When the Second World War started, Pauline Payne was just 13 years old. Excited by the prospect, she initially wanted to join the Land Army, however quickly changed her mind after being tested by her father on her level of commitment.  Instead, at age 17, she joined the FANY, which was assuredly much safer. As an only child it took Pauline a lot of getting used to, particularly the switch from having her own bedroom to sleeping in shared quarters with 32 other beds, however she recalls greatly enjoying the social side of life within the FANY. She was encouraged to go to dances, and remembers the excitement of the Americans arriving, bringing with them more food and cigarettes, which she would swap for soap. Throughout the war, Pauline would work at a number of SOE stations in Britain. To get a signal, she remembers having to stand on duck boards holding a large electric coil, listening out for messages from agents working in Europe.  It wasn’t until after the war that Pauline realised the importance of her work on transmitters. Being young and very inexperienced, it was her first experience of war, and for a long time she'd never had to consider the prospect of people being killed. With a lot at stake, maintaining a good atmosphere within the FANY was very important. Pauline remembers her involvement with much enjoyment, and considers it to be a liberating time in her life.

Born in Farnborough Hampshire, with relatives in the army and air force, Paddy was keen to enlist in the services. Told with much humour and affection, she recalls her time in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) from age seventeen in 1942. She began her two-week training to be an orderly at Overthorpe Hall in Banbury but was then asked to sign the Official Secrets Act. When asked about her hobbies she mentioned crossword puzzles and was sent to Grendon Underwood to work in the cipher office. Paddy volunteered to go to North Africa where she worked on Operation Monkey, coding and decoding messages from Italy to be sent to London about the Italian armistice. At Massingham in Algiers, a training centre for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) she decoded sometimes unclear wireless messages, working until they were deciphered. She recalls her satisfaction in making codes understandable, gaining writer’s cramp in the process, and tells anecdotes of her comradery with the other women working there. She returned to London where she worked as a coder on S.O.E Operation Periwig with Leo Marks at the Baker Street headquarters. Paddy arrived in Bombay on V.E Day. She witnessed servicemen returning from Burma and malnourished prisoners returning from the Siam railways, and laid on a reception for them as the war came to an end.

Lisa Kirkpatrick’s husband Gary had an accident on an army training exercise. Engaged at the time and with a new baby, Lisa struggled to cope and Gary's mental health was suffering. Watch as Lisa describes the support they received from Help for Heroes' Band of Sisters which led to her becoming an ambassador for the charity.