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This story was submitted to the People’s War Site by Three Counties Action, on behalf of Elaine Symes, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

In 1938 I was a volunteer. Once a week we went up to the Drill Hill, near Gower Street in London. I joined in the Munich Period. My number was 849 — one of lowest — quite something isn’t it? Then I was working in London I was living in a hostel owned by Bourne and Hollingsworth — a big store in Oxford Street, which was brilliant. We weren’t allowed out after 12 O’clock at night and if we did I needed permission.

I went to the ATS once a week where I learnt bandaging and marching — but I always did my right arm with my right leg!

We became engaged in 1938 and we said then if war breaks out, whatever happens we will get married. At the time my husband was working in a bank but we couldn’t get married as he was under 25.

He joined the special constables and once a week he had to go on duty to learn how to be a copper. The night of August 24th 1939, his birthday, I got back after 12 and there was a note telling me to report the next morning at 8. I managed to get a suitcase ready. All these ATS girls had been called. On 25th September we went along. Nobody knew what it was all about — war hadn’t even broken out. I went and phoned Norman and said I had managed to find out where we were going.

In the meantime we marched to Holborn to collect our uniforms — we must have been amongst the first in the country to get our uniforms — the wolf whistles we got! We got back to the drill hall and we waited and waited and waited. We got on an underground train at Tottenham Court Road.

We ended up in Edgware and were sent to Stanmore by an army lorry. We were posted to the Ak-Ak Headquarters. Nobody knew we were coming. The police had to get us billeted. I was billeted to a cottage on Honey Pot Lane with another girl. The lady was an artist — obviously very wealthy as she had a housekeeper, car and chauffeur. Next day, she left to her cottage in Cornwall, so we had luxury.

The men who were working at the Ak Ak Headquarters were all soldiers from the First World War. They kept saying, ‘has the balloon gone up yet?’ I didn’t know what they meant. On the morning war was declared, I had to take a message across a ridge to Glenthorn Priory (a bomber command) and the air raid siren sounded and all across London I saw the barrage balloons go up — the most incredible sight.

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