bletchley Park during World War II.

Early life Catherine Mary Harvey was born in Eldoret, Kenya, on 8 December 1923, and spent her early life on an isolated farm there. ) using the Colossus computers for deciphering German High Command messages. Later she was responsible for the teleprinter room in the Newmanry, where Tunny (Lorenz cipher) messages were received from the main intercept station located in Kent.

Post-war life After the war, Harvey attended Dorset House in Oxford, trained as an occupational therapist. Once qualified, she worked at a psychiatric hospital in Oxford.

In 1950, she married Ron Caughey in Oxford.

Ron Caughey died in 1975 before secrecy around wartime work at Bletchley Park was lifted in the same year, 30 years after the end of World War II,

Caughey was active in the Girl Guides in New Zealand, serving on the national council and executive, and in 1976 she was appointed honorary vice president for the Auckland province.

In 1994, Caughey published the autobiographical book World Wanderer in the form of her diaries, which was approved by the British Ministry of Defence. She also contributed to a chapter on bombes in The Turing Guide on Alan Turing that appeared posthumously in 2017. She died in Auckland on 12 April 2008, and her body was cremated at Purewa Crematorium.

Publications (autobiography)