Byline: Jacqui Goddard writes

Correction: We wrongly said that Jean Watters, a Bletchley Park codebreaker, "took her secret to the grave", winning recognition only at her funeral for her part in cracking German codes (News, Sep 28). In fact, once operations at Bletchley Park had been declassified in the 1970s, Mrs Watters shared her wartime memories with her family, and in 2009 she received a medal for her work. We apologise for the error, which was introduced in editing.

As a teenager in the Second World War, Jean Briggs helped crack the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park A-- a job so secret that she carried it to the grave (Jacqui Goddard writes). Only at her funeral this week did the Women's Royal Naval Service veteran, who grew up in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, gain recognition for her exploits as she was laid to rest with British military honours in Nebraska.

For 72 years she was Jean Watters, after she wed John Watters, a B-17 pilot with the US Army Air Corps, who died in June aged 101. After enlisting in the WRNS she was picked for the Ultra programme, which intercepted and decoded enemy messages at Bletchley Park. Cracking the code gave the Allies a critical window on enemy plans and manoeuvres and had a decisive role in ending the war.

Mrs Watters, who was 92, was buried at Omaha National Cemetery. Royal Navy officers served as pallbearers and the Union Flag was draped over her coffin. Her son, Robin Watters, a retired US Navy rear admiral, said: "She was very proud of her service to her country, but always so modest."

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Jean Briggs married John Watters in 1945. She was buried this week with British military honours

FAMILY HANDOUT/THE OMAHA WORLD-HERALD VIA AP