Sheila Elizabeth Whitton
{{Short description|Canadian coder}}
{{Orphan|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sheila Elizabeth Whitton
| birth_name = Sheila Elizabeth Hiller
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|10|25}}
| birth_place = Toronto, Canada
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|11|26|1922|10|25}}
| death_place = Collingwood, Canada
| spouse = Robert "Bob" Flemming – 1944 (killed in action)
John Leduc Whitton 1950 – 2012 (his death)
}}
Sheila Elizabeth Whitton (née Hiller) (October 25, 1922 – November 26, 2017) was a Canadian coder with the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service, colloquially known as the WRENS, during WWII.{{Cite web|title=Whitton, Sheila Elizabeth (Hiller) Whitton, Obituary – Canadian Obituaries|url=https://canadianobituaries.com/79076-sheila-elizabeth-hiller-whitton-november-26-2017.html|access-date=2020-10-13 |website=canadianobituaries.com}}{{Cite web|title=- Veteran Stories – The Memory Project|url=https://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/3410:/|access-date=2021-01-06|website=www.thememoryproject.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Sheila WHITTON Obituary (2017) – The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.legacy.com/amp/obituaries/theglobeandmail/190005901|access-date=2021-01-06|website=www.legacy.com|language=en}} She was one of a small group of Canadian coders sent to the UK to prepare for D-Day.{{cite news |last1=Milner |first1=Marc |title=The Navy's Women—70th Anniversary of the Wrens: Navy, Part 54 |url=https://legionmagazine.com/en/2012/12/the-navy-e2-80-99s-women-e2-80-9470th-anniversary-of-the-wrens-navy-part-54/ |access-date=5 January 2021 |work=Legion Magazine |date=December 12, 2012 |quote=Over 1,000 served overseas, 503 in the U.K., and 568 in Newfoundland, with a further 50 in Washington.}}
Service in WWII
Sheila Hiller graduated from Havergal College, Toronto, and joined the navy in 1943.{{Cite web|title=Sheila Whitton – Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/amp/obituaries/theglobeandmail/190005901 |access-date=2020-10-13|website=www.legacy.com|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=1943-08-28|title=First Birthday of Wrens Finds Winnipeg in Lead|pages=15|work=The Winnipeg Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66295721/first-birthday-of-wrens-finds-winnipeg/|access-date=2020-12-29|via=Newspapers.com}} She was first assigned to Halifax, where she began her coder training. Coders{{cite news |last1=Bearne |first1=Suzanne |title=Meet the female codebreakers of Bletchley Park |url=https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2018/jul/24/meet-the-female-codebreakers-of-bletchley-park |access-date=7 January 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=July 24, 2018 |quote=Deciphering enemy code during the second world war was arguably the first role for women in tech}}{{cite news |last1=Fessenden |first1=Marissa |title=Women Were Key to WWII Code-Breaking at Bletchley Park |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/women-were-key-code-breaking-bletchley-park-180954044/ |access-date=7 January 2021 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=January 27, 2015 |quote=Bryony Norburn writes, [...] 'Initially the men in charge had assumed that women were incapable of operating the Bombe cryptoanalysis machines and later the Colossus code-breaking computers – until a group of Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens) were brought in.'}} were first trained with books: “Great heavy coding books, which would have 4 letter insignia for a word.”{{Cite web |title=Sheila Elizabeth Whitton (Primary Source) {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-sheila-elizabeth-whitton-primary-source |access-date=2020-10-09 |website=thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}} In April 1944, Sheila was transferred to London with five other WRENS. In London they worked with civilian coders progressing from books to “coding machines.”
In her words:
:"We didn’t know at the time about those coding machines. it really was the size and shape of a fairly large typewriter, but they had cylinders. You had a set up each day for how to start each one, how you placed them in your machine. That code would change every day, so you’d have to make sure you would be able to break the message for the day"
The women worked in 3 shifts to cover the 24 hours of the day. She remained working as a coder in England until the end of the war. According to the CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum, "Just one year after the WRCNS was established, the Wrens were already earning high praise" including from Vice Admiral Percy W. Nelles, Chief of Naval Staff, who stated,
:"I wish to thank the patriotic women who have entered their country’s service and have added so capably to the combat strength of the navy by helping to man the shore establishments in this country. In one short year you have proved yourselves of immeasurable value to the naval service by taking over many tasks with skill, diligence and cheerfulness. As Chief of Naval Staff, I am proud of your record and the contribution you are making to the final victory."{{cite web |title=WRCNS – The 'Wrens' |url=https://navalandmilitarymuseum.org/archives/articles/paving-the-way/wrcns-the-wrens/ |website=CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum |access-date=31 December 2020}}
After WWII
On her return to Canada she attended The University of Toronto and became a social worker. She served on the national board of the Canadian Save the Children Fund, and was chair in the mid-1960s. In the 1980s, she taught part-time at Sheridan College, Oakville.
Personal life
Sheila's longtime boyfriend Robert ("Bob") Fleming, an officer in The Queens Own Rifles was already in the U.K. Just after she arrived in London, April 1944, and having been apart for 2 years, they decided to marry. Sheila received permission to travel to Bob's location, where they were married by his regiment's Padre. Up until D-Day the newlywed couple were able to write to each other but then mail was stopped. The last letter Sheila received from Bob was from Normandy after he had been killed in action. After VE Day (Victory in Europe Day, May 8th, 1945) Sheila journeyed to France to visit the Canadian Cemetery at Bény-sur-mer, Normandy.
In 1950 she married fellow Canadian John Whitton. John and Sheila were married for 62 years (until his death) and had four children.
References
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Category:Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Category:Havergal College alumni
Category:Military personnel from Toronto