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At the RAF Bentley Priory, Fighter Command Headquarters, we were in charge of the Air Raid Warning System for London and we had people who rang the bell to instigate evacuate procedure. We also had an Army Liaison girl who let the Army know when planes were taking off and not to shoot them down. We also had Observer Corp representatives along with us and Teleprinters Operators, it was quite a centre of operations liaising. During the time we were on this watch system we never got a full night’s sleep because they bussed us to and fro where we were living. At the beginning we were billeted in a big drill hall, all of us together, about 150 ladies, in a massive dormitory and all we had was an iron bed and three biscuits (mattress). There were people coming in to go to bed while people were asleep and people getting up when you were in bed, the noise was awful. Then we were moved to some big houses in Marsh Lane, Stanmore. Our watch had a house to its self. It must have been a very nice house originally. It had about 5 bedrooms but I’m sure we didn’t leave it in the state it was in when we first arrived. All 45-50 of us on our watch lived in the one house. There wasn’t much room, if you wanted to hang clothes up all you had was a nail in the wall. I lived in the house for two years. There were three of us in a very small bedroom and there was an air raid siren on the wall outside the window. This was during the time of the Battle of Britain and there were frequent air raids. You had to wear your tin hat if you went outdoors during an air raid. We never went to the air raid shelters but we always had to ensure we wore our tin hats and we also carried gas masks with us. Many of the girls turned out the gas mask and used it as a handbag. Make up being considered very important. When we finished our shift we would come back to our house and just collapse into a very deep sleep. One day during an air raid, when the air raid siren had gone off I had slept right through it, I stuck my head out of the window and asked an amazed passer by if there was ‘an air raid on’. The air raid siren went on and off so often that you were never sure whether you were in an air raid or not. Some of the shifts we worked were 8am to 12 midday; then 2pm to 4pm; 8pm to midnight and midnight to 8am. The cooks initially only worked between 8am and 5pm so if you were in bed during those hours you lost a meal. Some days you would get three meals, other days you didn’t get any. If you were on a shift at night there was no food, you didn’t get fed. Because of this irregular feed pattern people started to have awful difficulty with their tummy’s. It played havoc with your digestive system. After about 6 months people were really ill, there were 20 year olds with gastric ulcers and the likes due to the shift system. Then our authorities arranged for us to have sandwiches to eat during our night shifts. We were then allowed to have a ten minute break and get out to have a cup of something with which to have your sandwiches. I vividly recall that mostly we had beetroot sandwiches, which are normally all right, but by the time we got them they were all soggy and the purple of the beetroot had soaked through the bread. I suppose that food was scarce and you had to make do with what you were given. The shifts were then changed so that we did a fortnight on one shift and this eased the digestive problems. When you did a fortnight on night’s it played havoc, it still took some getting used to, when you had your day off, as your sleep pattern was upset. If you came off duty at 12 midnight, by the time we were bussed back to our house and you got to bed it was late. Then you had to get up to have breakfast before starting work again, you were lucky if you had six hours in bed. I remember always feeling sleepy, I could have slept on a window sill, due to the tiredness. I don’t think it was very good for our health, but at least when we were doing a fortnight on a shift at one time we were able to get food. When the cooks were working during the daytime the food was good, we frequently had baked beans for several meals during the day, and to this day I still have a dislike for them. We used to get meat and two vegetables for our main meal. The meals were solid and you didn’t go hungry. If you came off night duty, lunch would be served between 12 midday and 2pm, but since you had only gone to bed at 9am you missed out on that hot meal. Tea would have been served about 5 pm and you would probably get that one, consequently when on night’s you would only get breakfast and tea. Until the shift workers were taken into consideration conditions were dreadful and it took about 6 months to sort out that problem. Given that its now about 60+ years since these events it must not have done me too much harm. I was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1941 in recognition of the work we carried out during the Battle of Britain at Fighter Command Headquarters. It was presented by King George VI at Buckingham Palace for services rendered during the battle period. Another Sergeant who was on the other watch, Babbs Hands was also awarded the BEM for her services rendered.

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