Generous members of the Enfield and Southgate tea party group clubbed together to ensure there will be a lasting memorial to one of their guests, who was part of the famed Bletchley Park World War Two codebreakers team.

A specially engraved brick bearing the name of Barbara Southerland is now embedded in the Codebreakers’ Wall which takes pride of place at the heart of the once top-secret establishment.

Barbara was just 18 and serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), which was attached to the Royal Signals, when she was recruited to listen to German coded messages at Forest Moor listening station near Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

Working around –the clock with other colleagues from the ATS, Barbara intercepted increasingly panicked enemy ‘chatter’ towards the end of the war as the Allies began to re-take Europe. The codes were then passed to world-famous Bletchley Park for analysis.

Barbara didn’t reveal any details of her high level work until more than 50 years after the end of the war. Then one day, when a film about the Allies breaking the German Enigma code was advertised on television, she casually announced to her stunned late husband, Peter and children, Anne, Robert, David and Stephen: “That was my job. I did that.”

Somehow Barbara’s name had been omitted from the role of honour for those who had worked for Bletchley Park. But after she told fellow tea party guests about her crucial part in the war effort, co-ordinator Steph Hutchings set the ball rolling to make sure she was recognised.

Then two years ago Barbara, one of the original members of the Enfield and Southgate group, who will be 99 in September, received a signed certificate from then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to mark her service, as well as receiving a gold plated badge engraved 'We also served.' Barbara’s name was also added to the Bletchley Park role of honour.

A group of eight guests from the tea party group accompanied Barbara to a veterans’ reunion at Bletchley Park, where the engraved brick – bought for her last birthday – was on show.

“It was a lovely day and I felt very proud,” said Barbara. “It’s taken a long time to get recognition for what I did but now thanks to the kindness of Steph and the group my name will be known for a long time. And the icing on the cake was when a cousin from Australia came over and saw the brick at Bletchley. She was thrilled.

“Because I had to keep the work secret for so long, I sometimes wondered if I had dreamt it. And it was always a sadness for me because my parents died without ever knowing what I really did. I think they always believed I was just a clerk of some sort.

“It was good to go back and mix with people who had done the same work as me. It brought back memories of sitting there with a radio, pencil and pad and concentrating on deciphering the German morse code. It was hard work and sometimes a bit boring because you just didn’t know what you were dealing with. That was all worked out at Bletchley.

“I remember VE Day (Victory in Europe) because when we finished our shift all the lights were on. There was no longer a security blackout, and that’s when I knew it was all over.”

Barbara was allowed to take two guests – youngest son Stephen and fellow group member Marcia - for tea laid on by Bletchley Park while the rest of the group enjoyed a tour of the museum and sprawling grounds.

Steph, who has run the Enfield and Southgate group for eight years, said: “It was lovely to see Barbara with her name on the wall. She thoroughly deserves it. And I’m so grateful to Re-engage for making her a part of my life. She is amazing and can still solve puzzles instantly!”