Bernard Cohen tells a fascinating account of his time as a Naval Airman during the Korean War. He began his initial training in Corsham, Wiltshire at the naval establishment, HMS Arthur. Following this, he served aboard HMS Illustrious for his Seamanship training and at HMS Gannet in Northern Ireland, he learned Firefighting and Air Traffic Control. Eventually, he was posted to serve aboard HMS Glory, spending much time in the Mediterranean before being deployed to Korea where he joined the war. As a member of the fly-deck party, his main responsibilities consisted of storing and positioning aircrafts of the airborne crew who came from offshore as well as helping them with landing and lifting off safely from the carrier. He has upsetting memories of the airmen who died in crashes, remembering how he had given each of them a thumbs up before flying only to never see them again. The ship was not immune to hazardous weather conditions and it was during his service when Typhoon Marge struck. Despite this issue, Bernard was fortunate to be with the first commission during the summer period when the storm was less severe compared to what the second and third commissions had to endure who arrived during the winter when conditions had worsened. Throughout his service in the war, Bernard never stepped ashore in any of the Korean harbours or port cities. He revisited Korea many years later when veterans of the war were invited to the country annually. He recalls the admiration and generosity of the Korean people, treating them like heroes for helping them in their time of need. Bernard's interview captures the bravery and sacrifice of those in the Navy who helped the Korean people, ensuring a better future for them and establishing a lasting bond for future generations.

Colette Cook tells of her work at Bletchley Park operating the Bombe machines whose function was to find the daily key settings of the Enigma machines used by the Germans during WWII to transmit encrypted messages. Colette joined the WRNS (Wrens) as soon as she was able, and following a period of basic training, applied for a mysterious posting ‘P5’. It transpired that this was shorthand for HMS Pembroke V, a cover term for WRNS being posted to Eastcote (an outstation of Bletchley) to train as Bombe operators. In this engaging interview, Colette explains how, after signing the Official Secrets Act, she learned to load the bombe with the coloured wheels and then set about the difficult job of plugging up the back as directed by a ‘menu’. She describes the work as monotonous, physically demanding, and very noisy, but her and her colleagues ‘just grinded away’. She tells of a sense of urgency, but stresses it was not panic, and a realisation that what they were doing was important. Reflecting on her time at Bletchley, Colette says that whilst ‘it all seems like a dream now’, she has an overarching feeling of pride in the part she played to crack the German cypher.