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A veteran interview with

Marjorie Inkster

Marjorie Inkster was 19 years old when she joined the FANY. She would go on to train as a radar mechanic.

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About Marjorie Inkster

Marjorie Inkster was inspired to become a FANY and later work on anti-aircraft radar when her parent’s house was bombed early in the war. Because she was only 19 and had insufficient driving experience, she spent a year on petrol counting, which prompted her to volunteer for radar training. After 9 months’ training, she initially worked on radar research then found herself in charge of a REME detachment of men looking after the radar for 5 gun sites in north London.

She provides many interesting and inspiring recollections: dealing with an incendiary that hit her lodgings; the extent of the technical training; the competition to service the radar on a dredger because they got navy chocolate; avoiding a bomb as they drove to fix a radar; sending secret components for repair by normal post. In London, she was incentivised to ensure the Identification Friend or Foe worked correctly because her brother was a night fighter pilot. Secrecy meant their work was never discussed, including the fact that her sister spent the war at Bletchley Park.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Ailsa Camm, Martyn Cox
Reviewed by:
Andy Voase

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Home | Veterans | Marjorie Inkster

A veteran interview with

Marjorie Inkster

Marjorie-Inkster-Still

Marjorie Inkster was 19 years old when she joined the FANY. She would go on to train as a radar mechanic.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Inkster, Marjorie. A Veteran Interview with Marjorie Inkster. Interview by Ailsa Camm. Legasee, n.d. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/marjorie-inkster/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
APA Style:
Inkster, M. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with Marjorie Inkster [Interview by Ailsa Camm]. Legasee. Retrieved March 23, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/marjorie-inkster/
Chicago Style:
Inkster, Marjorie. n.d.. A Veteran Interview with Marjorie Inkster. Interview by Ailsa Camm. Legasee. Accessed March 23, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/marjorie-inkster/
Harvard Style:
Inkster, M. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with Marjorie Inkster. [Interviewed by Ailsa Camm]. Legasee. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/marjorie-inkster/ (Accessed: 23 March 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Inkster, M. A Veteran Interview with Marjorie Inkster [Internet]. Interview by A. Camm. Legasee; n.d. [cited 2025 Mar 23]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/marjorie-inkster/
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