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Pat-Presslar

A veteran interview with

Pat Pressler

Pat Pressler was an experimental assistant in gunnery EAG at Shoeburyness whilst working with the WRAC

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About Pat Pressler

At only seventeen years of age Pat joined the WRAC and was soon posted to Shoeburyness as an Experimental Assistant in Gunnery.

Pat discusses the high level of classification she experienced whilst working as an EAG and how on her arrival she had to be cleared with the secret atomic at the highest grade of security. She goes on to further describe how all aspects of her life had to be investigated in order for her, and other soldiers, to engage in the top secret work at this posting. Pat reflects fondly on this time period and speaks passionately about her role as an optical measurer.

After a few years Pat married and was forced to leave the army as there were no opportunities for marital couples to be posted together. When asked to reflect on her time with the WRAC Pat was grateful for the skills and experiences she was able to take with her from her time in the military, however, struggles to view herself as a veteran due to the glass ceiling that restricted opportunities for women in the army.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Evie Painter

Transcripts:
Please note that transcripts and closed captions in the video player are automatically generated by Vimeo.

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Home | Veterans | Pat Pressler

A veteran interview with

Pat Pressler

Pat-Presslar

Pat Pressler was an experimental assistant in gunnery EAG at Shoeburyness whilst working with the WRAC

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Pressler, Pat. A Veteran Interview with Pat Pressler. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 20 Nov. 2024 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/pat-pressler/. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
APA Style:
Pressler, P. (2024, November 20). A Veteran Interview with Pat Pressler [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved May 21, 2026, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/pat-pressler/
Chicago Style:
Pressler, Pat. 2024. A Veteran Interview with Pat Pressler. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, November 20. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/pat-pressler/
Harvard Style:
Pressler, P. (2024). A Veteran Interview with Pat Pressler. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 20 November. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/pat-pressler/ (Accessed: 21 May 2026)
Vancouver Style:
Pressler, P. A Veteran Interview with Pat Pressler [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2024 Nov 20 [cited 2026 May 21]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/pat-pressler/
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Loraine Patrick

Loraine was a groom and dog handler under the WRAC.

After seeing the WRAC in a magazine, Loraine was inspired to join the army and in 1973 arrived at Guildford. Determined to work with animals, she was quickly posted to Mulgrave where she began her specialised dog training. Loraine describes how following graduation, each woman was given a 'line' to maintain. She recalls the strict disciplinary environment of the kennels and the limited positions for women available. Although members of the WRAC were in training with dogs, they weren't officially allowed to train dogs - only handle them, as this was an overtly male profession. Following her years at the kennels, she left to work in a veterinary hospital on promotion. Devastatingly, she was forced to leave on conditions of marriage but after divorcing years later, was able to rejoin the WRAC with the encouragement of other women around her. She provides some interesting insights into the changing climate when she returned to the army in 1984. After becoming a qualified instructor, in 1988 she was promoted to a professional horse coach and groom at the Saddle Club in Hong Kong. In this interview, Loraine describes the disbandment of the WRAC as a societal indicator that not only were women's roles changing, but they were moving beyond a restrictive system.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
An interview with

Leslie Fernandez

Captain Leslie Fernandez trained SOE operatives before undertaking sabotage missions himself in the mountains between France and Italy in 1944.

For the first few years of the war, Leslie Fernandez was an Army Physical Training Corps instructor who trained SOE candidates in Hertfordshire and Manchester (parachuting). He was then invited by Colonel Munn to become an operative, deploying to SE France in July 1944; when the American landed there in August 1944, his group moved to Italy to help the partisans prevent the Germans in Italy from interfering with American operations. He provides a hugely detailed and modestly understated account of SOE operations (he does not mention his Military Medal or Croix de Guerre), starting with selection for different roles and his insertion by parachute, weighed down by weapons and equipment. He focuses heavily on little-known operations in the mountains between France and Italy, gathering explosives from his cache in a bakery, blowing up roads and negotiating the surrender of 80 Germans to 5 SOE. He also talks about the challenges of communication and receiving resupplies in harsh conditions where they were often isolated, as well as the psychological pressure of warfare and seeing people executed. He has fond memories and recalls the bravery of those involved, especially as he married a woman from the region, who was a courier.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martyn Cox