AN EX-SERVICEMAN from Burton-in-Kendal who played a crucial role in winning the Second World War has been honoured for his part in cracking the German Enigma code.

Harold Newell, 88, was part of the RAF’s top-secret ‘Y’ division during the conflict.

He listened in on top-level Nazi Morse code messages and sent them to Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire.

There, top mathematicians decrypted German military intelligence sent via the Enigma machine.

The work of those involved in cracking the Enigma code is believed to have taken several years off the war and saved thousands of lives.

Harold recently joined 35 veterans at today’s ‘Bletchley Park’ – GCHQ in Cheltenham – to receive a badge honouring his war contribution from Secretary of State David Milliband.

During his service, Harold heard first hand some of the war’s most crucial moments and even survived a direct shell hit.

He remembered the day when, aged 18, he went to join the RAF in Manchester.

He said: “I wanted to join Bomber Command like my brother, but my eyes weren’t good enough, so the officer asked me whether I knew what a wireless operator was.”

With a basic understanding of semaphore, Harold went to Blackpool for training before being sent to RAF Compton Basset in Wiltshire.

“I was told I wouldn’t be going on any airfields and I would have to keep quiet about anything I saw or heard.

“It was quite nice to feel so important. On the other hand I couldn’t tell anybody what we were doing.

“You got to recognise German code operators – the way they did the dots and dashes were unique – and it became like listening to music.

Harold intercepted requests for fearsome battleship Tirpitz to leave harbour – which led to her destruction by the RAF before she could hit Merchant Navy convoys in the Atlantic.

“Hearing us be successful like that made you feel really warm and that you were doing something useful, but you had to be very careful,” he said. “You couldn’t celeb-rate down the pub.”

When European conflict ended, Mr Newell was sent to Delhi to intercept Japanese messages before America dropped the Atomic bomb, and Japan surrendered.

He kept his wartime role secret, even from his wife Mary, until 10 years ago.