Eleanor Gwendoline Hollington , nee Paxton (1 February 1919 ? 12 June 2014) was a Cambridge graduate in Modern and Medieval Languages who worked as a civilian translator for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park from 1941 to 1945.

Biography [ edit ]

Born on 1 February 1919, Gwen Paxton won a scholarship to Roedean School and went on to study French and German at Girton College, Cambridge . During her studies, she spent a year at the University of Freiburg to improve her German. ^[1] At Cambridge, she earned blues in lacrosse and lawn tennis. ^[2]

In an interview in 2011, she stated: "Before the war I had lived in Germany for a year studying at Freiburg as part of my degree and I made a lot of friends. A lot of the Germans I knew were charming, so it was difficult to think of them as the enemy." ^[3]

Upon graduation she was recruited to work as a civilian translator at Hut 4 , Bletchley Park, translating decrypted German naval communications into English. She worked there for four years, while billeted with a family in Woburn Sands .

After the war, she worked for a publishing company as a literary assistant. She married Barrie Hollington (died 1964), with whom she had five children. She died on 12 June 2014. ^[1]

References [ edit ]