Description
Object description
British WAAF served as radio operator with Women's Auxiliary Air Force in GB, 1941-1945.
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of period in GB, 1922-1941: family background and education in Barnsley, Yorkshire; recreational activities including cinema and reading; family life; moved to Sheffield; description of Anderson shelter in garden; reaction to outbreak of war, 9/1939; soldiers billeted in house following evacuation from Dunkirk; reaction to bombing of Sheffield, 1941; effect of air raids on mother; moved to live with aunt at Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire; description of duties as auxiliary nurse at Farringdon House, Belper; story of volunteering for Women's Auxiliary Air Force, 11/1941; reaction of family; pay as nurse. Aspects of training with Women's Auxiliary Air Force in GB, 1941-1942: posted to training camp at RAF Innsworth, Gloucestershire; issued with uniform and kit; basic training; accommodation; attitude to military life and discipline; opinion of training; passed out and posted to Morecambe; accommodation; description of training as radio operator at RAF Cranwell; relations with male colleagues; social life. Aspects of period with Women's Auxiliary Air Force in GB, 1942-1945: posted to RAF Swanton Morley, Norfolk; description of duties as radio operator; method of recording signals from aircraft; working hours; number of channels and frequencies; use of radar; code words.
REEL 2 Continues: call signs; posted to RAF Coltishall, 1942; opinion of station; reason for women being preferred as radio operators; description of voice training tuition in London; importance of diction and pitch; reason for not using operators with strong regional accents; hearing tests; use of interpreter for talking to Polish pilots; description of flight control room and personnel; story of fatal accident next to billet; role as radio operator; range of radio; story of hearing German voices on radio; story of being strafed by German fighter while walking along lane; reaction to loss of pilots and crews; types of aircraft flown from RAF Coltishall; social life and recreational activities; relations with other nationalities and pilots; reason for not using own name over radio; description of uniform and insignia; attitude to night flying duties at satellite station and working underground; description of testing radio equipment and headsets for pilots; posted to RAF Ternhill, Shropshire, 1943; comparison of duties as radio operator in flight control with duties at RAF Coltishall; types of aircraft; problem of flying accidents due to inexperienced pilots; reaction to being posted to RAF Jurby, Isle of Man, 1944; recreational activities opinion of living conditions and food; types of aircraft.
REEL 3 Continues: story of flying boat exploding; last posting before demobilization; reason for preferring to fly home; opinion of Spitfire; various memories of leave in London, 1945; opinion of film 'Battle of Britain'; attitude to death of pilots and crews; opinion of living conditions and accommodation for WAAFs; description of laundry, washing and sanitary facilities; comparison of treatment of male and female personnel in RAF; problem of lack of privacy; attitude to regulations on relations with male colleagues; story of registering complaint about living conditions; opinion of food and NAAFI facilities; pay as Group 4 radio operator; expenses; story of visiting US camp at Sudbury to see Bob Hope show; opinion of treatment by US servicemen and facilities on base; various memories of home leave in Derbyshire.
REEL 4 Continues: length and frequency of leave; attitude to death and being ordered to make a will; psychological state of combat pilots; awareness of progress of war, 1944; further comments on living conditions for WAAFs; personal relationships with pilots and attitude to marriage. Reflections on wartime service and problem of adjustment to civilian life.