A WOMAN who served in the Second World War and witnessed Indian Independence Day celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday.

Joy Storrs-Fox was born in London where her father worked on April 19, 1920, but always regarded Yorkshire as home.

“My grandparents lived in Goathland and we would go there as often as we could as a family and latter by myself,” she said.

“I was baptised in the village church and have always felt I belonged in Yorkshire.”

When the Second World War broke out, Joy, who lives in Coneysthorpe, was called up to the army, serving as a corporal in charge of a group of other girls, and was serving in Belfast on D-Day.

After the war she was reunited with her fiancé, Michael, a priest, who was working in India, and they were married in September 1945.

The couple returned to India and two years later witnessed the country’s independence on August 15, 1947.

“We saw the British flag come down and the Indian flag go up as a brass band of mainly Indian people played,” she said.

“Afterwards Michael took me on a walk through the back streets of the city and they were decorated with all sorts of things, including a gold arch for us to walk under. We were both big supporters of the new Indian government and it was lovely to see how welcoming everyone was.”

Michael was then posted to two schools which had been set up for English children, many of whom had now gone home.

“The boys’ school had all their staff but no pupils and the girls’ school had staff but hardly any pupils, so our job was to build up a new school to meet the needs of the new India,” she said.

The couple returned to England with their two children Carol and Nicolas in 1957, and Michael worked as a vicar in Barton-le-Street and later as chaplain at Castle Howard.

Joy carried on working until 2002 when she decided to retire at the age of 82. “I felt it was becoming a bit much so I enquired about volunteering and started at Next Steps Mental Health Centre,” she added. “I became a trustee and took creative writing classes and helped behind the counter.”

Joy, who was recognised for her work by receiving the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), said she put down her long life to fresh air, exercise and living in Yorkshire. “I must have good genes as well as my father lived to 101,” she said. “I also still take my daily walk around the village.”

The celebrations for her 100th birthday with her children and four grandchildren were on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am self-isolating but I am very lucky to live where I do, it must be so dreadful for people living in cities and high-rise flats, she said. “What I have seen though is people working closer together and helping each other other in wonderful ways and I hope after all this we have a better, kinder society than we had before.”