Mabel Peel joined the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in 1917. Whilst working as a censor in German she was approached by a friend in Military Intelligence HQ looking for women with good German language skills.

Peel was chosen to become a ‘Hush WAAC’, a group of women sent to France to decipher German codes. They became the first women to be employed in uniformed intelligence work and gained their nickname due to the secrecy of their work.

She returned to Rouen in 1925 and worked for the British Legion, helping unemployed ex-servicemen. Peel organised Poppy Day Collections for many years and established the Rouen branch of the British Legion. For her war service in France, Peel received the Victory Medal and the War Medal, displayed here with her British Legion badge.