Wwwop’s daughter here. Apologies for the delay in replying to your posts. Although Mum uses a computer and iPad, this is the first time she has been on a forum. She sends me (in the UK) her copy and I format and then post it on her behalf. Here’s the second chapter:
Thanks for the responses and thanks also for the offer of drinks. We come over to the UK regularly so who knows.....
It would be difficult to put into words all the events of my nearly four years as a guest of His Majesty. Mind you, some of it perhaps would be better left unsaid! I simply tried to keep my initial post relevant.
I guess I joined the WAAF because a) there was a long waiting list for the Wrens b) I preferred the WAAF uniform to that of the ATS and c) I thought life would be more varied and interesting with the RAF.
@ricardian – sorry, I don’t remember any names of the instructors, if indeed we were ever told them. We were based in the Winter Gardens.
@Warmtoast – thanks for the photos. The first one looks familiar. I don’t think a lot of thought had gone into deciding what we should wear in the tropics. We’ve mentioned the hats. There were heavy black lace up shoes (as seen in the photos), starched Aertex shirts, warm winceyette pyjamas and elastic-legged passion killer unmentionables. We envied the Wrens with their light kit.
We were supposed to know how radios worked, how to take them apart and reassemble them. I doubt whether many of us could do all that. I have forgotten many of the technical terms but still remember my Morse. Chugalug2, I was not working in Records but did have contact with them when sending messages regarding crew etc.
For those interested in S/Ldr Birchall, there is are many online sites about him and a book by Michael Tomlinson called ‘The Most Dangerous Moment.’ It contains excellent references to the beginnings of the civil war in Ceylon/Sri Lanka.
One of my recollections of Changi is that we were invited by the Army to a game of hockey only to find that, on our arrival, it was an all male team. We played on hard baked, grassless earth. We gave them a run for their money mainly, I suspect, because most of them had very little familiarity with a hockey stick or the rules of the game. The usual festivities followed.
I expect the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank building is now a gleaming multi storied skyscraper. We worked out of the fourth floor of the HKSB building in 1944/45. After a few weeks, I was moved to try my hand at.. er...poetry:
I really, really cannot thank
The guy who built the Hong Kong Bank
Why didn’t he install some lifts
So when we go on to our shifts
Instead of climbing all those stairs
We’d be whisked up into our chairs
Sound of wind and limb
And so – NO thanks to him!
M.