Codebreaking Sisters

Patricia and Jean Owtram are possibly the only living sisters to have signed the wartime Official Secrets Act. Raised in a Lancashire country house in the 1920s, the family takes in two Austrian Jewish refugees, and the sisters quickly become fluent in German - which will go on to shape their roles for ever. When war breaks out in 1939, Patricia is snapped up by the Wrens and posted to top-secret listening stations along the British coastline. Collaborating with Bletchley Park, she is tasked with intercepting German shipping radio in a bid to crack the seemingly impenetrable Enigma Code. Jean's quick brain for crossword solving lands her a secretive role as Code & Cipher Officer in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. At just 18 years of age, Jean is posted to Cairo, before moving on to Italy to aid the Partisan efforts against the Nazis. As the sisters continue to demonstrate their outstanding intelligence, resilience, and fierce determination, the tide of war gradually begins to turn in Britain's favor. This is the astonishing story of persistence, comradeship, and fighting spirit showed by everyday people in bringing the Nazis down.

Jean Owtram is based in the North West. After the war, Jean turned to social work, working extensively with refugees after the war. Patricia Owtram is based in London. After the war, Patricia worked for the BBC for many years. Now in their 90s, both sisters are still opinionated, lively in discussion, and full of stories from a vanished world.