Marsh man Peter Thornton’s wartime mission as secret codebreaker

Nov 4 2009 By Dave Himelfield

Marsh man’s wartime mission as secret codebreaker

HE was responsible for decoding vital messages which could have saved or cost thousands of soldiers’ lives.

Now Peter Thornton, 83, has revealed details about his secret life towards the end of the Second World War.

Mr Thornton, of Marsh, served as a coder with the Royal Navy between 1944 and 1947.

The retired dyer worked aboard HMS Start Bay in the Mediterranean and in Malta at the commander-in-chief’s base, decoding top secret messages as part of the allied peacekeeping forces.

Using the Typex machine, based on the German Enigma code machine, he was responsible for the messages giving crucial instructions to ships in the Mediterranean.

The coders had about 20 code books with weighted bags attached to throw them overboard if their ship was captured.

And a sledgehammer was kept beside the Typex to smash the machine in the same circumstances.

Grandfather Mr Thornton was involved in decoding vital instructions to naval ships off the Corfu coast.