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This story was submitted by Wendy Young on behalf of Audrey Wind and Gwendoline Page, and has been added to the website with their permission. They fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

I had to report for war service in the early summer of 1944, and asked to go into the Wrens.I was told that no more women were being accepted into the Wrens, but I persevered,quoting a strong family connection with the Royal Navy, and was finally accepted.I was told to report to
Tulliechewan Castle on the shores of Loch Lomond in Scotland, on August 16th, for initial training.
Tulliechewan consisted of the castle on the hill, where the officers lived,and a number of Nissen huts below where we lived, together with a drill hall, a mess, a forecastle, galley, and various offices, etc.
The Wrens was the only one of the three women's service's which operated this initial training scheme. We had some pretty taxing jobs to do during this fortnight, such as cleaning out lavatories and incinerators, scrubbing the steps of the castle by the light of a torch at 7am etc., to see what we were made of. During this time,we had the option to leave(and do service elsewhere);likewise the Wrens had the option to tell us we were not suitable. I quite enjoyed this training period, and, incidentally,had my first proper night's sleep at Tulliechewan after two years of bombing, doodlebugs and shelling in Folkestone.
During the second week, six of us were told to report to the castle. We racked our brains to try to think what we had done wrong, but could think of nothing! When we arrived, we were told to sit outside a room in alphabetical order. I was no.5, since, fortunately for me,there was one called Wright.The first pro Wren was called in, and we waited with baited breath for her to come out and tell us what we were there for, but, when the door opened, she marched straight past us and out of the castle! This was repeated with each one until it was my turn. I marched into the room to find a long table, behind which was seated about half-a-dozen very important looking people,some in uniform, some in mufti. I stood to attention before them, and one-the Wrens Officer, I think- told me that they wanted me to do some very secret work , but couldn't tell me what, and would I like to go away and think about it? I said I would do it,whatever it was, was thanked and told that, when I left the room,I mustn't mention anything at all about the matter to anyone. I was then told to 'about turn', and I marched out of the room and straight past poor Pro-Wren Wright! I learned much later that my local Police had been contacted to check that I had a clean sheet and no subversive leanings!
Those of us who were selected were soon posted to the Wesley College at Headingly, Leeds, where we stayed for one week,and from there we went straight to Eastcote, one of the out-stations of Bletchley Park, the war-time Government Code and Cypher School-a title we were forbidden ever to utter. We were called Pembroke (PV) Wrens on special duties X
There were 800 Wrens at Eastcote when I was there, 200 on each of four watches, A,B,C,and D. I was to join C watch. The premises- at the far end of Lime Grove- consisted of A block, where we all lived, and B block, The heavily-guarded and fortified place where we worked. The eight cabins in A block , two to each watch, were named after Royal Naval Aircraft Carriers, and I was in HMS Formidable- a happy coincidence since my cousin was serving as a Commander on HMS Formidable at that time. each watch had an Officer and four Petty Officers. Since people hardly ever moved away, it was easy to see why we had been told that there was virtually no chance of promotion!
The people who looked after us in A block, including the Officers, had no idea what went on in B block, such was the level of security.
We were to learn the day after we arrived at Eastcote that we were to be involved in the work of trying to break the German Enigma Codes,and that we weould be trained to operate the Bombes( named after the Polish 'Bomba'), a large number of which were housed in B block at Eastcote.We were issued with special passes bearing our photographs, and, although the men on guard at B block got to know us, we always had to go through an identity procedure each time we entered. The block had a very high wall all round it,and there was a good deal of barbed wire round about.
The huge rooms in B block,all branching off the main corridor,were called bays,and each bay was named after a country.The machines in a particular bay were named after towns in that country. I worked mostly in Yugoslavia, on a Bombe called Split.By each Bombe was a large table and chair. there was a small room at the end of each bay where we went to test'stops' on small machines, and where, if it was a good stop,we sent the result over a scrambled line to Bletchley Park. One of the end bays was staffed by United States service personnel, and we also had members of the R.A.F. working there, together with the Post Office engineers, who serviced the machines.
The detail of how we operated the Bombes has been very well documented by Diana Payne in chapter 17 of the book "Codebreakers", and so I will not repeat it here. All I will add is that, as in all branches of code-breaking, the work was often tedious,but the vital nature of it kept us alert at all times,even when we were very tired, which we often were,owing to the strain involved and the fact that we were working watches. These watches were of 8 hour duration.We did a week of day watch,8am to 4pm, then a week of evening watch 4pm to midnight,followed by a week of night watch, midnight to 8am.After night watch, we had to attend Divisions, which was purgatory when all we wanted to do was to go to bed! After our week of night watch, we had what was called a 'Friday While', which consisted of four days off.We had regular security lectures,when secrecy was re-emphasised, any lapses anywhere in the service referred to, and bits of successful code-breaking and its results were reported.
Everyone in B block had his or her own mug,many of them elaborately painted, and a tea trolley would come round once on each watch. Sometime during the watch, we went over to A block for a meal, but these visits had to be staggered, so that the Bombes could be kept in operation. There was a public footpath between blocks A and B, and there had been reports of attacks,and so it was quite an ordeal to go across on one's own on night watch at about 3 or 4am. I remember very well that I used to run across at something approaching Olympic speed on those occasions.
During my time at Eastcote, quite a good concert was put on one evening by people who were not on duty.Wren Audrey Pullen, who used to broadcast on B.B.C. radio when duties permitted, took part, and there was quite a lot of other talent.
There was a very good W.V.S.canteen at Ruislip, a couple of stops away on the tube,and we used to go there as often as possible.A kindly husband and wife, who helped there, had 'open house' in their own home for about six of us, and shared their rations with us.I kept in touch with them until they died, as did another member of our group.
When on evening watch,it was possible to go into London on the tube for a few hours, and we sometimes went to Kew Gardens, where it was both tranquil and fairly safe from air raids. A friend and i managed to go to central London on VE.day and we attended the morning service of thanksgiving in Westminster Abbey. We also had a marvellous view, standing on the large base of a lamp-post,of the King and Queen, Winston Churchill, and many others, who drove through the streets past the cheering crowds.
Towards the end of the war in Europe, we were told that Special Duties X Wrens would be needed to go to Colombo,and I volunteered for this, which I had to do, since I was then under-age for compulsory overseas service. I had my medical, but then the Atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the war with Japan to an end, and so none of us was sent there.
Although our special duties had come to an end, the Wrens refused to demobilise us, and we had to move to other catergories- but that's another story!

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