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This story was told to me by my mother, Jenny Siddle.
In 1945 hostilities had nearly ceased, so Winston Churchill came over to consult with General Eisenhower at S.H.A.E.F. (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) in the Palace of Versailles. I was in a British A.T.S.Unit of male and female teleprinter operators engaged to carry out signals work with the American Forces.

Mrs. Churchill came over too and visited our billet known as ‘The WAAC Barracks’, where all Allied Women Forces were together for security. Conditions were rather primitive to say the least. As Mrs. Churchill chatted to some of the girls she asked if there was anything we thought we could do with in the way of ‘Welfare’. ‘Oh, a nice cup of tea,’ said one of the girls. Mrs. Churchill was rather surprised, more so when she learned that we had been there for nine months without a cup of tea. As we were with the Americans nothing but coffee was served, not with milk powder but with cream powder making it very thick and rich. We were not complaining but a refreshing cup of tea, especially on night duty, would have been nice.

A couple of weeks later whilst waiting on the station platform, my friend and I noticed a woman in a dark blue uniform with the letters Y.W.C.A. (Young Women’s Christian Association) on her shoulder. She smiled and came over to us saying ‘You are going to get your cup of tea, thanks to Mrs. Churchill.’ This lady had come over to make the arrangements. A burnt out shop had been found near the Palace Gates and as soon as it had been cleaned up she would be back with her team of lady helpers. I can not remember her name but her face and hands were very disfigured and scarred as if she had been burnt. We later discovered that she had been a pilot! If it had not been for our need for a cup of tea we would never have met this brave lady.

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