Bill Walworth discusses his early career in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. At the time of the Argentine invasion of South Georgia, he was studying at the Staff College in Greenwich but knew that tensions were escalating. He joined the stores ship Saxonia in April 1982, shortly after the sinking of HMS Sheffield and describes how wartime conditions altered the ship's operations. Adaptable to life aboard the Saxonia with its 28 crew, Bill details the ship’s role in storing and organising supplies. He recounts the Saxonia’s challenges, including the impact of the Atlantic Conveyor’s sinking and difficulties anchoring in South Georgia. Upon returning to Ascension, Bill drafted reports about the Royal Fleet Auxiliary [RFA] and began a distinguished career, reflecting on how the Falklands conflict shaped the RFA’s future role in the Royal Navy.

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.