Cryptologic History:

Dr. Joseph J. & Barbara Eachus

Joseph passed in 2003. Barbara passed in 2012.

Registry Sponsor(s): Sons Dr. Alan Eachus and Dr. James Eachus

Dr. Joseph J. Eachus was one of the first Americans to go to Bletchley Park in England to work with cryptologists during WWII. After a number of visits, he returned to the U.S. to work with Naval Security personnel at the new facility on Nebraska Ave. in Washington, D.C., and had a significant career with the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA), NSA, and post-retirement with a defense contractor. Dr. Eachus died in 2003 at the age of 92.

Dr, David Kahn briefly describes Dr. Eachus’s work with the US Navy and at Bletchley Park in his book, Seizing the Enigma. (pgs. 237-8). You can also learn more about Dr. Eachus’s career in a full article via the NSA CCH Cryptologic Almanac 50th Anniversary Series.

Barbara Abernathy Eachus, 1921-2012, born in Ireland, was recruited by the British Foreign Office at the age of 16, and immediately transferred to the Government Code & Cypher School (GC&CS). In August 1939 she was sent to Bletchley Park in England where she began a career as a linguist, and moved into administration, becoming secretary to Cdr. Alastair Denniston, Director of GC&CS. She helped close the office in 1946, and then moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the British Government and married Dr. Joseph Eachus in 1947. In 1956, when she moved to Boston to work for the British Consul, Joseph retired from NSA and moved to Boston with her. Barbara received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1971 for her work at Bletchley Park during WWII, and in 1976, was instrumental in arranging the bicentennial visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Boston. Learn more about Barbara via her full obituary below,

In 2000, Joe and Barbara participated in the NCMF panel discussion, The American Experience at Bletchley Park during WWII, with fellow presenters Art Levinson, Selmer Norland, and Walter Sharp. The couple also established the Marshall Scholarship Alumni Association, now the Association of Marshall Scholars.

Joe and Barbara are survived by his two sons (Barbara’s step-sons), Dr. Alan Eachus of Chicago and Dr. James Eachus of Seattle, who are both dedicated supporters and friends of the NCMF.

BARBARA EACHUS Obituary

Published by Boston Globe from Feb. 18 to Feb. 19, 2012.

Eachus, Barbara (Abernethy) Died at her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home on February 14, 2012, after a long illness. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1921, she was convent-schooled in Belgium where she became proficient in French, German and Flemish languages. Recruited by the British Foreign Office at the age of 16, she was immediately transferred to the Government Code & Cypher School.

In August 1939, she was sent to Bletchley Park which would become the ultra-secret Enigma-code-breaking facility. Starting out in decoding she would soon be snatched into administration where she became the personal assistant to the Deputy Director of GCCS, Cdr. Alastair Denniston. By the end of the war she was responsible for keeping the personnel records for the thousands of people working at Bletchley Park. Immense secrecy surrounded the operation and she was one of those whom Winston Churchill praised for cracking the code in which the Germans relayed their military messages, calling the staff there “the geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled.” She was the person who locked that facility’s door for the last time in 1946. Coming to the United States in 1947 she became part of the staff of the British Joint Services Mission, Washington, D.C. At that point she married her husband, the late Dr. Joseph J. Eachus, who had come to Bletchley Park during the war as a U.S. naval officer, being the first American assigned there.

In 1956, she joined the British Consulate-General in Boston as personal assistant to the Consul-General and acting as Information Officer. Later, she was designated Vice-Consul (Information), finally retiring from the consulate in 1986. In 1971, she was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as a Member of the Order of the British Empire. In 1976 she was instrumental in coordinating the visit of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip to Boston marking the American bicentennial, and being the first visit to Boston by a reigning British monarch.

After her retirement, Dr. and Mrs. Eachus established the Marshall Scholarship Alumni Association, now the Association of Marshall Scholars. They also created the organization’s first comprehensive alumni-association database and initially produced the association newsletter.

She is survived by two stepsons, Dr. Alan Eachus of Chicago and Dr. James Eachus of Seattle. A celebration of her life will be held in the future. Contributions in memory of Barbara Eachus may be made to the Bletchley Park Trust, The Mansion, Sherwood Drive, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK3 6EB, England, or at bletchleypark.org, or to the Marshall Scholarship program at marshallscholar.org.Onlineguestbook www.brownandhickey.com Brown & Hickey Funeral Home.

Published by Boston Globe from Feb. 18 to Feb. 19, 2012.

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