A top-secret radio interceptor who risked her life to help Britain win the war against the Germans has turned 100.

Bethersden resident Helena Crawley has lived on and, with the help of her family, run a sheep farm in the village for over 40 years.

However, before moving to Kent, Mrs Crawley had a fascinating past that included working as a top-secret radio interceptor in the Second World War.

Both Helena and her late husband, Leslie Crawley, were radio hams.

When war broke out in 1939 they were contacted by John Clarricoats, secretary of the Radio Society of Great Britain, who had a special job for a married couple as voluntary interceptors.

The couple married quickly by special licence in October 1939 and moved to a small cottage that had no running water or electricity, in the Orkneys in Scotland.

Mrs Crawley said: “Nobody knew why we were there, it was top secret.

"We tried to live a normal life but it was very hard because you were always on edge.”

Due to the excellent radio signal in Orkney, the couple intercepted radio messages being sent from senior German army officers to their troops using five letter Morse code.

But although the work was kept top secret it was still dangerous – as Mrs Crawley discovered.

She said: “I was out shopping one day and missed the last bus home so I accepted a lift home with the work camp canteen manager and his wife.

"Looking back it was silly, but I thought they were 100 per cent safe.

“On the drive home they threw me out the car and left me.

"I watched them drive around the loch and just laid there pretending to be dead.

“In the end I managed to flag down an army truck, which I shouldn’t have done but I had identification so they took me to safety.

“After I reported it, the couple disappeared. I never found out what happened to them – if you were meant to know things then you were told them, but I believe they were spies.”

Mrs Crawley continued working as an interceptor until 1943, when her husband was posted to the Admiralty office in Bath.

It wasn’t until 1975 that the couple moved to Bethersden – where they took over the running of a sheep farm – where Helena still lives.

Mr Crawley passed away in 2000. In 2010 Helena received recognition of her secret work with a certificate signed by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, and a badge.

Last Friday, she threw a huge party at her home where she was joined by 100 family
and friends to celebrate her landmark birthday which she “thoroughly enjoyed”.

Although she said it was very isolated, Helena looks back on her time in Orkney fondly.

She said: “Even though the work was top secret, I’m very grateful to the people in Orkney for the way they treated us and accepted us.

“It wasn’t easy with the rations but we always got a fair share of everything.”