0:00:03 > 0:00:06It's 100 years since the first pioneering women
0:00:06 > 0:00:08joined the British Armed Forces.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Today, women serve alongside men
0:00:13 > 0:00:15together in combat on the front line.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19If you can do it and you want to do it, you should be able to.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21To see how much things have changed...
0:00:21 > 0:00:23- Love it!- How do I look?
0:00:23 > 0:00:26..five well-known faces revisit either their own...
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Morning, ma'am. I'm the captain of HMS Puncher.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30You called me ma'am. How sweet.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33..or a family member's military past.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35They just got stuck in.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37It was exciting.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Always intense.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41From defending land...
0:00:42 > 0:00:44..sea...
0:00:44 > 0:00:46I don't want to go that way.
0:00:46 > 0:00:47..and air,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51these are the extraordinary stories of a century of women at war.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Today, broadcaster and journalist Nicky Campbell
0:00:59 > 0:01:02discovers his mother's untold stories
0:01:02 > 0:01:05of her time as a radar operator in World War II.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09We were praying that you got your measurements right
0:01:09 > 0:01:11and that the troops weren't going to be hit by you.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14And gets a taste of the pressure she experienced
0:01:14 > 0:01:16when Britain was under attack.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19I felt myself panicking because I didn't know what to do or how to do it.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21As they face up to the realities of war
0:01:21 > 0:01:24and the importance of his mother's work..
0:01:24 > 0:01:26A thousand bomber raids flattened everything.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31..Nicky meets the women keeping watch over Britain's skies today.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34What aircraft are we concerned with? What do we know about it?
0:01:34 > 0:01:37The Typhoon jets will get airborne and intercept.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40And there's a family celebration as mum Sheila
0:01:40 > 0:01:43receives a recognition she never knew she was due.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Splendid!
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Well, I am delighted to have it at long last!
0:01:55 > 0:01:59It's Five Live Breakfast and it is Thursday morning.
0:02:00 > 0:02:01For three decades,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Nicky Campbell has been one of Britain's best-known broadcasters,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07hosting some of the biggest shows on radio and TV.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Text us on 85058, and we'll be having a look at your comments
0:02:11 > 0:02:14on social media, @bbc5live.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17But today he's facing one of his most challenging
0:02:17 > 0:02:19interviewees to date - his mum,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22who spent three years in the forces, from 1942.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Mum is an extraordinary woman.
0:02:27 > 0:02:28Everybody loves her.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32She was a psychiatric social worker all her life.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35She dealt with people with mental health issues
0:02:35 > 0:02:37and she was absolutely brilliant at her job.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40And with absolute professionalism.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44So I suspect that manifested itself during the war...
0:02:45 > 0:02:47..in what she was doing,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51and I'm looking forward to finding out exactly what she was doing.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Nicky was adopted not long after he was born,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58by Frank and Sheila Campbell.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Before they met, both his adoptive parents served in World War II.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06I knew about Dad's experience in the Indian Army
0:03:06 > 0:03:10and I found out that he had been on the Battle of Kohima,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14which was perhaps the most savage, barbaric battle
0:03:14 > 0:03:15of the Second World War.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20But Nicky knows precious little about the crucial role
0:03:20 > 0:03:23his mother Sheila undertook, taking on the Nazis
0:03:23 > 0:03:26as a servicewoman in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31I've not spoken to her about her feelings,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33her motivations,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36what she felt about what was going on in the world.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42We never know, do we, when we're in the epicentre of history?
0:03:42 > 0:03:47We only realised that we have been after the event.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Originally from Harrogate in Yorkshire,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Sheila settled in Edinburgh after meeting her husband Frank.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Today, Nicky has returned to the house he grew up in
0:03:59 > 0:04:01to discover exactly what his mother experienced
0:04:01 > 0:04:04when the country went to war with Germany.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Oh, here he comes.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12So when did you first become aware of Adolf?
0:04:13 > 0:04:17I think during the year that I was leaving school.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21He sounded rather horrible and was doing terrible things
0:04:21 > 0:04:24but I didn't really know anything about him
0:04:24 > 0:04:26and I wanted to find out more
0:04:26 > 0:04:29so I went and bought a copy of Mein Kampf!
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Oh, dear!
0:04:31 > 0:04:33And I can't remember it now
0:04:33 > 0:04:37but I read that to get some sort of idea what the man was like.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41I was 17, I think, and I went up to St Andrews.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46And it was left on the windowsill of my bedroom...
0:04:47 > 0:04:51..and the window cleaner came and he saw it there
0:04:51 > 0:04:54and he reported my father to the police!
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It was 1941 and Sheila was studying for a degree
0:04:59 > 0:05:02at St Andrews University.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04But midway through,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07she made the decision to drop out of university
0:05:07 > 0:05:10and enrol in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, or WAAF.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Much to my parents' fury.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15Really?
0:05:15 > 0:05:18They were furious because I was reserved
0:05:18 > 0:05:20and I should have finished my degree.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25They went to their lawyer and tried to get me out of my volunteering
0:05:25 > 0:05:27for the WAAF and joining up...
0:05:28 > 0:05:32..but they couldn't, so I travelled off to the WAAF.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Did you feel that you were part of a cause, defending the country,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40- helping the effort against Hitler? - Yes, definitely.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45And the excitement of it all and being with a group of others.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Sheila was selected to become a radar operator,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54helping to track the enemy bombers attacking Britain's cities.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Do you remember the feeling of intensity?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Yes.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03It was exciting, always exciting, always intense,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06and one played hard in between.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09You know, when you were off duty, you went to dances,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11you went here and there, you went out drinking.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17This women-only corps that Sheila joined
0:06:17 > 0:06:20was a successor to the Women's Royal Air Force,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22created towards the end of World War I
0:06:22 > 0:06:24and disbanded not long after.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28It formed again on the eve of World War II, to recruit women
0:06:28 > 0:06:32to fill posts as clerks, kitchen orderlies and drivers.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36'Not only from the British Isles, but from all over the empire,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39'there are girls serving with the Royal Air Force
0:06:39 > 0:06:41'and thus they've enabled hundreds of men
0:06:41 > 0:06:44'to be released for operational duty.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:47But as the war progressed, the work they undertook diversified.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Many like Sheila took on the role of gathering intelligence.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53From the codebreakers to the mechanics,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57every woman who signed up to the forces over the last 100 years
0:06:57 > 0:06:59has played a crucial role.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04And some details, like their service number, stay with them for ever.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Sheila Lock.
0:07:06 > 0:07:092135200.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Leading Aircraft Woman.
0:07:13 > 0:07:152142733.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18I was Captain Paula Croser-Neely,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21service number 549705.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23460293.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Never forget that. You never do.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Being back in Edinburgh and hearing his mother's war stories
0:07:32 > 0:07:34has inspired Nicky to visit a memorial in the city
0:07:34 > 0:07:37to all the men and women who served.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42This is the section commemorating...
0:07:43 > 0:07:45..women in war.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Those from Australia, those from New Zealand,
0:07:49 > 0:07:50women's services.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Civilians.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57I'm looking at surnames that I'm just so familiar with,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59having grown up in Edinburgh.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02I feel profoundly moved when I come to these places
0:08:02 > 0:08:03and, erm...
0:08:03 > 0:08:05one can't but...
0:08:06 > 0:08:10..feel a sense of reverence.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14And to discover more about Sheila's own experiences,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Nicky's been given a diary kept at that time.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23What was great, Mum gave me this book...
0:08:24 > 0:08:27..obviously, I'm giving it back,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31which was a record of where she was and what she was doing
0:08:31 > 0:08:33before the war, during the war and beyond,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36which was kept, unbeknownst to her, by her mother.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Erm, and so, this is...
0:08:40 > 0:08:43..actually, from a family point of view, invaluable.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46So where was she, the 18th of February...
0:08:46 > 0:08:49"31st of May 1944.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51"Posted to Beachy Head...
0:08:52 > 0:08:53"..in Sussex.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55"D-Day, the 6th of June."
0:08:55 > 0:08:57There it is, written down there.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Screaming from the page, leaping out, capital D, capital D-A-Y.
0:09:02 > 0:09:03"6th of June."
0:09:07 > 0:09:10To get a clearer understanding of Sheila's role
0:09:10 > 0:09:14in such landmark events, Nicky is meeting historian Dr Linsey Robb,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18who is a specialist in the social and cultural history of Britain
0:09:18 > 0:09:20during the Second World War.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24So, Linsey, this is Mum's record of service.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25Her diary of service.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Interesting, that's Morecambe, "Where I did my marching."
0:09:29 > 0:09:32If you look just before that, she's got a week in Gloucester.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36It would be her initial depot, where they go and they get uniforms,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39they are given inoculations and a medical
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and then, in Morecambe, where she did her marching,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46that would be roughly six weeks of initial training.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48- So volunteered?- Yes.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It wasn't uncommon.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53When the Women's Auxiliary Services restarted
0:09:53 > 0:09:56before the Second World War, they are completely voluntary.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59In 1941, they institute conscription,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03which means that all women between 20 and 30 who are unmarried
0:10:03 > 0:10:06are liable for either service or industry,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09and your mother obviously felt so strongly about it
0:10:09 > 0:10:10that she decided to volunteer.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Sheila's work as a radio operator was a role in which men and women
0:10:14 > 0:10:17often worked side by side in the operations room
0:10:17 > 0:10:21helping to make Allied aircraft stay one step ahead of the enemy.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23It was essential work
0:10:23 > 0:10:26but, in keeping with the prevailing attitude of the times,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30it also kept women well away from face-to-face combat.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33In the Second World War, the combat taboo is incredibly strong.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37You know, women could not take up arms.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40The most obvious example is anti-aircraft batteries,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44which actually comes under the Auxiliary Territorial Service,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47and they could maintain the gun, they could load the gun,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49but they could not fire the gun,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52so they very carefully, in the Second World War,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54keep women from anything that would mean
0:10:54 > 0:10:56that they themselves would have to fire a weapon.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59But even with the ban on taking up arms,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01many women were still in the line of fire
0:11:01 > 0:11:04doing the jobs they were tasked to do.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08- How many women were killed? - Roughly, in the WAAF, 730.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Airfields were a legitimate target of bombing.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14The British bombed German airfields as well
0:11:14 > 0:11:18so women, like women in industry, knew they were sitting in a target.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20The most, sort, of obvious...
0:11:20 > 0:11:23A famous example is Biggin Hill near London,
0:11:23 > 0:11:27which was hit 12 times between 1940 and 1941,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29once quite destructively,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33killing 39 people with a direct hit on the WAAF quarters.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37For WAAFs like Nicky's mother, Sheila,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40the threat of attack from a German bombing raid was real.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42But they had a crucial job to do.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46So Nicky's keen to get a taste of what day-to-day life
0:11:46 > 0:11:50would have been like for his mum in the pressure-cooker environment
0:11:50 > 0:11:52of a World War II radar operations room.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58I've come to this former RAF base here in Norfolk,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01not far, actually, from where Mum served,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03and it's a radar museum.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07You can feel the atmosphere already. It's going to be fascinating.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13George Taylor is a volunteer at the museum
0:12:13 > 0:12:17after himself working as a radar operator during the Cold War.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20This is an amazing bit of technology.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Is this what my mother would have been looking at?
0:12:22 > 0:12:25That's correct. On the A-scope.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29'Radar, once a top secret, is still a mystery to most people.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31'Special pictures now help to elucidate the device.'
0:12:31 > 0:12:35So when a raid's coming in, what would the atmosphere have been like in a place like this?
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Well, they would just say,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41"Another raid coming in, strange so-and-so, hide so-and-so."
0:12:41 > 0:12:44That would be it. Then you'd concentrate on the next one.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- Professional. - It's no good getting panicky
0:12:46 > 0:12:48because otherwise you wouldn't do your job.
0:12:50 > 0:12:56- This is a scenario that people will recognise from the movies.- Yeah.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58So how did it exactly work?
0:12:58 > 0:13:02You'd have about 15 WAAFs round a table like this
0:13:02 > 0:13:04and they'd all be getting information in
0:13:04 > 0:13:08from different radar stations and plotting it on this table.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10So Mum is gathering the data
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- and then the data is being passed over here...- Yeah.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15..which informs this process.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Yeah.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19'When next you see a plane in the sky,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'think of these people down in the operations room.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25'They can see it too, right here on these plotting tables.'
0:13:25 > 0:13:29- So all that information is immediately put on there?- Yeah.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34These tracers, they would be moving three or four times a minute.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38- Do I move these arrows? - You move these arrows.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42- Like that?- Like that, that's right.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Have we got any aircraft in that area?
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Ours have come back now.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55That would have told the plotter it was hostile.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01So what we had to do then is scramble aircraft to intercept.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Hopefully, we'd shot one or two down.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15It's an impressive system for the 1940s.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17It was, yeah.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Yeah, I can just remember it.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Having seen close up the equipment his mother would've used
0:14:28 > 0:14:31during the war, Nicky has come upon a diary
0:14:31 > 0:14:33written by a World War II radar operator
0:14:33 > 0:14:37that vividly reveals not just how closely the men and women
0:14:37 > 0:14:40worked together, but how tough a typical shift could be.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45"Midnight. I've been on duty for one hour
0:14:45 > 0:14:48"and my eyes are telling me I should be in bed.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52"But there's a long night ahead until we go off duty at 0800hrs."
0:14:54 > 0:14:56It must have been absolutely exhausting.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00The levels of concentration that were needed as well.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02What it brings home, an account like this,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05is the real atmosphere in there and how frantic it was,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09how stressful it was and how important it was,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and how, actually, this was a matter of life and death.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16I love the bit at the end.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18"11:00pm.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23"Get into pyjamas, clean teeth, wash, comb hair...
0:15:24 > 0:15:26"..and creep into bed."
0:15:28 > 0:15:32By 1944, the tide was beginning to turn on the Nazi war machine.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34And on June the 6th,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38the Allies began perhaps the most critical mission of the whole war.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41The Allied invasion of occupied France.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Sheila's job was right at the heart of that,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46helping the RAF bombers target the German positions
0:15:46 > 0:15:48blocking the advance of Allied troops.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54I was on duty that day and I shall never forget it.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57I mean, one was aware of what one was doing, you know?
0:15:57 > 0:16:01Just bombing a little ahead of the troops,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03praying that you got your measurements right
0:16:03 > 0:16:06and that the troops weren't going to be hit by you.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10'Bombing behind the lines and supplying cover
0:16:10 > 0:16:13'for our advancing armies are only an indication of the many jobs
0:16:13 > 0:16:15'assigned to the air forces,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17'while on the ground, the advance continues.'
0:16:18 > 0:16:21As the Allies battle their way through France,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Sheila and her female colleagues expected to be
0:16:24 > 0:16:28in the mobile operations room that followed the British advance
0:16:28 > 0:16:31but they were left behind.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34And then the annoying thing was, of course,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36they sent all the men and none of the women.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38We were very angry.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Were you?
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Yes. Furious!
0:16:42 > 0:16:46All the young men that I'd trained that had been in it so recently,
0:16:46 > 0:16:52they went, took our trailers and did the work, and we were left behind.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54And you wanted to get out there?
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Yes, we wanted to carry on doing what we were doing.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03From a peak of 182,000 serving women in 1943,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06only a few hundred remained by 1949,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10when they became part of the renamed Women's Royal Air Force.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Today, radar is just as essential to Britain's air defences
0:17:16 > 0:17:19as it was when Sheila served in World War II.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24But, of course, the technology and attitudes have changed.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Well, we're on the road heading to RAF Boulmer,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32which is about 30 miles north of Newcastle,
0:17:32 > 0:17:37and this is the centre of Britain's modern-day air defences,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40so it's kind of the equivalent of what Mum was doing
0:17:40 > 0:17:42in the Second World War.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46RAF Boulmer is home to
0:17:46 > 0:17:49the UK's Air Surveillance and Control Systems Force.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54The men and women working here are the country's eyes and ears...
0:17:55 > 0:17:59..protecting our skies from attack and defending our shores.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Nicky's meeting one of the women currently serving on the base
0:18:03 > 0:18:06as part of the weapons control team.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Why particularly the RAF for you?
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Well, my grandad was in the Royal Air Force about 60 years ago now.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18He was a mechanic in the Air Force. He was always very proud of that.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20So I had an inclination towards that.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23I joined when I was 19 and I thought,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26the RAF is going to give me a diverse career
0:18:26 > 0:18:28for many years to come.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32After six months' specialist training,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Sergeant Jo Stanley is now qualified as a weapons controller.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39It's her role to direct the RAF's Typhoon aircraft
0:18:39 > 0:18:43to intercept and, if necessary, destroy hostile targets.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Things have changed in the Armed Forces for women over the years.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Now it's just no holds barred, anything goes, anywhere goes.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53- It's a great thing, isn't it? - Yeah, definitely.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Recently, the RAF regiment have allowed women
0:18:56 > 0:18:58to join on the front line alongside the men.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01It was the only role in the RAF that only men were allowed to join.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Now, across the Royal Air Force, you know, we allow all genders,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08sexualities, all diverse and inclusive.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12During her career, she's been based in the UK
0:19:12 > 0:19:14and drafted to the Falklands.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16What's it like?
0:19:16 > 0:19:18It's cold, it's...
0:19:18 > 0:19:21small, but it's really, really interesting, actually.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24It's a completely different climate, completely different environment
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and a completely different airspace but it's the same principle,
0:19:27 > 0:19:31as in, the job is the same - we're still there to defend the nation.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35- Making a difference, really. - Definitely, yeah.- Yeah.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38But it's a very important job and we're trained to do it and that's what we're here to do.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41- Multitasking involved, isn't there? - Yeah.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44I don't want to be sexist here, but if it's multitasking,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46- men are going to be useless at it. - No.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51- We've all had the same training so we're all as good as each other. - Well, I get all that.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54I get a thing from my wife, saying, "You cannot multitask!"
0:19:55 > 0:19:57- So that's why we have a diverse environment.- Yeah.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59LAUGHTER
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Nicky wants to find out from today's recruits
0:20:03 > 0:20:06what it takes to control the skies in the way his mother did.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12To do that, he needs to head underground to the control centre.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18- So it's like the TARDIS, this, isn't it?- Quite big, yes.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21- Huge on the inside because it goes down.- Follow me.
0:20:21 > 0:20:22I will.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28It's quite chilly.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31It is a little chilly, yes.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37It's here where the RAF personnel on duty monitor our airspace.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47Even in times of peace, the RAF Air Surveillance and Control crew
0:20:47 > 0:20:51work around the clock 365 days a year.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56- My goodness, look at our airspace! - Yeah, very, very busy.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58- It's unbelievably busy.- Yeah.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02So if a threat does come in or if something suspicious is happening
0:21:02 > 0:21:05that shouldn't be happening, what happens in this room?
0:21:05 > 0:21:08So we've got the battle phone over in the surveillance director's position.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11- We'll get a phone call.. - Is that the red phone?- Yeah.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16- Right, OK.- Yeah.- I just thought it was, kind of, chic 1970s.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17SHE LAUGHS
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Retro phone!
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Air Traffic Control call the RAF at team at Boulmer
0:21:24 > 0:21:27as soon as they detect suspicious behaviour
0:21:27 > 0:21:30on any aircraft flying in British airspace.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33If deemed a threat, the team here
0:21:33 > 0:21:37known as the Quick Reaction Alert Watch responds immediately.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42And it's their decision to scramble our air defence units if needed.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49- Have you ever been in a situation where that phone went and there was genuine concern?- Yeah, yeah.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51- Does the heart race?- Yeah.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Wherever I am in the bunker, I've got to run here, get my headset on.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57I've got to find out the information.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59What aircraft are we concerned with? What do we know about it?
0:21:59 > 0:22:03So the atmosphere would be of urgent, efficient...
0:22:04 > 0:22:07- ..controlled professionalism?- Yeah.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Watching the team at work helps Nicky visualise like never before
0:22:13 > 0:22:16exactly what his mother did in the war.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21What I'd like to do is just do a little swap
0:22:21 > 0:22:25and to put my mum here, right? Sitting here and do a bit of this,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28and then you try to do it the way she did it in the Second World War?
0:22:28 > 0:22:31- That would be fascinating, wouldn't it?- It would, yeah.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34One thing that hasn't changed over the decades
0:22:34 > 0:22:38is the pressure under which the radar operators have to work.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Nicky's about to get a true sense of how that feels.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46Right.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49So, there we are. That's what we're going to intercept.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Then he's getting hands-on in a simulation exercise,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55where his job is to intercept a potential threat
0:22:55 > 0:22:58from an incoming enemy aircraft.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00So that's at 350.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03350?
0:23:03 > 0:23:05What does that mean? 250 feet?
0:23:05 > 0:23:08No, erm, 35,000 feet.
0:23:08 > 0:23:1235,000! I was just thinking, we've got a bad situation going on here.
0:23:12 > 0:23:1435,000.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16So what do we do now?
0:23:16 > 0:23:18We're waiting for the jet to get airborne.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21- Oh, right, we're scrambling our jets?- Yeah.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26When Nicky's mother Sheila first sat in front of a similar screen
0:23:26 > 0:23:30during World War II, the threat was very real.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34We were checking for planes coming into our area.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39Those that were friendly had a certain little blip that came down.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42You knew it was friendly aircraft, but the ones that didn't
0:23:42 > 0:23:46have that were questionable and possibly enemy.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52But without his mother's training, Nicky's struggling to keep up.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54MACHINES BEEP
0:23:55 > 0:23:57- Hello.- Hi, Nicky. It's Gallagher here.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00We're concerned about this aircraft so I'd like you to go faster.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03I'd like you to ask QRA-1 to go gate.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05QRA-1, go gate, please.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07'QRA-1, going gate.'
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- What does it mean, go gate? - Supersonic.- Oh!
0:24:11 > 0:24:14- Isn't that interesting? The language.- Yeah.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20I felt myself panicking because I didn't know what to do or how to do it.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Jo was brilliant in instructing me.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Initially, I found it really complicated and confusing
0:24:25 > 0:24:28but as it went on, erm, I also found it complicated and confusing.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34They don't know we're coming. They can't see us. We've not flown in front of it.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37That final turn's going to put it right in behind,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39in order for the Typhoon
0:24:39 > 0:24:42to carry out whatever mission it's been assigned to.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44We've achieved our mission.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46Well done, QRA-1.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48'Thank you, controller.'
0:24:48 > 0:24:53The professionalism of Jo and Lowri and their cool, calm,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56confidence in actually addressing the job in hand
0:24:56 > 0:24:58was just magnificent.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01It's not just training, I think it's something inside them as well.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Something brings out the best in people, I think. It was really impressive.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Come home. Let's have a gin!
0:25:08 > 0:25:10'Will do. Wilco.'
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Very good. Brilliant.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15- I can see how there's so much training going into it.- Mm-hm.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Since women joined the military in 1917,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27they have excelled in the intelligence field
0:25:27 > 0:25:29and at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33the Army, Navy and RAF worked together alongside civilians
0:25:33 > 0:25:36to make incredible advances that changed the outcome
0:25:36 > 0:25:38of the Second World War.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I was about 18 and a bit.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44I came to Bletchley not knowing what I was in for, if you like.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Charlotte was one of the 8,000 women who helped to intercept
0:25:50 > 0:25:52and translate coded enemy messages.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Being as young as I was and very inexperienced,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57I was given all sorts of little jobs to do
0:25:57 > 0:26:01until I went into the Japanese section in Block F,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04where I was transcribing messages
0:26:04 > 0:26:07which had actually been decoded.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Dr David Kenyon is the research historian for Bletchley Park.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Women here at Bletchley Park played a huge part in the process.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22By 1945, just over 75% of the staff were female
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and they were involved in every part of the code-breaking process,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27from the interception of messages,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30through the various decryption departments
0:26:30 > 0:26:32up to teleprinting out the messages at the end.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Bletchley Park wasn't necessarily unique
0:26:35 > 0:26:37in the number of female employees it had
0:26:37 > 0:26:40but it was certainly one of a number of organisations
0:26:40 > 0:26:42that were using women in those roles for the first time.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Once a year, surviving veterans return to Bletchley Park
0:26:47 > 0:26:50to mark their achievements.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54These reunions are a valuable opportunity to piece together
0:26:54 > 0:26:58the detail of their work - a pivotal contribution to the war
0:26:58 > 0:27:01that was kept secret until the 1970s.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04They were using our decodes
0:27:04 > 0:27:07to know where the ships were.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Most of my friends, they hadn't a clue where I'd disappeared to
0:27:10 > 0:27:12for ten days on end.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14You just said, "I was working in an office.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17"Something to do with the Foreign Office, I think."
0:27:17 > 0:27:22I feel sad that my parents died before they ever knew
0:27:22 > 0:27:26because I think they thought that I was, sort of, not doing
0:27:26 > 0:27:30my bit for the war, really, just working in an office, you know.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33But now it's the opposite.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37You know, my family are terribly proud of me
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and people are terribly interested and want to know all about it.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47It took until 2009 for the work of the codebreakers to be officially
0:27:47 > 0:27:50recognised with a Bletchley commemorative badge.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Well, that was quite a landmark, and a very gratifying one,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58to have some recognition after all that time.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I think it's enormously important that we should celebrate the work
0:28:01 > 0:28:03that these people have done
0:28:03 > 0:28:05and acknowledge the contribution they made.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Wars are not only won on fighting fronts.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Wars are won in places like Bletchley Park.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12It's not anything I did in particular,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14I was just part of the team.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18And as a team, yes, very proud of it.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32To dig deeper into his mother's experiences,
0:28:32 > 0:28:37Nicky's taken Sheila to meet with fellow radar operator Bessie Thomas.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41Though they've never met before, the two have plenty in common.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44It's a privilege to be with you both today.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46- Oh, isn't that nice?- It really is.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51It's the first recognition that the poor old WAAF radar operators
0:28:51 > 0:28:55have got known about, aren't we, Sheila?
0:28:55 > 0:28:56We are.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Yes, I'm pleased your mother thinks the same thing as me because...
0:29:00 > 0:29:03- We got no recognition through the years.- ..we really felt let down.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Bessie tracked not just enemy aircraft,
0:29:08 > 0:29:12but one of the Nazis' most feared weapons, the V1 rocket bombs.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15What's a V1?
0:29:15 > 0:29:19A flying engine with a bomb on.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22- Is that the same as a doodlebug? - Yes.- Yes, that's the doodlebug.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25And when the engine stops...
0:29:25 > 0:29:29it comes down and you get the explosion.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33So if you hear the engine, then you suddenly hear the engine stop.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37- If you were in London...- Do you remember that?- Yes, I remember them.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39You would know, when you were in London.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41- Did you ever hear it stop? - Oh, yes.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43- Did you?- Yes.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48Hitler hoped these flying bombs would terrorise Britain
0:29:48 > 0:29:50into submission.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55V1 rockets killed over 6,000 people.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01But thanks in part to the work of radar operators like Bessie,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05the RAF soon worked out how to spot and intercept them.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09- You plotted a V1, did you? - Yeah, I followed it in.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15I was saving Great Britain.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20For Nicky, hearing Sheila talk with fellow servicewoman Bessie
0:30:20 > 0:30:25has brought into sharp focus just how critical her contribution was.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28By May 1945,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30victory in Europe was officially declared
0:30:30 > 0:30:34and Bessie and Sheila enjoyed the national celebrations.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37We lit a bonfire, and we all sat,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41and it was the only time that I've been drunk.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45I had a pint of beer!
0:30:46 > 0:30:48- Is that the only time that you've been drunk?- Yes.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52- In your life?- Yes.- She's been drunk slightly more than that!
0:30:52 > 0:30:53Oh, dear.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56Yeah. Maybe, I don't know, six or seven times?
0:30:56 > 0:31:00- I don't know how many times! - She's lost count!
0:31:01 > 0:31:04- Haven't you, Sheila? - Absolutely, Bessie.
0:31:04 > 0:31:05Yeah.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08So, thinking back, you've got every reason
0:31:08 > 0:31:11to feel very proud of your part in defeating Hitler.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13Oh, I still do, actually.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Did you ever get a medal of any kind?
0:31:15 > 0:31:18I mean, just for having served?
0:31:18 > 0:31:20One. I didn't get the two.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22- I didn't get any.- Did you not?
0:31:22 > 0:31:25- I feel quite put out. - Oh, you definitely have that.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27You're entitled to it. Why didn't you get one?
0:31:27 > 0:31:30I don't know. Nobody ever sent me one.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Oh, it's lovely meeting you and talking to you.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39You're bringing back all sorts of memories.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41- Yes.- It's very interesting.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Whether the service of individual women at war
0:31:46 > 0:31:48has been recognised with a medal or not,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52the value of their collective service over the last 100 years
0:31:52 > 0:31:55alongside their male counterparts isn't in doubt.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02Some men thought we were just there, erm, as decoration.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07Erm, they didn't actually think we could compete with them.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11It took them a while to realise we could,
0:32:11 > 0:32:13we were just as good as they were.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16We had the job to do and we did it
0:32:16 > 0:32:20and we worked very hard and women did things in the war
0:32:20 > 0:32:22that they never thought they could do.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26When you're in uniform, it doesn't matter if you're male or female.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29It's the rank that you hold and the position you're in.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Throughout history,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35men and women have worked side by side in the forces.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Every one of them a cog in the military machine.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41During World War II,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44airmen like Len Manning relied on the intelligence gathered by women
0:32:44 > 0:32:47like Nicky's mum to identify their targets.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52- Hello, sir. How are you doing? Nicky Campbell.- I'm Len.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54- Len, nice to meet you. - Pleased to meet you.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57- Allow me to carry your pint. We'll have a chat.- Cheers.
0:32:57 > 0:32:58I might drink it!
0:33:00 > 0:33:02My mother was doing the radar
0:33:02 > 0:33:05and she was sending the bombers ahead of the front line.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Did you think about the radar people and the job they were doing?
0:33:08 > 0:33:11It was all integral, the whole thing.
0:33:11 > 0:33:12It made bombing easier.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17While the work of women like Sheila was critical
0:33:17 > 0:33:19in helping Bomber Command strike their targets,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22they couldn't help when, in 1944,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Len was shot down over occupied France.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Even then, it was women who, in the, end kept him safe.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33All of a sudden there was a massive explosion in one of the wings.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36The flames started to come past the turret.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39I thought, well, we've got to get out of here,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42so I just went to the door and just jumped straight out
0:33:42 > 0:33:45and I landed flat on my back.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47By this time, I was pretty badly burned.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52It was painful and I staggered on for about eight miles, I think,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55and then I collapsed on a farmer's doorstop.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59And, fortunately, they were members of the resistance
0:33:59 > 0:34:02and they took me in, which was dead lucky.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04- Were they nice?- Very nice.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06Yeah, they looked after me that night.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09In the meantime, the Germans had started looking for me,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13so, the following day, having got a doctor to me,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17they decided to move me on and they moved me to this cafe
0:34:17 > 0:34:20in a little village called La Tretoire.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23The cafe was owned by two ladies.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Madame Beaujard and her mum.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30One morning, they said that the Germans were coming into the village
0:34:30 > 0:34:33and, not thinking,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35I walked into the cafe
0:34:35 > 0:34:39and there were two Germans sitting there having a drink.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42She realised what had happened and she got a tea towel
0:34:42 > 0:34:44and beat me around the head -
0:34:44 > 0:34:47"Get out, get out! Go and do your work!"
0:34:47 > 0:34:49That was good, yeah. That's good.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51She was really with it.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54- That's bravery, isn't it?- Yeah, well, she got the Legion of Honour.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56- Did she?- Yeah.- Oh, wow. That's...
0:34:56 > 0:34:58- That's courage in war, isn't it? - Oh, yeah.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02- If they'd been found, they'd have been shot out of hand.- Yeah.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06They wouldn't take them away. They would shoot them there and then.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10Len spent three months being hidden by the women at the cafe
0:35:10 > 0:35:13until the Americans arrived, driving out the Nazis for good.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17Two incredible, profoundly moving examples of women in war,
0:35:17 > 0:35:19- those two French women were.- Yeah.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21Wow.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24To Madame Beaujard. Cheers.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26- And to you, sir.- Thank you.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33A century since women joined the military,
0:35:33 > 0:35:38the RAF is the first force to open 100% of its roles to women.
0:35:38 > 0:35:39In today's Air Force,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43they also train alongside men from the day they join.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45The best way of finding out about someone
0:35:45 > 0:35:49is to do a training course with them that's physically demanding.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53When you're tired and you're grumpy and you really need a cup of tea,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56then that's when you see a real person.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02Women still only account for 14% of the RAF personnel
0:36:02 > 0:36:04but unlike when the force formed,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07they are now on a level playing field.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11I'm expected to be at the same standard of training as the men are
0:36:11 > 0:36:15and therefore, if I trained with only females,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18they would never know what my training involved.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Opening combat roles to women has sparked controversy
0:36:23 > 0:36:27and a retired Army Colonel has spoken out against the move,
0:36:27 > 0:36:28believing women in combat
0:36:28 > 0:36:31will reduce the capabilities of the troops.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36And a truly balanced force could be a long way off.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41I don't think that trying to make the Air Force 50-50
0:36:41 > 0:36:45would necessarily work, because you won't necessarily get 50%
0:36:45 > 0:36:48of all males from all backgrounds that want to join either.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50It's a personality type.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53But fighting alongside men means women in the forces
0:36:53 > 0:36:56have to be prepared for the horrors of conflict too.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00And long before women were on the front line,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04that's something Nicky's mum Sheila also had to come to terms with.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06There were aspects of the war
0:37:06 > 0:37:08that he knows trouble his mother to this day.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13She has spoken about her mixed feelings about what...
0:37:14 > 0:37:16..she was doing ultimately led to.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19And the disconnect...
0:37:19 > 0:37:22between having a board in front of you
0:37:22 > 0:37:27or a radar screen in front of you and, erm, people being incinerated.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31There's huge controversy about some of the bombing
0:37:31 > 0:37:33that we did in Germany.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36And I think any right-minded person can understand
0:37:36 > 0:37:38both sides of the argument.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42How much was necessary? How much was proportionate?
0:37:43 > 0:37:44How much was...
0:37:46 > 0:37:48..stuff that happens in war?
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Disrupting the industrial might of the Nazi war machine
0:37:52 > 0:37:55was the chief aim of the RAF raids into Germany
0:37:55 > 0:37:58but the homes of civilians were destroyed too.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01We were supposed to be precise
0:38:01 > 0:38:04but winds changed and...
0:38:05 > 0:38:10..perhaps our accuracy and our measurements wasn't as perfect as...
0:38:11 > 0:38:15And the thousand bomber raids, they just flattened everything.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21In February 1945,
0:38:21 > 0:38:24up to 25,000 civilians died
0:38:24 > 0:38:26during the bombing of the German city of Dresden.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30What did you think about that? People dying.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Well, that's the thing.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36It was like a game. You didn't think of people.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39We never thought of the people that stayed there.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43It was a precision game of bombing.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49The fact that people are involved or lived in some of the places
0:38:49 > 0:38:52we were bombing, I mean, just never entered our heads.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55- We didn't think about it. - Didn't you?- No.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58But then there were civilians, weren't there?
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Well, we never thought about those.
0:39:02 > 0:39:08Or at least, if anybody did, it was never discussed, never talked about.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13If somebody had raised it, would it have been shot down, if you like?
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Not the thing to do.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17I don't know.
0:39:19 > 0:39:20You never discussed it?
0:39:20 > 0:39:23And it would have been difficult to carry on, in a way.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28You know, to do the job.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32You couldn't entertain the thought, no?
0:39:32 > 0:39:34When did you start thinking about that?
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Not till way after the war.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45It's all such a long time ago.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Like many people who served their country through war,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Sheila Campbell has mixed feelings about some of the things
0:39:55 > 0:39:58she was called to do, but she had a job to do
0:39:58 > 0:40:01and her role in the WAAF and the Allied victory
0:40:01 > 0:40:04has always been a source of great pride and personal satisfaction.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09Since women first joined the military in 1917,
0:40:09 > 0:40:13their service in conflicts from World War I to Afghanistan today
0:40:13 > 0:40:16has often resulted in them being awarded a medal.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21Sheila never received one but now that's about to change.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25Today, Group Captain Gus Wells has invited the Campbell family
0:40:25 > 0:40:27to the RAF Museum in Hendon.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Hello, family.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33And it's his privilege to invest Sheila with the war medal
0:40:33 > 0:40:36she never received, recognising her service to the WAAF.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39What the hell are you doing here?
0:40:40 > 0:40:43On behalf of the Royal Air Force, it's a pleasure
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and actually a privilege as well to be able to present you
0:40:46 > 0:40:50with this long overdue 1939-45 Medal.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52The work that you and your contemporaries did
0:40:52 > 0:40:56throughout the war is very much part of our heritage and it guides
0:40:56 > 0:41:00what we do today, so you really are an inspiration to us all.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03- Thank you very much indeed. - Oh, my goodness!
0:41:03 > 0:41:04At last!
0:41:05 > 0:41:07How lovely!
0:41:07 > 0:41:10- Thank you so much.- That's all right. It's all our pleasure, it really is.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15I feel, sort of, rounded-off so to speak, war-wise!
0:41:16 > 0:41:19- Completion. - Completion of the war, yes.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21The war is over!
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Well, that's just a perfect ending, isn't it?
0:41:27 > 0:41:31Wonderful. I'm delighted. I never thought I'd ever see it.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37For the youngest member of the Campbell family,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40as well as being an opportunity to celebrate her grandmother,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44it's a valuable insight into the part women have played
0:41:44 > 0:41:46in Britain's Armed Forces.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49She was such a pioneer for what she did in the war.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51Even though I've studied it at school,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54I didn't realise how much they really affected the war effort,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and without them it could have been a different story.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59She's really inspirational.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03And for Nicky, this proud moment is more than just a tribute
0:42:03 > 0:42:04to his mother.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07It's official recognition of the role that she
0:42:07 > 0:42:09and thousands of other women have performed
0:42:09 > 0:42:12in the service of their country over the last 100 years.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17I've met some fantastic people.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19Hello, sir. How are you doing?
0:42:19 > 0:42:21Heard some spine-tingling...
0:42:21 > 0:42:25amazing stories, which have made me feel very...
0:42:25 > 0:42:27very humble.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29Erm...
0:42:29 > 0:42:32But most special of all and best of all, to be here,
0:42:32 > 0:42:35and to see Mum get her medal, I feel that she...
0:42:36 > 0:42:40..kind of represents so many women and what they did
0:42:40 > 0:42:44and what they believed in and how their role has...
0:42:44 > 0:42:50erm, in the Armed Forces, become from a small role to what it is now,
0:42:50 > 0:42:54which is absolutely indispensable.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58It's been such a proud day for the family and a fantastic day for Mum
0:42:58 > 0:43:02and that is going to go right on her mantelpiece.