After being demobbed, Naval man Len Hurst took to post-war England in search of a suitable new job. When promises of employment within the Merchant Navy fell flat, Len found luck in the field of aviation, gaining his Civil Aviation licence and beginning work as a Radio Officer.  In this interview he recalls his time with Southend Airways, coinciding with the start of the Berlin Airlift. He describes his own experiences flying with different crews, as well as some pilots who were almost certainly more than three sheets to the wind. Len’s anecdotes include one hair-raising flight, when a problem with the control locks forced his plane to fly at a scarily low altitude, and another lucky escape following a crash caused by the collapse of his plane’s undercarriage. With Hamburg flattened, Len and his crews helped to deliver goods like butter, coal, and flour. When considering the initial resentment from many Berliners, he reiterates that the Airlift was to “feed” people, something which otherwise might not have happened.  Similar to many, Len has no regrets, and recalls the Airlift as “a very interesting period” in his life. He has since written a book, detailing his experience. 

En route from France to England in 1942, a chance encounter with two American SOEs in Ireland led Betty Norton to join the FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry). After training as a coder she was sent to serve as a WT operator in North Africa, where she worked in blistering heat and sometimes for 16 hours at a stretch. In her interview, Betty shares fascinating insights about her life and work during service, and the constant innovations needed to keep coded messages secure. After falling ill with malaria and jaundice, Betty was sent back to France where she could continue working closer to home, and she recalls the difficulties and unhappiness of life under occupation. When the war finally ended, Betty was demobbed in France but it wasn’t until she returned to London that she experienced the true relief of freedom.

He struggled with his mental health and worried about the drugs that the military had given to those deployed in the gulf. One day Alan woke up told Tracy he didn’t love her anymore, leaving her and their children struggling with huge debts and a lack of understanding. Alan has never returned and Tracy has had to raise her children and rebuild her life alone. Watch as Tracy describes her battles to get Alan the help he needed before it was too late.