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This story was submitted to the People’s War website by Terence and Susan Sedgwick of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of Pauline Abbott and has been added to the website with her permission. M/s Abbott fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was 17 when I joined the WAAF and lived in Leicester. Winston Churchill was looking for radar operators to replace the men sent overseas, so I was Churchill’s secret weapon!
I went to Gloucester for initial training and was selected for radar training, which was carried out at Yeatsbury.
When I was trained, I was sent to Truro, which was ‘CH’ (long range high flying aircraft). We worked a 4-watch shift system, 4 days on and 1 day off. I then went to Trevose Head and was billeted in Padstow (medium range and shipping) and then to the Isle of Wight (shipping and low flying aircraft).
I used to pass aircraft plots to Ventnor for identification and one day I was passing a plot to one of the girls there and she said that she was under the table (being bombed) and then the line when dead. They were bombed on a regular basis.
Next I went to Cleveland in mobile units. After a bit 3 of us were sent down to Winterton (Norfolk)(10cm low flying shipping priority). We used to go on liaison trips to Yarmouth on motor torpedo boats and motor gunboats (MTB’s and MGB’s).
One day we were off the air because of the wind and I volunteered to go up the tower to turn the aerial when I saw a doodle bug go past the window and land in the trees.

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