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Jane Fawcett Facts & Worksheets

Jane Fawcett was a British code-breaker during World War II who decoded a message which led to the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck

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Jane Fawcett was a British code-breaker during World War II who decoded a message which led to the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.

See the fact file below for more information on Jane Fawcett or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Jane Fawcett worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND CAREER

  • Janet Carolin Hughes was born on March 4, 1921. Her father, George Ravensworth Hughes, was a lawyer while her mother, Peggy Graham, did charitable work as a prison visitor.
  • She was raised in London and attended Miss Ironside’s School for Girls in Kensington.
  • Jane was a ballet dancer, but was not admitted to Sadler’s Wells due to being too tall. Her parents then sent her to Zurich in Switzerland to study German for six months.
  • Upon her return as a “debutante”, her parents determined she was ready to come out in society. However, she chose to get a job at Bletchley Park.

WARTIME SERVICE

  • Jane was 18 when she entered the code-breaking project at Bletchley Park.
  • She was part of the “Debs of Bletchley Park” working in secret as part of the Enigma project, a code-breaking system using the Enigma machine, a cipher device.
  • Although the decoding room did not properly accommodate the women working there, they worked long hours under extreme pressure.
  • In Hut 6, Jane and her peers received the daily Enigma keys and typed them into the Typex machines to determine if the messages were recognizable German.
  • One particular task the ladies were given was to search for the German battleship Bismarck. Shortly after this was given, Jane decoded a message pertaining to the battleship and was able to pinpoint its location and destination in France.
  • She decoded a reply to a German general who had inquired about the health of his son who was on the Bismarck.
  • It indicated that the battleship was damaged and was on its way to the port of Brest, France, for repair.
  • The discovery was instrumental as a seaplane soon confirmed its location and the Bismarck was then attacked and sunk by Royal Navy battleships and cruisers in the Atlantic west of Brest in France on May 27, 1941.
  • Of a 2,221-man crew of Bismarck, only 115 survived from the surprise attack.

LIFE AFTER THE WAR

  • Bound by the Official Secrets Act, the work of the Debs of Bletchley Park was classified until the 1990s.
  • The first significant victory by the codebreakers was kept secret for a long time, but within the military, their success proved the importance of code-breakers as an indirect form of espionage. The following years led to the victory of the Allies.
  • Jane met Royal Navy officer Edward “Ted” Fawcett at a luncheon arranged for young naval officers so they could meet young women, during World War II. They married shortly after the war and retired from military service.
  • After retiring from the military, Mr. Fawcett worked as director of publicity for the National Trust, a British charity working to conserve and protect historic sites. He died in 2013 at age 66.
  • Meanwhile, Jane Fawcett trained as a singer at the Royal Academy of Music and later toured as a recital and opera singer for 15 years throughout the 60s.
  • She also taught building preservation at the Architectural Association School of Architecture as part of her endeavor to preserve surviving Victorian-era buildings.
  • Another of her accomplishments came in 1967, when she successfully led an effort to save London’s St. Pancras station and a nearby hotel.
  • Jane Fawcett passed away on May 21st, 2016, at her home in Oxford, England. She was 95 years old and is survived by her son, James Fawcett, her daughter Carolin Comberti, and five grandchildren.

LEGACY

  • Time Magazine recognized Jane Fawcett in the 100 Women of the year. Jane Fawcett and the Codebreakers were the women of the year 1941.
  • She was also awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1976. An MBE is a British order of chivalry that rewards persons or organizations for their contributions to the arts and sciences, charitable and welfare organisations, and public service.

Jane Fawcett Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Jane Fawcett across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching about Jane Fawcett who was a British code-breaker during World War II who decoded a message which led to the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Jane Fawcett Facts
  • Time Magazine
  • London in the 1940s
  • Bletchley Park Girls
  • London Women
  • The World at War
  • Enigma Machine
  • Let’s Decode!
  • Women Power
  • Honoring Women
  • She Is my Hero

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Link will appear as Jane Fawcett Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, March 2, 2022

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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