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.

Leslie Jenkins was a shop manager on a P&O cruise ship that was returning to Southampton to conclude its world cruise. An unexpected detour to Gibraltar brought the SS Canberra into the Falklands war as a requisitioned troopship. Now a volunteer in the war, Leslie, travelled to the South Atlantic Ocean and recalls what it was like to adjust to being a shop manager servicing British troops, Gurkhas, Argentines and reporters. He recalls the Canberra led by Captain Burne travelling to Ascension Island and offloading troops and supplies in San Carlos. Leslie remembers hearing the bombs dropped by aircrafts in San Carlos and the Canberra making it safely out of the foray to later meet the QE2 in South Georgia to take on more troops and stores. Leslie recounts his time in the heart of the conflict, being very busy and having notable visits from Prince Andrew and when the war was declared over, the Canberra continued to provide its service and transported nearly 4,200 prisoners back to Argentina. Leslie fondly recalls also being visited by the Prince of Wales on board the vessel on its voyage home to Southampton where they were greeted by a grateful crowd. His story unveils an untold personal history of the experience of non-uniformed volunteers in The Falklands War.

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.