A memoir of life in the WAAF during the war

BBarryCGBarryCGv1.pdf

Title

A memoir of life in the WAAF during the war

Description

Starts with description of feelings and actions beginning of the war. Mother had tried to persuade her to join land army and mentions brief experience and unsuitability for farming. Decided to join the RAF. Details enlistment and initial training with description of training, facilities and food at West Drayton. Continues with telephonist training at Worcester and subsequent posting to 11 Group at RAF Uxbridge. Describes Uxbridge: accommodation, food, work, manning switchboard and working conditions. Continues with detailed description of actions during Battle of Britain. Goes on with description of bombing of London and living through raids to London and local area. Gives detailed description of living accommodation, colleague, room mate and activities. Mentions tying for commission, turning down re-mustering as wireless operator. Continues with posting to Biggin Hill and describes unit and work. Subsequently sent o HQ 2 Group at RAF Huntingdon. Describes location, work, people and activities at new location. Mentions promotions to corporal and sergeant. Gives detailed description of off-duty activities and entertainment. Continues with very detailed description of her work and activities of Bomber Command and the group including Mosquito operations, friends and colleagues. Mentions thousand bomber raid against Cologne and other highlights. Continues with account of the rest of her time at 2 Group and subsequent move to Norfolk. Finally in early 1944 posted to RAF Leeming. Describes location, facilities, work and NCO s course at RAF Wilmslow as well as resident squadrons, aircrew and other personnel. Gives account of getting to know a whole crew well who subsequently volunteered for Pathfinders and went missing on operations. Continues with account of time at RAF Leeming and RAF Skipton on Swale. At the end 36 photographs of her father, his army units, her mother, friends, herself, WAAF colleagues, family, family home as well as Ian Hay, her NCO course, WAAFs and airmen at Leeming and some post war photographs of bomb damage in Germany.

Language

Format

Seventy-six page printed document with text and thirty-six b/w photographs

Rights

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

Identifier

BBarryCGBarryCGv1

Citation

Sergeant C G Barry, “A memoir of life in the WAAF during the war,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 28, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/37264.

Item Relations

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