Marge Arbury was born in Cobham and at 19 years old she joined up to serve her country.  She completed three weeks of initial training at a training camp in Guildford, where she found out she was very good at Morse code, and because of this was selected to be a wireless operator. She was sent to the Isle of Man to be a Y operator. When she arrived she was required to sign the Official Secrets Act, Marge recalls that one person was sent home, as she had a German grandmother so wouldn’t be eligible for the role. She remembers the six months on the Isle of Man, learning how to understand Morse code, getting her ready for her new role as a wireless operator. In October 1943, she was sent to Harrogate, Forestmore, where she started to decipher German enigma messages. Marge never expected that she would be a spy when she first joined up, she thought she would be driving lorries! Her role as a wireless operator involved going through transmissions trying to find hidden Morse code messages.  She was responsible for covering messages coming out of Yugoslavia, from the German Army, Navy, and the Gestapo. All of the messages were passed on by motorbike to Station X, also known as Bletchley park. Whilst stationed in Harrogate, due to the secrecy of the role, people thought she wasn’t contributing anything, and townspeople didn’t treat her well. This couldn’t be further from the actual truth and the important work she was working. Marge stayed with the Y service until the very end of the war and was eventually demobbed in October 1946.

Jane knew she wanted to join the Royal Military Police, and although she disliked the uniform, enjoyed the many opportunities to learn and improve. After completing her specialised trade training and NBC practices, Jane was first posted to Berlin where she worked on check points and interacted with Russians at the border. Jane recalls the threat of nuclear warfare and the shared realisation amongst soldiers that there would not have been enough reserves for them to all have survived more than a few days. She was then posted to Northern Ireland, firstly to Aldergrove and then Portadown. Jane returned to Berlin years later, where even as a Sergeant she struggled with misogyny in the officer's mess. Jane faced repeated issues with gender discrimination and was taken to trial, but won her case and moved to Ireland with her husband to escape the misogynistic environment in Münster. Jane felt strongly that the WRAC shouldn't have been disbanded. She didn't, and still doesn't, like the idea of women being under a male hierarchy and in her interview maintains that she made the right decision to leave when the WRAC was disbanded.

George Bayliss shares his experiences serving in the Territorial Army with the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire regiment. Having worked with explosives in a firework factory he was assigned to the pioneer platoon, working in a close-knit battalion to clear mines. George recalls his training clearing mines, how dangerous this work was, and describes experiences of shelling whilst living close to the Germans. He recounts his preparation for the Battle of Cassino, marching across the river whilst being shelled, and then being in front making a safe passage through the minefield for the rest of his company and shares personal anecdotes of singing hymns and writing letters to his wife. He details horrific injuries he saw inflicted on his young colleagues and how lucky he was to escape serious injury. As the war comes to an end George explains how he was posted to a REME (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) unit and waited for demob to be sent back to England and his happy reunion with his wife.