Pamela Rose

Pamela Rose (born Susan Pamela Gibson; 29 November 1917 – 17 October 2021) was a British actress, wartime intelligence indexer, school counsellor and charity trustee. As Pamela Gibson, she acted professionally in the late 1930s and worked with the Entertainments National Service Association before joining Bletchley Park's Naval Section, where she led Hut 4's index of decrypted German naval messages. After the war she married the journalist Jim Rose, worked as a school counsellor in Paddington, and served as vice-chair of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and later chair of the Stroke Association. In 2002, after an absence from professional theatre of around six decades, she returned to the West End in Peter Hall's production of Lady Windermere's Fan.

Early life and education Susan Pamela Gibson was born on 29 November 1917 in Knightsbridge, London, during a Zeppelin raid. She was the daughter of Thornely Carbutt Gibson, a stockbroker, former Irish Guards officer and bass-baritone singer, and his wife Elizabeth "Dolly" Gibson, née Wetzlar. Her elder brother was Patrick Gibson, Baron Gibson.

After the First World War, her father undertook intelligence reporting in Germany; his 1919 memorandum Bolshevism in Germany was circulated to the War Cabinet by Winston Churchill. Her parents hosted regular musical evenings, known in the family as "Pleasant Wednesday Evenings", at which they and their friends performed operatic arias and German lieder. The Daily Telegraph, summarising a contemporary Times review, reported that the critic praised her performance for its "vigour and a healthy country simplicity".

Her colleagues and friends at Bletchley included Sarah Norton, later Sarah Baring, and Jean Campbell-Harris, later Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington.

She continued acting into her 90s, before failing eyesight forced her to stop. She died on 17 October 2021, aged 103.