#joyce aylard

[valkyries-things]

JOYCE AYLARD // CODEBREAKER

“She was a British codebreaker at Eastcote, an outstation of Bletchley Park, during World War II. She was evacuated from London to Ipswich and later Blaengarw, Wales, during Operation Pied Piper in 1939–1940. She joined the Women's Royal Naval Service 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 cryptography machine, designed by codebreaker Alan Turing. 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. The machines were loud, and may have led to hearing loss in one of her ears. At the end of World War II in Europe, she was reassigned to continue her code-breaking work on Japanese encrypted messages.”