Margaret Jackson had an international outlook on life, having been brought up in Argentina and completed a modern languages degree. She initially worked for Chatham House then joined the War Office in MI(R) in Paris under Colonel Gubbins, liaising with the Czechs and Poles. After evacuation from St Malo, she moved briefly to Coleshilll House where Colonel Gubbins was raising secret companies to form a resistance in case of invasion, and in December 1940 to Baker Street when Gubbins became head of SOE. As someone who was involved with SOE for virtually its whole existence, Margaret Jackson offers a fascinating insight into the unseen world of secretarial support which enabled SOE, and other organisations, to function. She talks extensively about the key officers involved, the culture of secrecy that was taken for granted, the inter-service politics of setting up SOE, relations with de Gaulle and the highest levels of access to information that secretaries enjoyed.

Content warning// This interview contains discussions of sensitive topics such as PTSD, suicidal thoughts and vivid flashback description which some viewers may find distressing. If you are affected by these topics, please consider seeking support from a trusted person or organisation.   Kate was training to be a nurse with the RAF when she met her husband-to-be, John, an RAF Police Officer. They both completed tours of Iraq and John went on to complete one more and also two tours of Afghanistan. Each time John returned, Kate started to notice slight differences in his character, such as an increase in drinking and frequent nightmares. She was grateful of both her RAF and medical training as it helped her understand the mental shift between home and work that John was having to manage. John sought help but was told there was nothing medically wrong and he was to carry on as usual, which he did. It was the birth of their son that Kate thinks caused John’s nightmares and flashbacks to intensify. He sought help again and this time was diagnosed with severe PTSD and signed off work, but without his job to provide a sense of purpose John struggled to function. John tried both CBT and EMDR therapies but Kate feels they both made the situation worse. John is now on a medication pathway. Kate describes this as an incredibly isolating time as no one knew what she was going through. She felt she could hardly leave John alone, especially when he started having suicidal thoughts. However, when she joined Band of Sisters she found a supportive group of women with shared experiences. She even managed to attend a weekend away which really helped her realise how stressed she was. She describes finding Band of Sisters as a real turning point which helped her realise she needed to take care of herself too. John has also found help through Help for Heroes and has attended a few courses and is now a qualified bushcraft and survival instructor. John has recently had a cancer diagnosis and Kate reflects that, sadly, the cancer process has been much smoother than the PTSD. Kate feels it is incredibly important for others to hear their story so they know they are not alone. She is even compiling a book.

Doreen was studying German at university in WW2 when she was called up, age 20, and assigned to Naval Intelligence at Bletchley Park. This was in June 1944 at the start of the German V1 ‘flying bomb’ offensive. She was part of the Ultra intelligence unit and translated de-coded documents intercepted from the German Enigma system. After translation she classified and sorted the documents so that they could be accessed by senior officers. She worked in the same hut as Alan Turing, one of the crucial scientists in the Ultra system. One of the main tasks she worked on was tracking U-boat movements in the Atlantic as they tried to threaten Allied convoys. She also worked on locating the German battleship Tirpitz so that it could be attacked and sunk by the RAF. After the end of the war she was assigned to Berlin, in occupied Germany, where her knowledge of German and military procedure stood her in good stead. She worked with senior officers in Naval Intelligence and was in Berlin during the first part of the Airlift. After two years in Germany she returned to Britain. Here she worked for the War Office, translating documents for the War Crimes tribunal. This task she found both horrific and interesting. When this ended Doreen found a job outside the service, at Lloyds Bank. She was employed in their foreign section, where the red tape was worse than in the intelligence services! This irritated her and she left after one year.