A WARTIME codebreaker has been honoured for her part in bringing an end to the Second World War.

Flo Cole has received a gold medal, given to her on behalf of the Government, and an accompanying certificate signed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The pensioner, who lives in the High Street, Shrivenham, was one of many women who helped decode the system behind German encripted messages, known as the Enigma Code.

Flo, who has just celebrated her 87th birthday, said the award had been a lovely surprise birthday present.

She said: “I still feel I was one of a lot of people, but nevertheless I am proud to have accepted my badge because it is something I can leave behind.

“I was doing a job that I was called up to do, but I feel that any little tiny contribution I made to help win the war is very satisfying.”

Flo’s daughter, Elaine Ware, made enquiries after reading in the press a fortnight ago about renewed efforts to reward wartime code crackers.

Flo had to send off her details to prove who she was and where she had worked.

The medal reads ‘Bletchley Park and out stations’ while on the back it says ‘you also served’.

Leading Aircraft Woman Flo worked as a teleprinter operator stationed at Chicksands Station in Bedfordshire, from where codes were then sent to the headquarters at Bletchley Park for decoding.

Birmingham-born Flo joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 at the age of 20 and began training.

At one time she worked with 617 Squadron, known as the Dambusters after attacking the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in 1943.

Once trained, she spent her time typing out sheets of morse code.

“It was so boring,” said Flo. “Sometimes we got it wrong, but that’s how it worked.

“Some of it must have got through, but we didn’t know – it was all so top secret.”

She felt it was right that the operations at Bletchley Park were rewarded.

Many historians believe the codebreakers’ efforts shortened the war by two years because vital information about what German forces were planning was intercepted.

“The amount of work that went on has not been recognised,” said Flo.

“It was a great contribution to helping win the war – it was the last resort really.”

In Flo’s eyes, many of the men and women who made sacrifices during the Second World War have still not been recognised.

She said: “We were fighting the enemy and I agree entirely with that. We were fighting for our lives and our country and everything we stood for.”

She also she believes the younger generation should be taught more about what happened at Bletchley Park.