Born in Birmingham, Jean Eastham experienced the first hand horrors of the Birmingham Blitz. With daylight raids and frequent casualties, she was lucky to survive the devastation, but recounts occasions where survival was not guaranteed. After volunteering for her service, Jean travelled to Berlin to help on the Airlift, where she was shocked by the sheer level of destruction. Inside her new accommodation, stationed in the former Olympic Village, she was met with a wave of unseen modern luxuries, including central heating and low-flush toilets, which provided some hope for the journey ahead. As part of the ATS, it was Jean’s responsibility to care for many of the other women involved, managing much of the administrative work like accommodation, pay, and uniforms. Although her status as a woman entailed some restrictions, like the need for an escort outside of the daytime, she and her fellow volunteers worked hard to keep morale high, which was crucial in easing the fears of anxious Berliners.  Like many others, Jean remembers attending the famous Christmas show of 1948, and getting to meet Bob Hope. She recalls being very proud to serve in the ATS, especially because Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess, was also a member. Even after the Airlift, Jean often returned to Berlin, including a visit to Parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the blockade. Decades later, the Berliners still show their gratitude, and continue to thank Jean for her help. 

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.

Janet began her journey with the WRAC in the early 1970s and knew on arrival that it was the right career for her. Although she initially found life at Guildford a bit of shock, by the time she had finished her trade training with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, she felt like a soldier. She describes her first posting to Rheindahlen where aside from working on classified clerical work, she embarked on many trips to surrounding cities and landscapes. Janet also recalls the rising threat of Eastern Germany, and her own exposure to the realities of the Cold War. After Germany she was posted to Beaconsfield, Krefeld and Deepcut where she became chief clerk of the WRAC company in 1976. Although this was a great achievement, Janet remembers still feeling outnumbered by men in the army and experiencing gender discrimination even at her rank. The rest of the interview follows her journey to London, back to Rheindahlen, and finally becoming quartermaster at Aldershot where she campaigned for contraceptive machines in the women's blocks. A fantastic interview and a true trailblazer, we thank Janet for her inspiring story of the frustrations, limitations and power of women in the army.