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I joined the WAAF when I was 18 and was posted to Headquarters Fighter Command at Bentley Priory. From there I was posted to HQ 85 Group at Uxbridge. At first there were 35 WAAF and eventually we were posted to Normandy. I was then a Corporal GD (Tech) and worked for the Group Captain for whom I had worked since I had first joined. Here we lived in tents in a cider apple orchard and had to wash in the open. We were there about ten days and then flew in an Anson aircraft to Ghent on Belgium.
We were still in Ghent when there was the break-through in the Ardennes and the airfield attached to us was attacked. The Polish Squadron stationed there was out — which was a good thing as all the aircraft on the ground were shot up and there were casualties.
Eventually in 1945 we were posted to Hamburg in Germany. We travelled over- night by train from Ghent. It was bitterly cold and we were wrapped in blankets. We stopped for a meal en route in; I believe the railway sidings at Düsseldorf. By this time I was a Sgt and had been mentioned in Despatches. On arrival in Hamburg the Senior NCOs were billeted outside the camp and every morning when we left for duty we saw swastikas scratched out on the pavement, these were ignored. The building where we worked looked very new and very modern. We were there all winter and then demob started. We travelled home by ship — and transferred and I think I slept in 7 different beds on that journey’ The worst stop was in a small brick building with 2 beds (upright) — I think they were army quarters.
However I was very proud to have served with the WAAF — it is something I shall never forget.

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