Eleanor Gwendoline Hollington, née Paxton (1 February 1919 – 12 June 2014) was a Cambridge graduate in Modern and Medieval Languages who worked as a civilian translator for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park from 1941 to 1945.

Gwen Hollington
Born
Eleanor Gwendoline Paxton

(1919-02-01)1 February 1919
Died12 June 2014(2014-06-12) (aged 95)
NationalityBritish
EducationRoedean School
Alma materGirton College, Cambridge
OccupationCivilian translator
Years active1941–1945
Organization(s)Government Code and Cypher School, Bletchley Park
SpouseBarrie Hollington

Biography

edit

Born on 1 February 1919, Gwen Paxton won a scholarship to Roedean School and went on to study French and German at Girton College, Cambridge. During her studies, she spent a year at the University of Freiburg to improve her German.[1] At Cambridge, she earned blues in lacrosse and lawn tennis.[2]

In an interview in 2011, she stated: "Before the war I had lived in Germany for a year studying at Freiburg as part of my degree and I made a lot of friends. A lot of the Germans I knew were charming, so it was difficult to think of them as the enemy."[3]

Upon graduation she was recruited to work as a civilian translator at Hut 4, Bletchley Park, translating decrypted German naval communications into English. She worked there for four years, while billeted with a family in Woburn Sands.

After the war, she worked for a publishing company as a literary assistant. She married Barrie Hollington (died 1964), with whom she had five children. She died on 12 June 2014.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Obituary in The Times, 25 June 2014. Accessed 17 November 2014.
  2. ^ Old Roedeanean Obituary Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 26 June 2014. Accessed 17 November 2014.
  3. ^ Katie Linsell, "Bletchley Park remembered by Harpenden woman" Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Hertfordshire Advertiser, 13 March 2011. Accessed 17 November 2014.