A man who served at the famous Bletchley Park assisting code breakers has died at the age of 104.

James Thirsk, also known as Jimmy, spent three years at Bletchley tracking the movements of the German army and air force across Europe, was thought to be Hadlow’s oldest resident.

A young Jimmy started his fascinating wartime job after in1942 after answering an ambiguous ad for the intelligence corps he saw while working as a record keeper in a battery office.

He took a leap of faith in the hope of undertaking interesting clandestine operations.

Logging chatter by the German military and some detective work allowed the young intelligence analyst and his colleagues to create a picture of what enemy units were doing to give a detailed account of what the allies were up against.

During his time at Bletchley Park Jimmy not only helped in the war effort but fell in love with his future Wife Joan, who translated the communications from German to English.

Working alongside her, he would combine his work with that of cryptographers who were deciphering Hitler’s infamous Enigma Machine.

After the war, he returned to work as a librarian which he continued until age 60 before moving into a converted part of Hadlow Castle off Tonbridge Road.

Jimmy also wrote three books about his life, the work of code breakers, and his experiences in the intelligence corps as well as speaking publicly on the topics.

A lot has been made of the genius work done at Bletchley Park but the Yorkshire man remained humble about his achievements.

His daughter Jane Robinson spoke about her late father, saying: “He was a gentle, very calm person. Not at all rustled and never got anxious or angry.

“He was very sociable and really enjoyed meeting people. Even right up until the end he was saying ‘is anybody coming to see me today?”

Jimmy sadly passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 2 leaving behind Jane, his son Martin, four grandchildren, Tom, James, Tim and Kate, and a sister, Betty.

Funeral details are yet to be confirmed.