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My Dad was an Art Master at Bemrose School in Derby,and I was quite good at art myself.So when I was interviewed by my Headmistress as I was due to leave school.I told her I would like to do something in the arts."Oh no" she said "there is no call for that sort of thing in wartime", and offered as an alternative, teaching which I didn't want to do.I had a boyfriend called David who was in the RAF(training as a Pilot), and whenever we saw each other,he would tell me what a great time he was having,and persuaded me to think about the WAAF as a career.I had been a girl guide and had learnt the morse code,so David said I could perhaps become a wireless operator.So one day,without telling Dad,but Mum knew.I went along to the recruiting office in Derby to make enquiries.The recruiting officer for the WAAF's was someone I knew from school,although she was a lot older than I was.I also learnt from her that there were two types of operators.Wireless ops used the morse code, but radio ops were secret,so I opted for the latter.I joined up,but she said I could have a differred service for three months,which I did.So although I joined up in June 1941,I didn't actually get called up until September 1941.
I was posted to Bridgnorth in Shropshire for my initial training.I had to have quit a few 'jabs' there,which were very painful.I met some really nice girls.I remember we used to carry our cutlery, known as 'irons', everywhere with us wrapped in a small piece of cloth.At the end of every meal we had to rinse the cutlery in a big bowl of water.As you can imagine it got very nasty towards the end of mealtimes.We were taught to march,footwork was very important,and as I had done a lot of different kinds of dancing in the past,this was one aspect of the training I enjoyed.We also had a lot of lectures,obviously.We were also given our uniforms here,a few of us went and had our photos taken,to send home.I still have them.We had perhaps two or three weeks training here and then had a 'Passing out Parade',which was very special.
I was then sent to RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire for my Technical Training.I remember in the barracks there were fleas,and I got bitten rather badly.It was reported to Doctor,who said the spots were probably caused by a change of drinking water.Anyway,without going into too much detail,part of the training was plotting aircraft tracks on practice sets.It was rather exciting,although it was to be some years after the war before I realized just what important work we girls did.Whilst we were there we had a visit from King George VI.Between October and April we wore greatcoats and gloves,from April to September we had neither.His visit came during the latter,and I remember freezing on the parade ground as it was a very cold day.
In November 1941 I was posted to Stoke Holy Cross in Norfolk.Here we learnt much more about plotting aircraft.I remember there were a lot of acronyms for different tasks.For example IFF meant identification of friend or foe.Broad IFF meant aircraft in distress.It had to be tracked carefully.To tell everything would take too much time,but I enjoyed it immensely,when we passed our Trade Test we were awarded our 'Sparks' badge, which we wore with pride on our uniforms. I still have one in my collection of things.During my time here Norwich was badly blitzed,here is an extract from my diary at that time describing what happened.
April 2nd 1942 news of alert.All confined to camp.On duty 6-11 complete with gas capes and small kit.Apparently E boats off Yarmouth coast.Bags of panic.
April 27th Went to bed 11.45pm,waken up at 12.05am by Jane.Bags of flares(just like daylight).Alarm sounded,dashed to shelters.There until 2am.All in pyjamas and tin hats.Bags of bombers,Norwich blitzed,terrible fires.Not a pleasant experience.
April 29th Went to village dance,was just leaving when terrific air raid started.Ran back to camp through the woods with Sergeant Jones.I admit I was scared.Saw German planes at 150ft.Dive bombers making incredible noise.Bags of flares and Ack Ack fire,machine gunning,shrapnel hitting trees.Went straight to shelter.
April 30th 30 in shelter last night until 1am.Terrific raid.Called to help fetch water.Worked hard all afternoon.The C.O. and Officers helped,on duty until 11.00pm.Alarm sounded,Norwich bombed again.
May 8th Just gone to bed when raid started.Dive bombed for 1hr 30 mins.Land mine 200 yards away,WAAFery wrecked.Had to sleep on floor of NAAFI all night.Masses of bombs,some unexploded.Hell we were scared.Records I bought for my birthday survived though.Warsaw Concerto,Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto and Fingals Cave.
I was on leave just after this at home in Littleover when I received a telegram to return to duty.I was still feeling pretty sick and shaken,so David,my boyfriend took me to see a Doctor at the airfield at Burnaston.He gave me another 48hours leave.When I did return to duty I was posted to RAF Marks Castle at Lands End in Cornwall.I had never been there before and it sounded rather a grim place.We had to spend 10 nights in temporary accomodation at St.Just before moving to Sennen Cove.We got to like our stay there very much.I was there from May 1942 until July 1943.
Another posting I had was in South Shields,what a different experience that was from Cornwall.It was whilst I was here that I recieved a posting back to Cornwall.I was with five new girls who were all groaning at the thought of it,but I was able to tell them it was a great place and they would enjoy it.I knew it was going to be a long journey,so I phoned the railway office to ask if the train would stop at Derby station.It would,so I phoned Davids Mum to ask my Mum to meet the train and bring me hot soup and sandwiches.Mum and Dad lived in Littleover,but they walked to Derby station to bring the food for me and my friends,and then walked all the way back.It was very much appreciated by all because it was a cold and frosty night.Anyway we got to Sennen Cove,but it was very dark and raining hard,I had some stick from the others because I had said it was a great place.They soon found out that it was.At Lands End I joined the concert party,as I had always loved singing and dancing.One day my friend and I were walking back from rehearsals,when a very swish black sports car stopped to ask us for directions.In the front were very high class officers,and in the back was the Duke of Kent.We couldn't believe it.Unfortunately he was killed not long after that.
I married David in 1944.I got a sleeping out pass so we could spend some time together.We were in a boarding house by the sea.During the night the air raid siren sounded on and off.This meant it was a shelling warning.The sound of the shingle from the beach hitting the roof and windows was horrendous.Shortly after we were married I became pregnant and had to leave the WAAF.I went to Ashford in Kent to hand in my uniform and other things.David met me there,and as we were sitting on the village green late that night,we heard a huge roar overhead. We found out the next day it was DDay. Although life was sometimes hectic, I nevertheless enjoyed every minute of my time in the WAAF and I'm still in cntact with some of my old friends.

These memories were told to Volunteer Kathy Brady of the CSV Action desk at 麻豆官网首页入口 radio Derby and written on the site with Jeans Boormans'permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

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