PENSIONERS Peter and Betty Enser have been given commemorative badges for helping the codebreakers of Bletchley Park during the Second World War.

Mr Enser, 86, and wife Betty, 87, from Kirtlington, near Bicester, received the badges and certificates from Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The couple were wireless telegraphists tracking German, Italian and Japanese Morse signals which revealed shipping movements.

They then passed the information to codebreakers at Bletchley Park.

During the war, Mr Enser, a Leading Hand in the Royal Navy, worked in Algiers, Alexandria and Columbo in what is now Sri Lanka.

Mrs Enser, a Leading Wren, was also a telegraphist in Sri Lanka, where the couple married after meeting in 1948.

Mrs Enser said: “We tracked the German, Italian and Japanese Morse signals to provide the material that could then be decoded at Bletchley Park. We had to take down what we heard in Morse very rapidly at 30 words per minute and block out all the other noise.

“We took down information about naval movements including battleships and submarines and passed it on.

“We didn’t know Bletchley Park existed at the time, and it was only 30 years after the war we were told that our efforts had been worthwhile.

“Now we are delighted that we have been recognised by the Government in this way and it’s nice to get a certificate from Gordon Brown, although I would have preferred one from the Queen.”

The gold-coloured badges arrived in the post earlier this month on behalf of the Government Code and Cypher School.

The certificate said: “The Government wishes to express to you its deepest gratitude for the vital service you performed during the Second World War.”

Mr and Mrs Enser, who moved to Kirtlington after the war, have two children, Richard, 60, and Briony, 56, and four grandchildren Mr Enser said: “People in the village have heard about it and have been very kind.”

The couple have also received life membership passes to Bletchley Park.

The Bletchley Park badge has been awarded by the Government after similar awards were made to the nation’s Bevin Boys and Land Girls.

Bletchley Park Trust director Simon Greenish said: “After many years of having to keep their critical wartime work top secret, it is tremendous that this contribution has finally achieved recognition.”