��ѿ��ý

The time came for a change of faces and I was rotated with others, to uniformed work in London. We were quartered in Embassy buildings near the Albert Hall, these having been closed due to the war.

From there we were involved in a wide variety of duties such as patrolling the main line railway stations, underground stations, and the west End. Some girls ‘went on the run’ they had no money, no ratio books, no identity cards and often ended up working in the brothels. We had to carry out searches of these establishments and send the girls back to their units. This involved working with the Metropolitan Police, court appearances and detention until transport could be arranged for these girls.

Sometimes this kind of work was very distressing, some of the girls had become pregnant and were in a poor state. We had to visit their parents and their reactions were some times most harrowing. I felt great sympathy for them and have many stories I could tell.

One incident took place at Leicester Square Underground Station where a colleague and I apprehended a WAAF accompanied by a soldier. After questioning, it turned out they were both ‘absent without leave’ and were detained. My colleague went off to arrange transport whereupon the girl pushed me and the soldier hit me on the head with a torch he was carrying. I reeled back dazed and they ran off. My colleague returned to find me leaning against a wall in a distressed state. There were two RAF policeman whose duty it was to protect is as this was a high vice area. They failed in this and were later charged with “dereliction of duty”.

There were many incidents, some sad, some humorous, some dangerous and some just plain routine.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.