大象传媒

When I first joined the ATS I was only 16. I put my age up (you were supposed to be 17 and a half). I had to persuade my Dad to sign my application. It was my first time away from home - I couldn't get away fast enough. Not because I had an unhappy home life but because my parents were a bit strict and I thought I'd be able to please myself once I got away. I soon learned that I wouldn't be able to please myself in the Army!

I went to the initial training camp to be kitted out and they asked me 'What do you want to do?' So I said, 'What have you got?'

She went through the list: cook, bottle washer, orderly and so on - I didn't fancy any of them until she said 'What about the searchlights?'. So I said yes to that.

I joined the 93rd (M) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery, the only women-only regiment in the army! There were one or two male mechanics, but they were only there for their brawn! They had to carry the spare parts that were too heavy for the women to lift. We women did all the work!

We were sent to Kymnal Park in Rhyl, North Wales, for basic training where I learnt all about drill and marching and taking care of my kit. I remember my first birthday in the army very well - it was 12 May and I didn't get any post. Noone knew my address so all cards and letters were sent to the regimental HQ and it took a while for them to catch up with me! That was a bit of a low spot.

After 3 months training, we were sent out to our searchlight sites. There were approximately 12 girls to each searchlight site - including a cook, an orderly and maybe a batwoman if there was an officer present. 12 girls to a site, 6 sites to a troop, 4 troops to a battery and 3 batteries to a regiment. That's a lot of girls!

Most of the searchlight sites were fixed locations - we had the very large searchlights which could be operated automatically by the radar girls or manually by us. I was the 'number 5' which meant that I sat on the seat beside the lamp and when we'd pointed the light in the right direction, on the order 'Expose', I'd switch on the beam to illuminate the enemy aircraft.

Behind the searchlight were 2 small tents in which the radar girls sat. They watched the screens and gave us our instructions and the bearings over the RT (radio telephone). The orders were 'Expose' to show a light and 'Dowse' to turn it off.

There were also small searchlights which you could move about on a lorry or truck. Often , they would be used to illuminate bombsites. I have a photo of 3 girls from our site with a small searchlight at a bombsite in Acton.

We were deployed all around Greater London for the defence of the city. We would arrive in a truck and releive the male searchlight crew who would leave on the truck to be transferred overseas. They were never very pleased to see us because they knew they were being shipped onward.

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