War code-breaker celebrates 100th birthday in Brighton

Ann Bayley, a resident at Maycroft Manor Care Home on Carden Avenue, has been awarded four war medals for her service, including the Bletchley Park Commemorative Badge.

She had served as a Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) Officer in the Second World War.

Ann, who has two daughters, five grandchildren, one great-grandchild and another on the way, spent her birthday with her family.

She also received a card from the Queen congratulating her on her milestone and a visit from the Lord-Lieutenant for East Sussex Peter Field.

A special toast with locally-made wine was also made at her party from her grandchild William Scrase-Dickins who co-owns Coolhurst Vineyards in Sussex.

Ann said: “I don’t feel 100, I feel about 60 and it feels very strange to be 100 years old.

“I don’t have a secret to longevity, but my family say I eat a lot of chocolate!

“I had a wonderful day and it was very special to have all of my family with me to share the celebrations.”

Ann was born on September 3 1917, in Coonoor, India which was where her late father’s trading company at the time was based. She spent most of her childhood living there and Sri Lanka until she joined the war effort in 1939 and was sent Bletchley Park’s outstation in Cairo, Egypt.

There she was co-opted into top secret project Ultra, with the purpose of solving the Enigma code which later helped British forces to decipher German signal traffic and win the Second World War.

In 1943, she met her late Australian husband Bill in the Naval Offices in Cairo. They married within the year in front of the iconic Egyptian pyramids.