Browse Items (787 total)

  • Tags: Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

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Tells of early life in London, joining the Woman's Auxiliary Air Force in 1941 and training as a driver. Relates experiences at RAF Scampton and then with 57 Squadron as a tractor driver pulling bomb trolleys. Subsequently went to East Kirkby.…

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A letter signed by the Secretary of State for Air, Harold Macmillan, on behalf of the King, addressed to Jean Thompson for distinguished service. Accompanying the letter is a portrait photograph of Jean Thompson in a WAAF uniform.

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A description of their time during the war by their daughter. Her father joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in September 1940. He was captured by the Japanese in Singapore, 1942. He was released on 12 September 1945 and came home on…

ABirkbyB150729.mp3
Bessie Birkby grew up in Sheffield and volunteered for the Women’s Auxilliary Air Force in 1942. She first worked in Balloon Command in Scotland and then trained to be a driver in North Wales. She was then posted to 625 Squadron at RAF Binbrook but…

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Betty Greenwood was born in 1926 in Belton, Lancashire; she attended Princess Mary high school was and privately educated in Paris but returned due to the threat of war. At sixteen she was offered various jobs but decided to join the Royal Observer…

AHabberfieldM180111.mp3
Margaret Habberfield was born in 1923. At sixteen she joined the Royal Air Force after giving her age as eighteen. She began her six-week general training at Harrogate and was billeted with around 20 other girls. Margaret was then posted to RAF…

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Sylvia was born in Mansfield where her father was a miner and her mother had worked at Lawns Mills. She had two brothers and a sister. Sylvia was 15 when she left school to work at the hosiery mills and recalls the German manager being deported. She…

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On the front a squad of women wearing kilts, jackets and beret. Leader carries a RAF ensign. Inside seasons greetings from the WAAF Association.

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On the front women in Women's Auxiliary Air Force uniform and others with kilts and jackets around a shield with air force symbol and other text. On the inside seasons greetings from the WAAF Association.

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On the front artwork with a group of Women's Auxiliary Air Force members watching a four engine bomber flying past over a control tower. On the inside season's greetings from the WAAF Association.

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On the front artwork showing at bottom two elderly ladies on a sofa with coffee table and Christmas tree. Thinking bubbles lead upwards to a crowd of women in uniform round a piano. On the inside left a WAAF Association badge and text 'Our thanks go…

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On the front coloured artwork depicting a group wearing Women's Auxiliary Air Force uniform with a number of large white sacks, One woman second from left is reading a letter. In the background a railway porter and other people. Captioned 'WAAF…

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On the front artwork showing women dressed in various uniform including cooks round a kitchen table covered with cakes and utensils, Text 'Merry Christmas. Signed Betty M Turner. On the inside top text 'Our thanks go to member Betty Turner for…

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A poem sent to Betty Turner's friend Billy to celebrate their 80th. Betty describes the wartime hardships she endured, hint at the bereavement after the loss of the men she loved, stresses the sense of duty toward her country, friendship and…

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A poem written in December 1942 after her first love was shot down over France. After his death Betty resolved to join the Royal Air Force and became a wireless operator. According to a note, she later found out that some of what she wrote down went…

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Margaret Cuthill volunteered for the WAAF in Edinburgh. She went for her basic training at Wilmslow before completing her training as a teleprinter operator at RAF Cranwell. She was then posted initially to 14 Maintenance Unit. After the war she…

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Audrey left school at 14 and began work as a clerical assistant for a tailoring firm in Leeds, then moving into furniture sales.
Audrey was 23 when the war started and was conscripted on 15 December 1942 electing to join the Women's Auxiliary Air…

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Letter mounted on four pages of album. Writes of her activities at RAF Leeming and catches up with family news. Gives reasons for not coming home on leave for Christmas. Describes shirt and pillow cases she had just bought. Writes about several…

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Letter mounted over seven album pages with envelope with last page of letter on seventh album page. Next page has four b/w photographs. Letter gives excuses for not having written. Catches up with family news. Explains they could not get off camp…
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