大象传媒

I was called up for the Forces on October 22nd 1942 along with all single women born in 1920. I presented myself at a hall somewhere in Birmingham where I was told to consider myself with about 50 other women or so, in the ATS (Womens Auxilliary Service). After a couple of days there we were split up and sent to various places for our training ,mine being the barracks of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment.
We were knocked into shape which was pretty tough especially having to complete our ablutions in a communal group of about 8 or 9 in a very primitive and cold room. We had FFI inspections (Free From Infections) which were rather invasive.

We were taught how to march in unison 鈥� this was the most enjoyable part of our stay in my opinion. Cleaning the toilets was the least enjoyable !
Although the majority of us enjoyed marching there was one girl who just walked . She just could not march and as she was in our platoon and we were practising for a competition at the end of the training, she wasn鈥檛 very popular.
Unfortunately one night she took an overdose of aspirins and we were woken up to the sound of our platoon NCO, who slept in a little room at end of the dormitory, walking the girl up and down and telling her to wake up. She got over it and was sent home unfit for service. We were very sorry and felt quite guilty. Incidentally we won the drill competition, but the pleasure was rather dimmed.
From there we were split up again and I was sent to Colerne Aerodrome where I was introduced to the women with whom I was to spend the next two years. We came from all over the country- Warwickshire, Wales, Scotland, London and various other places.
Our job was to become Plotters and we worked in conjunction with the WAAF in the operations block. We were given a pass and would not be allowed in unless we showed it to the RAF Sergeant on duty.
Being a plotter entailed receiving information from one of the WAAFS stationed round a map of the area with which we were dealing. We could see the WAAFS as we were separated by a glass partition. We were attached to our map of the same area
and our job was to send information by phone to the Searchlight sites in our area, who in turn sent the information to the Gun Sites.
We worked a three shift system so that the area was manned 24 hours continually.
At first we were billeted on a site about 1 mile from the aerodrome and we had to march when going on duty and march back when our watch was over. Whilst we were there on one afternoon I was escorted to see the Company Officer along with another AT of the same name. I was W/209417 Pte Lewis O.B. She was W/209916 Pte Lewis V. I was marched into the presence of the Officer who asked me my name and number - I told her and was dismissed. The other AT went through the same routine and this time things were different. Apparently she had written to her boyfriend telling him all about our work and as he was serving overseas and our work was secret, she was seriously reprimanded and got 14 days confined to camp.
Shortly after this, we were moved from the hutment to a lovely 18th Century Mansion a few miles from the aerodrome. It was
called Cheney Court and was a great improvement on our previous billet.

Cheney Court
We considered ourselves very fortunate in being transferred to this lovely old mansion.Although it was short of toilets and the bathroom was non existent and we had to go to the local village for a bath, we were happy there.

After we had been there a few days, my friend Daphne and I returned from the village on our afternoon off to find an ambulance in the back entrance, which we had to use. We went indoors to be ushered upstairs away from the kitchen and the scullery area, but not before we had heard a female voice shouting 鈥淥h my feet, my feet鈥�
We discovered later that the WAAF Admin Sergeant had returned from leave expecting to find WAAF personnel occupying the premises instead of which ATS were there. Apparently she had gone up to the top floor and either fell through the window or jumped. We were never told what happened to her , but it put a real dampner on our spirits.
We were transported to the aerodrome in a soft topped lorry driven by a real Cockney called Bert. As I was a Lance Corporal by now, I was able to sit by him in the front much to the chagrin of the rest of the watch. One night when another AT and myself came off duty,we arranged to help ourselves to a couple of peaches which were hanging in profusion against a wall. As it was blackout we had to feel for them -to no avail. They had all been picked. Next day I had to go along to the Officers鈥� common room with a message. There they were 鈥� all the peaches nestling in cotton wool along the window ledge!
The Princess Royal came to inspect us one day. We had to spring clean Cheney Court from top to bottom in preparation for this 鈥� in our off duty times! Still we had fun during the week .
We had to 鈥榤ake do and mend鈥� 鈥� in the garden weather permitting.
There was a summer house at the bottom of the huge garden and sometimes after night duty I would try to get some sleep
in there. There was always a bevvy of ATS in the house during the day so it was very noisy. I went on one course whilst at Cheney Court, with another AT. We were driven in a jeep into the wilds of the countryside and billeted with RAF and WAAF personnel. We were taken to a radar station to learn as much as possible during the week we were there. It was very interesting and when I see it in operation in wartime films on the television, it takes me straight back to those days. After our first visit, we had to find our way on foot. We found a short cut through a farm and were delighted with the new born bullocks who liked to suck our fingers.

When Ack Ack was disbanded, due to the arrival of Doodle Bombs and the V 2鈥檚, we left Cheney Court and were sent to another Regimental barracks to be re deployed. We were there for about one month and were interviewed to be posted to various depots. Whilst we were there we went blackberrying in the fields around the barracks. We weren鈥檛 too fond of being in the vicinity of the cows in the same fields but we came to no harm and it was a lovely Autumn so we enjoyed it while it lasted. The catering officer had blackberry and apple pies made which went down a treat with ice cream sent over from an American Air Depot.
As I was a full Corporal by this time it was my job to take the platoon on the barracks square for marching practice. A new experience for me !
Finally it was time to take up our various postings.

Record Office, Ashford, Middlesex
I arrived at my billets after a short leave, which was at a school called 鈥楾he Welsh Girls School鈥� which was a private school , I believe, before the war. The actual Record office was another school a short walk away. We worked with civilians and of course I had to get used to different ATS women. We kept the records of different Regiments and worked office hours, which was a nice change. One night we were all bedded down when there was the a largest bang I had ever heard in my life. I was lifted up in the air off my bed and some women actually found themselves on the floor. It was a V2 rocket which had exploded about 200/300 yards away. Our windows were all blown out we had very severe headaches for days.
Next day as soon as we were off duty we went to see the damage. There was a huge hole where two houses had stood. It was roped off and we were not allowed too near.
Going on leave was quite an experience. I had to go through London on the Underground and was always glad when the train to the Midlands (as it is now known) was well away from the outskirts. Once I got as far as Liverpool St. Station on my way back from leave and had to spend the night there, I 鈥榮lept鈥� in a room with both sexes of the Forces on a hard pallet. There had been a rocket near the line. I was reprimanded when I got back the next day- I can鈥檛 imagine how 鈥榯hey鈥� expected me to arrive on time. I used to spend some weekends at my sister鈥檚 house in Ilford- which was known as Doodle Bug Alley. Fortunately none came our way but it must have been frightening for my sister who was a civilian (her husband was in the RAF serving in the Far East).
After about a year I got a posting to Warwick Record Office and I spent the rest of my time in the Forces nearer home. I did the same type of work and kept the records of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.
My days of hitching were over now as I was able to get home for 48 hours leave and of course 10 days leave.
I was demobbed on the March 17th 1946 after 31/2 years of varied experience, which when I look back, I can say, on the whole, I enjoyed.
This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Anastasia Travers a volunteer with WM CSV Actiondesk on behalf of Olive Thibault and has been added to the site with his permission. Olive Thibault fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

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