Irene Buckland was born in 1912. In 1938 she joined the FANYs along with her younger sister Chrystal King (nee Eileen Maud Chrystal Buckland). Their father, Sir Henry Buckland, was the General Manager of The Crystal Palace. They both felt they had been more or less “shanghaied” into joining the FANYs as the Chairman’s wife was part of FANY recruitment. Irene recalls that people wondered who they were when they first appeared in uniform. The FANYs were very proud of their uniform which they felt was much better than the ATS uniform. Both Irene and Chrystal were based initially at Woolwich. Irene was met with some initial distain by the male officers being a female driver but once they knew she could drive they were fine. She joined the Anglo-American FANYs before leaving to look after her parents. She continued in the ARP, however, missed the camaraderie of the FANYs.   The publication of this previously unseen interview was made possible thanks to a grant from The Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Charity, to mark 80 years since the closure of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in January 1946. 

Daphne Brookes tells how in 1943, after watching a recruitment film and without her parent’s knowledge, she enlisted in the army.  She was just eighteen years old. After a period of basic training, Daphne was sent to the Isle of Man for six months for wireless training, after which she was posted to Kedleston Hall near Derby. She describes her work covering radio stations, which often had a considerable amount of interference, and writing down five letter blocks of code which dispatch riders took away. She comments that she had no real clue about what happened to them, or about the existence of Bletchley Park. At the time, no unnecessary information was disclosed, but Daphne was, in fact, working at one of the ‘Y Service’ secret wireless intercept stations which provided raw material for the codebreakers. She describes herself as ‘a very very small cog in a big wheel’ but is proud of the part she played.

Sylvia joined the WRAC in 1974 in hopes of working with animals and also learning to drive. After completing her initial training at Guildford, she began her specialised training with the police after performing well in her aptitude test. Unlike some other veterans, Sylvia remembers feeling she had a choice regarding her trade and as a result thoroughly enjoyed her experience with the military police. Belonging to squad 7405, she recalls the complex physical and mental training she had to complete in order to become a ranked military police officer. Although never weapon trained, she was taught how to engage in unarmed combat and endured NBC training procedures. In this interview Sylvia provides an insight into the feelings of WRAC women existing under the shadow of IRA threats. Discussing the Guildford bombing of 1974, she recalls the constant fear that hung over those serving in the army in their shared realisation that everyone was a target. She also describes her desires to push against the restrictions on female horse riding, and was eventually posted to Aldershot as the first female rider to join the military police mounted troop. Sylvia's interview provides an interesting and powerful account of one of the many ambitious women who served under the WRAC, and showcases the importance of documenting these women as army veterans.