Biography

Family background

The recent Appleyard family had lived in Bramley, Leeds until about the early 1920s when they moved to The Manor House in Linton. John Ernest Appleyard, his wife, Mary Elizabeth Appleyard (nee Northrop) and John's mother, Hester Ann Appleyard are all returned on the electoral roll for Linton for 1922 onwards. John and Mary had four children. The eldest, Margaret Mary Appleyard (1910-1995), then Joan Joyce Appleyard (born 1915), John Geoffrey Appleyard (born 1916) and finally Ernest Ian Appleyard (born 1923). Margaret, Joan and John Geoffrey were all born in Bramley, but Ernest Ian was born in Linton after the family moved there in 1922-23. The family grew up in Linton, and as they become old enough to vote they start appearing on the electoral rolls in Linton.

John Geoffrey Appleyard had a distinguished army career, and his brother Ernest Ian also served in the Army. Joan Joyce Appleyard trained as a physiotherapist, becoming a member of the Register of Physiotherapist and Masseuses in 1937, and taking specialist training courses in Medical Gymnastics (23/4/1937), Medical Electricity (1/11/1938) and Light & Electro therapy (20/3/1939). Later papers show that she worked for some time as a volunteer assisting at the Children's Orthopaedic Hospital in Thorp Arch.

Service record

Perhaps because of her physiotherapy background, Joan joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). The FANY was formed as the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in 1907 as a first aid link between the field hospitals and the front lines, and was given the 'yeomanry' name as its members were originally mounted on horseback. Unlike nursing organisations, the FANY wanted to be on the battlefield rescuing the wounded and giving first aid, similar to a modern combat medic. Each woman was trained not only in first aid but signalling and drilling in cavalry movements. At the start of the First World War, however, their offer of assistance as paramedics was refused by the War Office. Nevertheless on 27 October 1914, a party of six FANYs, including two Lieutenants, plus three trained nurses and two male orderlies, crossed to Calais. They were shortly followed by a privately funded motor ambulance. [Much of the history of the FANY is taken from Wikipedia]. The Belgian Army welcomed them with open arms and for the next two years the FANYs drove ambulances, opened a hospital and two convalescent homes and set up a casualty clearing station near the Front. Observing this, British official resistance crumbled, and on 1 January 1916 the FANY became the first women to drive officially for the British Army, with the establishment of an ambulance section at Calais. The role for the British was for FANYs to transport the dead and dying from clearing stations to hospitals and hospital ships.

Unlike the women's services, the FANY was not disbanded after the First World War. As a result of service in the general strike of 1926, when the name was briefly changed to Ambulance Car Corps (FANY), the Corps was finally recognised by the War Office and allowed to appear on the Army list, although not publicly funded. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s FANYs continued training, including radio work, first aid, and motor vehicle maintenance and mechanics. Numbers grew and several regional sections were established. In 1937, wishing to move away completely from any assumed connection with formal nursing, the Corps became the Women's Transport Service (WTS (FANY)). At the start of the Second World War, the FANY was independent of the newly formed Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). However 1,500 FANY motor mechanics were supplied to serve with the ATS as long as these FANYs could be independent, although they were later absorbed into the ATS but these FANY/ATS wore their FANY badges. One better known role of the FANY in the Second World War is their service with the Special Operations Executive. FANYs became involved in the SOE in 1940 through the friendship between Phyllis Bingham (secretary to the then Corps commander) and Colonel, later Major-General, Colin Gubbins (Director of Operations and Training SOE). The FANYs service began with their involvement in the highly secretive Auxiliary Units set up in 1940 as a stay-behind force in case of invasion. By the end of the war over 3,000 FANYs had served with SOE; as trainers, coders, signallers, forgers, dispatchers, and, most famously, as agents. Recruits were trained in one of four fields: Motor transport, wireless telegraphy, codes or general. They worked on coding and signals, acting as conductors for agents and providing administration and technical support for the Special Training Schools. Their work was top secret and often highly skilled.

After Dunkirk, Joan's brother John Geoffrey Appleyard had joined several commando units and had worked with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as an agent and it may have been through such family knowledge that Joan applied to join SOE on the 19th May 1942 as a Wireless Operator.

As a member of SOE, Joan was given a number and in correspondence she would have been referred to by that number - 7310. Joan was inducted into SOE and signed the Official Secrets Act. From the 11th July 1942 she was posted to Special Training School (STS) number 54 as a wireless operator. STS54 had two stations - STS54a based at Fawley Court, Henley on Thames, and STS54b at Belhaven School, Dunbar, unfortunately we don't know which station Joan was based at.

Special Training School 54 was the advanced wireless training school for SOE. Training of SOE agents who were to be dropped into France often involved practicing sending and receiving radio morse messages and these were usually received at STS54. Most of the radio operators at STS54 were FANYs. Joan Appleyard's record does not give any details of her role - but it's likely that she was not training to be dropped behind enemy lines, but was involved in training and sending and receiving messages.

As the war was coming to a close, on the 14th February 1945, Joan Appleyard was sent to Berne in Switzerland. SOE maintained a post in Berne as part of the British Legation in Switzerland.

After Joan returned from Berne, she was eventually signed off from SOE/FANY duties on the 20th August 1945.

After the war

On the 16th April 1946, The Yorkshire Evening Post reported on Joan's marriage:

Joan's husband was dropped behind enemy lines during the war and it is interesting that he also has a personal file with SOE. Perhaps Joan met him through this SOE connection. It is also interesting to see the groomsmen were all friends from Linton who had all served in the war. All of them have their own pages on this web site.

Biography last updated 13 November 2023 20:05:21.