大象传媒

This story was submitted to the people鈥檚 war web site by Sutton Coldfield Library on behalf of Mrs Margaret Ward and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

In 1941 I volunteered to join the ATS. I did basic training at Aldermaston in Berkshire. There I was kitted out, made a friend and settled down to army life. Mr Churchill鈥檚 daughter had left the camp as I joined it. We all took several tests to see what we were best suited for. Although most of us would like to have been drivers, our hopes were soon dispelled "no drivers wanted". I decided I would like to join a gun site as Radar Operator. At that time we were called Gun Operators, 鈥淕un Layers鈥�. Radiolocation came later and still later Radar.

So with six or seven others we set off, accompanied by an ATS officer for Devizes. The camp there was very military and we had to march under the command of a Sergeant Major. As it was winter, the parade ground was very icy, but march we did. Our next training was at Tonfanau in Wales, where we continued our Radar training. The Guns received the information that we were receiving it and fired at a 鈥淪leeve鈥� towed by a plane with a very brave pilot.

At this camp our battery was completed with the girls who worked the predictors and height finders, spotters, gunners etc. I think we were there 4 weeks and then we had our first spot of leave. After that we assembled at Wallsend (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) and another site near Tynemouth on the coast. The battery was divided into two sites, at first I was at the Wallsend site but later moved to the coastal site.

We were kept very busy and when on duty had to be ready for action at any time of day or night. One day during daylight a bomber flew fairly low, I think he had been hit and was going down into the sea, but he dropped his bombs and one fell on our Gunsite. Nobody was hurt, the bomb had fallen where all of our cables were buried, the transmitter unit was full of shrapnel holes, but the girls were ok.One got mentioned in Despatches because she had remembered to turn the power off.

Another time towards the end of the war, our camp was showered with Incendiaries, luckily not one went off. In between times we were examined to see that we were all keeping on top of the job and the whole battery would go to a 鈥淔iring site鈥� where special officers and sergeants wearing red bands on their hats, would see that we knew our job. We got "trade pay鈥� because we had passed our tests.

We were at Firing camp in Scotland when D-Day was launched, no rail or road travel was allowed, everything was being used to move troops. We were only returning to our own sites. Eventually we did move, we were stationed in Scotland between Glasgow and Edinburgh. But as the war progressed we were moved to Romney Marshes, because the 鈥渄oodle-bugs鈥� were coming over. The fighter planes were the first to try and down them over the sea. Those that got through became our targets.

Later we had the V2鈥檚, we were stationed in London then. I was on night duty trying to track them then but it was just like a light on the screen. Much to our annoyance (as we had been allowed to go to bed)our Sergeant woke us, we had to get dressed, the 鈥渂rass hats鈥� had come to hear our report.

We were still in London on VE day, but I was not on leave, so could not go to see the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, a few of us joined some people near the camp who had made a bonfire. The family had the Father, two sons and the daughter鈥檚 fianc茅e who were all in the Navy and happened to be home.

Well our gunsite wasn鈥檛 needed, so we all went off to different jobs, I went to the pay Corps and it was nearer to my home, later a girl wanted an exchange, to be near her mother who was sick, so I got the exchange and was billeted at home and was there when my boyfriend came home from India and got married and demobed.

By Margaret Ward, ex Private Bennett, w/104720 Heavy Ack Ack (m) battery. (m) is for mixed. The soldiers in mixed batteries were not A1.

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