大象传媒

LIFE IN THE UNIQUE 93rd SEARCHLIGHT REGIMENT RA manned only by women.
Recorded by Pamela Brown

I volunteered for the army just before I was due to be called up .My mother was very reluctant but realised it would be better than being drafted into a factory. Call-up papers came very quickly and I was sent to Warrington.
We were all issued with kit which fitted where it touched but was very good quality. We were quickly given an immense amount of inoculations and felt very ill. We were taught how to march and drill, and especially to do what we were told!
At home I had been a very picky eater, but that quickly changed, we were kept so busy that we were always hungry and pleased to eat anything. They confined us to barracks for about a month in case we ran home!

After an Intelligence test we were asked what we would like to do. I said anything but office work. I would have liked to be a driver but they had enough of those and so I was sent to a new searchlight unit which had been formed. This was the 93rd Searchlight Regiment RA the only one in the world entirely manned by women. We were trained at Kinmel Park in North Wales for three months. It was midsummer but when we did PE we changed in our huts and then had to put on our great coats so that the men would not see our legs!

I was sent to Luton where we were a very small self contained group clustered round the searchlight, sleeping and working altogether. It was a 鈥榬olls royce鈥� of a site because we had running water and flush toilets.
To operate the radar you sat in a little cabin with a screen and you got blips on, that meant anything with metal showed up, and it could be a bit 鈥榟it and miss鈥�. I still have a newspaper cutting saying how wonderful it was and how well it worked 鈥� I have scribbled on it 鈥渟ometimes鈥�! The Germans must have thought it was important because they dropped little bits of metal to upset the equipment. In the mornings these strips were hanging all round on the trees- I still have some of them.

Later I was sent near Hemel Hempstead part of the outer defences of London. Putting on the great searchlights was very frightening because England was in complete darkness and you knew that the Germans would try to shoot down the ray of light, although luckily for us they never did.
I think one of the most important things we did which saved a lot of airmen鈥檚 lives, was when damaged aircraft asked for help to get home we beamed the searchlight in the direction of the nearest airfield to guide the them safely in.

About 8 years ago a group of former ATS searchlight operators were on a trip to Chatsworth when one of the stewards asked where we were from. When told it was a group of searchlight girls, he grew very animated and said "I have always wanted to meet you because you saved my life".

We had a night and a day off once a week. I had never been to London and decided to get on a bus destination Marble Arch. When I got out I didn鈥檛 know what to do so I asked a policeman where I could stay and he sent me to the Catholic Club in Chester Street. It was very good and cheap - sleeping in dormitories with a good breakfast. I went there often and got to know London very well.
I used to go to a caf茅 near Victoria Station that served lovely steaks. I had been going there for some time before I saw a notice saying horsemeat only in this establishment!
The WVS also ran a leave-hostel in Vincent Sq. and that was good. I remember so well the two ladies who booked you in and they were extremely high class and wore enormous diamonds rings on their fingers! They were lovely and really helpful.

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