Joyce Sybil Jay

Joyce Harrison had married Edward Jay in December 1940. He was a Flight Sergeant in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. Prior to that she had been working as a typist and telephonist with Essex Country Council in Chelmsford and was lodging there in 1939. Edward had crashed in March 1940 and spent time in hospital after this. He was keen that she not join the WAAFs (Women's Auxiliary Air Force), leaving her looking for something else to do. She couldn't remember who asked her to join Special Duties, but was asked to go to an underground shelter in Gusted Hall Woods near Hockley. Here she was introduced to another woman, Marjorie Drinkwater, who she was to be paired with and their role as runners explained to them. They were asked to sign the Official Secrets Act.

Her first exercise was in fields by Mount Bovers lane, where the women blacked their faces to make them less obvious in the moonlight. They were given a sealed envelope to carry across several fields to leave in a hollow tree stump. The top of the tree stump rotated to allow the message to be left inside. They then had to get back to the starting point without being spotted.

Her son was born in 1943 after which his father was posted to India. It is thought that she continued to take part in exercises with Special Duties after this.