大象传媒

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The 93rd Search Light Regiment Royal Artillery. The only all female regiment in the British Army. There were three Batteries to the Regiment and I was posted to 301 with H.Q. Hatfield. The Battery divided in to four troops. I was attached to D troop sited near Hatfield (North London Defences).

D Troop HQ at Welwyn Garden City housed the searchlight crew with three officers and about 25 girls. Five drivers for Utility, 15CWT and 30CWT trucks and 2 motor bike riders, 2 cooks, orderlies, 1 office , 3 RT operators and I sergeant responsible for all personnel at the HQ site and 5 smaller sites. I sergeant for all detachment crews Searchlight on sites and a smaller number of domestic personnel.

Apart from our allocated job we were completely responsible for the running of the site - cleaning, chimney sweeping, path laying and painting. Painting - yes I remember it well. We were detailed to smarten up the site (could it be another inspection). Paint was delivered to site - get on with it. Our huts were wooden ones so had inside walls painted white. We, the ten inhabitants of one hut wondered what to do to brighten things up - like another colour. The paint was what was called distemper. We decided blue would be nice. How do you make white paint blue? Two bottles of blue ink 'Quink' well stirred into the can - blue paint! We were very pleased. Inspection! "Where did you get the paint?" - The officers were very envious - theirs was white! They laughed and congratulated us so we kept our blue walls.

Assistance from men was only for repair and heavy maintenance.
D troop manned a 150 degrees searchlight and there were 5smaller 90 degree search light sites around us - approx 5-7 miles in a wide semi-circle all completely self sufficient and all in to the country side with only radio transmitter contact.
We worked with Radar for tracking enemy aircrafts - dousing the searchlight when the guns stopped and the fighters went up in to the air. We also had a system of using the beam to point in the direction of airfields when it was known damaged aircrafts were trying to get back to base.

Later on in the war we were moved in to London. By then the V1's & V2's were raiding us. The smaller search lights were mounted on to Lorries to assist the work of the rescue squads. The 93rd regiment were not needed after VE day and the girls were posted to other jobs. I was sent to York and then to Chester - employed filling out demobilisation forms and miles of other paperwork, to soldiers returning from Burma and the Middle East.

The first solider we sent to the demob centre New York. We met at lunch time, coming back to base with his cardboard box. We, a gang of girls, surrounded him and made him show us what he got. After all, we had done the paperwork! And there it all was on the pavement - grey pinstripe suit, trilby hat, shoes, socks, shirts, tie and undies.

Then we packed him all up, wished him goodbye and the next day he went home and we went back to the paperwork for a while longer.

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