大象传媒

Submitted to the site on behalf of B.M. Jarrett by Stafford Library.

During WW2 the American and U.K. Governments entered into an agreement referred to as 'Lend/Lease'. Many people will remember one aspect of this as the U.S. loan of old warships to help our war efforts. However, there were other aspects of the Lend/Lease arrangement and my story is about one of them.

In 1943, when I was 19 yrs old, I was 'called up' by the then Ministry of Labour, to undertake war work. At the time I was a shorthand typist with Bedfordshire County Council, but was directed to work in a secretarial capacity at the U.S. 8th Air Force Service Command Headquarters based in a country house at Milton Ernest (near Bedford).

This H.Q. had the responsibility for the servicing and maintenance for all aspects of the U.S. Air Forces based in the UK and, later on, those based on the continent after the D-Day Landings.

There were 12 British civilian girls at the H.Q. in 1943 and these appointments came under the Lend/Lease arrangements - namely, the American Air Force benefitted form the girls' secretarial skills, but the UK Air Ministry paid our salaries. Each secretary worked for a section of the H.Q.

As the 8th Air Force Service Command was the U.S. equivalent of the HQ RAF Maintenance Command, the station at Milton Ernest had an RAF Officer, who was the liaison between the two H.Q.s and it was my privilege to be secretary to the RAF Liaison Officer.

The civilian girls came from all parts of the UK, but lived in private lodgings in Bedford. We were subject to USAAF rules and were picked up each morning by the station bus and taken to the H.Q. We were expected to work 7 days a week if necessary (particularly during the build up to D-Day). To begin with, we could only take 2 days leave entitlement at a time, but after negotiation and pointing out that the 'troops' had longer leave, we were allowed to take a week at a time.

All in all, we were well-treated: for instance, we ate in the Officer's Mess free of charge; we were issued with PX ration cards (until the Area Quartermaster stopped it!) allowing us to buy sweets and cigarettes cheaply and after uniformed American girls (WAACs) joined the H.Q., cosmetics.

As we were a military base, we had visitors from show business - Bing Crosby and David Niven being among them, and the most famous residents at the H.Q. were Glenn Miller and his Band.

As time went on, a hutted camp was built in the grounds to house enlisted personnel - the officers either living in private accommodation in Bedford or in the H.Q. house itself.

In 1945 at the end of the war with Germany the HQ was handed over to the RAF and subsequently back to the local owner. I stayed with the RAF Liaison Officer to the very end and then was allowed to return to my previous post with Bedfordshire County Council.

I am now 81 years old and decided to record my recollections since although many organisations have been commemorated in wartime memories, I have never heard any mention of the girls of 'Lend/Lease'.

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