BARROW has lost one of its last links to the secretive world of Second World War code breaking with the death of Elizabeth Garnet.

As a 22-year-old RAF aircraftwoman 2nd class she was posted to Bletchley Park in Bedfordshire - known then as "Station X".

She died, aged 97, at Combe House, Walney, on November 11, but for most of her life she was at Greengate Street, Barrow.

Her funeral is on Wednesday, November 23, at 11am in Beacon Hill Methodist Church, Barrow.

Miss Garnet's role in helping to decipher important enemy military messages featured in an article in the Evening Mail on February 8 in 1999.

The former Barrow Grammnar School for Girls pupil said then: "I don't know why I was selected for the posting.

"I couldn't speak any languages and had worked as a bookkeeper in Shuttleworth's Garage in Salthouse Road before the war.

"All the other girls were posh and from completely different backgrounds to my own."

She settled in quickly and rose through the ranks to flight sergeant.

Miss Garnet worked on messages between the Germans and their Italian allies - decoding and translating columns of digits produced on the Enigma code machines.

When major military operations - such as the Battle of El Alamein - were taking place, she would work without break deciphering essential information,

She said: "We worked 24 hours a day when that one was on.

"It was very exciting to be part of something so big."