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Twelve members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Group portrait of twelve members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in two rows in shirtsleeves. Front row is sitting, rear row standing. Third from the left in the front row is a section officer, all the others are non-commissioned. In front a small…
18 service personnel in front of a lorry
A group of 13 airmen and five members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, all wearing battledress, in three rows in front of a Royal Air Force lorry. Three leading aircraftswomen are sitting in front. There is one woman in the centre row and in the…
49 members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in front of a wooden building
49 members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, wearing tunics and peaked caps, in three rows. In the centre of the front row two officers, all others are non-commissioned. In the background a wooden hut with two windows.
Seven aircrew and two members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in front of a 149 Squadron Lancaster
Seven aircrew wearing Mae Wests and two members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in battledress stand in front of Lancaster OJ-R with its flaps down. On the reverse 'Taken at RAF Methwold, the crew and kite take off flying over to G'.
Member of Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Head and shoulders portrait of a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. On the reverse 'With love from Dirt tract [?] Del (De 'Ath)'.
16 members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
16 Women Auxiliary Air Force airwomen in two rows wearing tunics and peaked caps. Front row of six sitting the others standing.
Joan M Wilson
Half-length portrait of Joan Wilson in Women's Auxiliary Air Force uniform. On the reverse '486004 I. M. Hill 1944. TAKEN ON LEAVING 5 GROUP FOR CEYLON'.
Interview with Joan Wilson
Joan Wilson was born in Nettleham near Lincoln. She joined the Women’s Auxilliary Air Force and served as a wireless operator at RAF Morton Hall. The day following the Normandy landings, she had to send an urgent signal to all aircraft, to stop…
Seven aircrew and a crew mascot in front of a Lancaster
Seven aircrew all wearing flying helmets in two rows. Five aircrew stand in the back row and two kneel either side of a airwoman crew mascot also wearing flying helmet in the centre of front row. In the background part of a Lancaster fuselage with…
Seven aircrew and crew bus driver in front of a Lancaster
Five aircrew standing to the rear and two aircrew kneeling either side of an airwoman crew bus driver in front. All are wearing flying helmets. In the background part of a Lancaster fuselage with last squadron letter O and aircraft letter C.
Interview with Bob Frost. One
Bob Frost recounts experiencing the London Blitz as a member of the Auxiliary Fire Service. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force and trained at the Air Gunnery School at Evanton, Scotland. He was then posted to the Operational Training Unit at RAF…
Interview with Elizabeth Eady
Before the war, Liz worked in aeronautical inspection at a factory which made parachutes. She had an interview in Northolt and enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in October 1942. She went to Uxbridge and chose to be a telephonist. After a…
RAF Elsham Wolds Association
A leaflet advertising Elsham Wolds' tenth annual reunion. It features a wartime advert for the WAAF and has the menu for the event.
Interview with Herbert Adams
Herbert Adams grew up in New South Wales Australia and joined the Air Training Corps as soon as it was established. He later joined the Royal Australian Air Force and after training, he completed a tour of operations as a navigator with 467 Squadron.…
Interview with Joyce Bell
Joyce Bell grew up in Hertfordshire and joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in 1940. She served as a clerk in 1 Group Bomber Command where she met her husband and she travelled with him to Canada where he was posted.
Interview with Joyce Colley
Joyce Colley grew up in Leicestershire and Somerset. She was working as a trainee hairdresser before she was conscripted into the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in 1944. After training she worked as a teleprinter operator in an underground bunker. She…
Interview with Frances Anne Cooper
Frances Cooper spent her early life in Uganda before settling with her parents in England for her schooling, then joining the WAAF. She speaks about the small village she lived in during the war, the arrival of Americans and prisoners of war, as well…
Interview with Mary Stanley Foister
Mary Stanley Foister grew up in Buckinghamshire, where her father's farm was taken over as Bomber Command Headquarters. She served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force after she left school. Following training, she had a number of administrative posts…
Interview with Priscilla Henwood
Priscilla was encouraged by a friend’s father to join the 600 Squadron in anticipation of the war. She was called up and was based at Finsbury Barracks, involved in recruitment. Priscilla also worked on the telephone exchange at Clerkenwell.
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Interview with Harry Irons. Two
Harry was under age when he joined the RAF in 1940 after witnessing bombing in London. He went to Blackpool in August 1941 and became a rear gunner. Gunnery school for six weeks at RAF Manby followed, and Harry joined 9 Squadron at RAF Waddington. He…
Interview with Harry James
Harry James grew up in Berkshire and after school began training as a plumber. He joined the RAF and carried out thirty three operations as a rear gunner with 166 squadron. He discusses his crew, who were of different nationalities, of how the…
Interview with Peter Jones
Peter William Arthur Jones (b. 1954) speaks about his father Thomas John Jones DFC (b. 1921, 1640434 and 184141 Royal Air Force). Peter Jones discovered a memoir written by his father, Thomas Jones, a flight engineer, just after he passed away. Peter…
Interview with Ted Mawdsley
Ted grew up in Essex. Before the war he worked for the Marconi Wireless and Telegraph Company. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and became an instrument mechanic. He was posted to RAF Elsham Wolds in 1942 and overseas the following year. After…
Interview with Alan Payne
Alan Payne was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire. He volunteered for aircrew with the Royal Air Force and after initial training was sent to South Africa where he trained as an observer. When he returned to the UK, he was allocated the role of bomb…
Interview with Jean Smith
Jean Smith worked as a clerk in the aircraft manufacturing industry before the war and later served as a secretary in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. She served at 27 Operational Training Unit at RAF Lichfield.