Joyce Ethel Aylard ( Baker, 1925 – 16 October 2022) was a British

codebreaker Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic secu ...

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in West London, west Greater London, London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came fr ...

, an outstation of

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Aylard was born in 1925, and grew up in

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

and

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

. She was evacuated from London to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

and later

Blaengarw Blaengarw is the uppermost village in the river valley (Cwm Garw) of the River Garw, in the county borough of Bridgend (county borough), Bridgend, Wales. In the English language Blaengarw means the rugged 'front' or head of the valley, 'head' of ...

, Wales, during Operation Pied Piper in 1939–1940. She joined the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the World War I, First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in ...

whose members were known as Wrens, in 1943, and was assigned to work at Eastcote. At Eastcote, Aylard was one of operators of the

Bombe The bombe () was an Electromechanics, electro-mechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma machine, Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II. The United States Navy, US Navy and United Sta ...

cryptography machine, designed by codebreaker

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer ...

. Her role was to work during one of three shifts of operators (many women) who systematically tested different combinations to attempt to break the code used in the

Cryptanalysis of the Enigma Cryptanalysis of the Enigma ciphering system enabled the western Allies of World War II, Allies in World War II to read substantial amounts of Morse code, Morse-coded radio communications of the Axis powers that had been enciphered using Enigm ...

. The machines were loud, and may have led to

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

in one of her ears. According to the Guardian, the Wrens had a big impact.

When a code was broken, someone senior would come into the room and shout 'job up' ... So you’d stop and try another code. When successful, their codebreaking efforts could have a monumental impact on the war effort. The decoding of one message led to the location of the Scharnhorst, one of Germany’s most famous battleships, being revealed. Allied forces were then able to attack and defeat the ship in the
Battle of the North Cape The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle that occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic campaign. The , on an operation to attack Arctic convoys of war materiel from the western Allies to the Soviet Union, ...
, off Norway.

At the

end of World War II in Europe The end of World War II in Europe occurred in May 1945. Following the Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April, leadership of Nazi Germany passed to Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and the Flensburg Government. Soviet Union, Soviet t ...

, she was reassigned to continue her code-breaking work on Japanese encrypted messages. After the war, she studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and became an economics teacher at Queen Elizabeth's Girls School, Barnet. Aylard was the mother of Royal Navy officer Richard Aylard, the former Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales. She was honoured with two medals for her war work. Aylard died on 16 October 2022, at the age of 97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylard, Joyce 1925 births 2022 deaths Bletchley Park people Bletchley Park women British women computer scientists Alumni of the London School of Economics Women's Royal Naval Service ratings Women's Royal Naval Service personnel of World War II