During the Second World War few people knew what their friends, neighbours and relatives in the services were doing for the war effort.

But now Gwendoline Page, a former Boreham Wood resident, has let the secret out. She has published three books which discuss events during the war, including, We Kept the Secret Enigma Memories and They Listened in Secret.

Mrs Page arrived in Boreham Wood with her family in 1928. Her father, Raymond Acason, had a newsagent shop in Shenley Road, opposite the town's flourishing studios.

"It was called The Library, but most people called it Acason's. I was about three years old when we moved from Folkestone to Borehamwood."

At the time movie stars working at Borehamwood's film studios could still walk around in public without drawing unwanted attention. "They used to come into the shop to buy papers and cigarettes," she said.

Among Mrs Page's publications is Growing Pains, a Teenager's War, a book about what it was like to grow up in the village during the war.

She was 14-years-old when the war broke out, and a pupil at Queen Elizabeth School for Girls in Barnet. She still remembers the Blitz, which affected Borehamwood as it was on the way to, and from, several Nazi targets in London, and there was a barrage balloon flying near the town. "We were told that if the alert went off when we were cycling to school, we were to knock on the door of a house and take shelter. It never happened, so we were disappointed."

She remembers seeing dozens of enemy bombers flying over Borehamwood on their way to London. "They sounded like a swarm of wasps coming over, and we could recognise the sounds of the enemy against our own," she recalled.

Because her brother had joined the Royal Navy, Mrs Page joined the Women's Royal Navy Service (WRNS) at the age of 18, and was annoyed to be sent to rural Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, instead of to a port.

She was lucky enough to be too short to work in what the Wrens called "The Hellhole", a room containing a huge machine, which was used to decipher enemy codes, and was a hot and deeply unpleasant place to work. It had no windows, because the War Department could not risk people being able to see inside, and there was no air conditioning to take away the heat generated by the machinery.

At the time, scientists at Bletchley Park were carrying out amazing feats of deduction, cracking the Nazi's Enigma machine, which enabled them to decode enemy signals, helping to turn the war in the Allies' favour. But the scientists and staff were not allowed to discuss their work, with each other or with outsiders careless talk cost lives.

Mrs Page was not able to tell her parents about her efforts during the war, because of the Official Secrets Act. Staff were unable to speak of their duties until 30 years after the end of the war. Unfortunately, her parents died before she was able to break her silence.

After the war was won in Europe, Mrs Page took part in the Pacific campaign. She remembers the luxury of living and working on tropical islands, where Wrens were still expected to eat traditional British meals such as suet pudding, and the disappointment of arriving back in a cold, damp, mid-winter Britain, where rationing was in force during the post-war austerity years.

Mrs Page moved back to Boreham Wood after the war where she was married in the then Baptist Church on September 14, 1946.

She began her teaching career at Furzehill School before leaving to travel. When she retired from teaching, she took up writing about her lifetime of experiences.

"Recently I have been contacted by Deborah Taylor of the Elstree and Boreham Wood Museum with regard to the project they are doing on Boreham Wood in its earlier days as a village. I am delighted that residents of Boreham Wood are showing such an interest in the history of the town."

Mrs Page's books, except for Growing Pains, which has been sold out, can be obtained from Mrs G. Page, The Cottage, Pit Lane Swaffham, PE37 7DA. Call 01760 723556 or from Bletchley Park. Growing Pains can still be found in public libraries.