When war broke out, 14-year-old Joy Aylard was evacuated to the countryside for two happy years, before leaving school and returning to London to study at college until she was old enough to join up. As soon as she could, she joined the WRNS and was almost immediately sent to Bletchley Park’s Eastcote Outstation. Joy describes in detail the top-secret work involved in operating the Bombe machines to decipher German Enigma messages, remembering the boost to morale that came when successful results of their codebreaking efforts were filtered back to them. Reflecting on the intense secrecy surrounding the work, Joy explains that everyone just got used to not talking about what they were doing; not even Joy’s father knew what her job entailed! Joy’s reflections on her time during the war allow us a vivid glimpse into life behind the walls at Bletchley Park, and the technical skill, dedication and discretion of all who worked there and played such a pivotal role in the Allied war effort.

Stanley White joined the Navy in 1946 and describes some of the challenges of working as an aircraft armourer at sea: tight living conditions, frightening typhoons, messing arrangements and working with explosives. He joined HMS Unicorn in June 1949 when she was recommissioned as a maintenance carrier; she sailed in September on a 12-month “show the flag” tour but was off Japan when the Korean War started in June 1950, so she diverted to Singapore to pick up aircraft. Stanley then transferred to the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph, where he was responsible for rearming Seafires (fighters) and Fireflies (ground-attack) with rockets, ammunition and bombs to support ground troops. He describes how the crew took their CO’s death in a deck-landing accident in their stride. He met his wife of 64 years during leave after returning from Korea. He subsequently served aboard HMS Ark Royal before leaving the navy and spending 29 years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough.