FEW of who knew him as founder of the local film society, a keen beekeeper or chairman of Epping Music Society will have been aware of his extraordinary past.

Yet John Halliday Gracey, who died recently, was one of the small, select teams of experts who in the leafy isolation of Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, were instrumental in turning round Britain’s fortunes in the Second World War by cracking top-secret German and Japanese army codes.

Mr Gracey, who received a letter of thanks this year from the Prime Minister for his work as a codebreaker, was a man of extraordinary achievement who spoke three languages and after leaving the intelligence service after the war went on to become Britain’s taxman-in-chief.

He was born in Walthamstow in 1925 and his family moved to Woodford Green. Soon after the precocious 10 year old won a scholarship to the City of London School for Boys.

When the school was evacuated during The Blitz, Mr Gracey was billeted with William Golding, who went on to become a world-famous author with the publication of Lord of the Flies in 1954.

Shortly after winning a scholarship to study classics at the University of Oxford, at 18-years-old Mr Gracey was drafted in to the Intelligence Corps and sent to Bletchley Park, where Nazi Germany’s notorious Enigma Code was cracked, and spent two years on top-secret decoding work.

He was later posted to North Italy and Austria.

At an oration read at his funeral, Mr Gracey’s son, Brian, 58, said: “As a signatory of the Official Secrets Acts he was sometimes reluctant to discuss this period of his life but he had recently become more forthcoming, particularly with his grandchildren, and we understand that he was listening to signals traffic from what became the communist bloc and also spent time decoding Japanese signal traffic.”

After the war Mr Gracey returned to Oxford and after gaining a first class degree he joined the civil service and worked his way up to become the Director General of the Inland Revenue, responsible for the nation’s taxation.

Mr Gracey had three sons with his wife, Margaret, and after he retired from the Inland Revenue in 1985 became an integral part of the community in Epping, settling in Woodberry Down. He founded a club for film enthusiasts, The Epping Film Society, serving as its treasurer and chairman and also served as chairman for the Epping Music Society.

Mr Gracey was also a keen beekeeper.

Brian Gracey remembered: “He acquired four hives which he installed in a corner of his garden at home. When a few of the bees were alleged to have attacked one of his neighbours, the hives had to be moved at dead of night to a friend’s farm three miles away where they settled happily, producing over the years many pots of much appreciated honey.

“John will be remembered for his quiet calm and common sense, his amiable unflappable qualities, his generosity, and modesty in spite of his remarkable knowledge about a huge range of subjects.”

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