Albert, 83, hero of the airwaves

A RADIO operator has been honoured for his work as part of the Second World War codebreaking team at Bletchley Park.

Grandfather-of-three Albert Garforth has received a specially commissioned veterans’ badge in recognition of the “vital services” he performed at the station which was immortalised in the film “Enigma”.

It was accompanied by a letter of thanks signed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Mr Garforth, of Foxdenton Lane, Chadderton, was enthralled by the magic of radio and electronics when he joined the Air Training Corps.

He was serving with the Royal Signals when he was posted to Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, most famous for breaking codes from the German Enigma machine.

More than 10,000 people worked there, but many of the secret heroes had no idea what their work was about.

However, they played a pivotal part in stemming the losses of the Atlantic convoys to U-boats, and at El Alamein and the D-Day landings.

Mr Garforth (83) was at Bletchley in 1944/5 where he intercepted radio messages from the German high command.

He did not know what they contained and explained: “It was all in code, of course, and we passed it on to the intelligence corps who passed it on to the civilian code breakers.

“It was highly secret and weren’t allowed to talk about it until the 40-year secrecy period ended.”

Towards the end of the war Mr Garforth also learned Japanese morse code, eventually leaving the the Army in 1948 before marrying his now late wife Patricia.

He later installed missiles and radar systems, and also worked on the first computers at Ferranti.

The last 18 years of his career were spent as a technician at Manchester University.

Mr Garforth said: “The computers I worked with at Ferranti were as big as a room and I finished up with something I could hold in my hand.”

The new badge is being presented to surviving veterans of Bletchley Park in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence. It bears the words “we also served” and confers the freedom on Bletchley, which is now a museum.

Mr Garforth, who has been a radio enthusiast for 64 years, added: “It’s great to see that your efforts are being appreciated, all be it rather late in the day after 60-odd years.

“It gives you a feeling of well-being.”