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 > 0:00:16together 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 the HMS Puncher.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30You called me ma'am, how sweet.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32..or a family member's military past.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35They just got stuck in.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37It was exciting.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Always intense.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41From defending land...
0:00:43 > 0:00:45- ..sea... - I don't want to go that way.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49..and air, these are the extraordinary stories
0:00:49 > 0:00:51of a century of women at war.
0:00:56 > 0:00:57Go!
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Today, over 15,000 women serve in the Armed Forces, and their careers
0:01:02 > 0:01:05can be the same as those of the men they work alongside.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12It's a far cry from the opportunities open to the women
0:01:12 > 0:01:16who first had the chance to formally serve their country
0:01:16 > 0:01:20with the creation of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1917.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27So now, five well-known faces with a link to the forces
0:01:27 > 0:01:29are learning about the contribution women have played
0:01:29 > 0:01:31in the years since then...
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Morning, Sav!
0:01:33 > 0:01:37..and understand better how that's proved crucial to Britain's
0:01:37 > 0:01:40military successes both at home and abroad.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43- March! - Quick march!
0:01:43 > 0:01:47June Brown gets hands-on with a ship to see how women's roles
0:01:47 > 0:01:50in the Royal Navy have changed since her own days as a Wren.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52Am I all right steering over here?
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Yeah, if you turn the wheel round to the right, yeah.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Do a U-turn!
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Pam Ayres, who once served with the Women's Royal Air Force,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03is brought up to date by those now defending our skies,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05and takes to the air herself.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Nicky Campbell discovers more about his mother's work
0:02:11 > 0:02:13as a radar operator...
0:02:13 > 0:02:18- It's an impressive system for the 1940s.- It was that.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21..and watches as she finally receives recognition
0:02:21 > 0:02:24for her role fighting Nazis in World War II.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27I'm delighted. I never thought I'd ever see it.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31Edward Fox is in awe of a woman who built the plane that won the war -
0:02:31 > 0:02:33a Lancaster bomber.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36- It's an extraordinary sight, isn't it?- It is, it's so big.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39- It's so big.- Yes.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44And Dame Kelly Holmes, a former army personal training instructor,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47joins the latest army recruits training for action.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I think if a guy can do it, then a girl can do it too.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54I'd be with you on that, I have to say.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Oh, wonderful. You are wonderful!
0:03:00 > 0:03:03EASTENDERS THEME PLAYS
0:03:04 > 0:03:07She's one of our best-loved screen actors.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09You've got to see a doctor.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12I mean, we can't do no more on our own.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- No!- You've got to, Nick.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Yet over 70 years ago, June Brown took on a very different role,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24as a recruit in the Women's Royal Naval Service
0:03:24 > 0:03:26during the Second World War.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30I knew I'd be called up when I was 18,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32so I thought to myself,
0:03:32 > 0:03:38"Well, if I volunteer, you know, then I can choose
0:03:38 > 0:03:40"which service I go to."
0:03:40 > 0:03:45I didn't fancy the uniform of the WAAF or ATA because it wouldn't have
0:03:45 > 0:03:49suited my complexion, and anyway, the Wrens, well,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52that was the senior service, you see?
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Here is a rather lovely poster of the Wren.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00In fact, has she got a beret on?
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Because that's what I had.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05But, you see, really rather smart we were, weren't we?
0:04:05 > 0:04:07With a different salute -
0:04:07 > 0:04:11that salute, not your hand turned round like the army.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Quite special, we were.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18And June isn't the only woman who felt this way when signing up.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26The job we were doing, which definitely helped
0:04:26 > 0:04:29the defence of the country,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32did make us feel we were trailblazers, in a way.
0:04:32 > 0:04:39You know, we were very keen to be able to take action and win the war.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44I feel lucky to have lived through that,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48and I'm always so, so glad that I decided to do it,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51because I wouldn't have been called up,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56the job I was doing, so I've always been pleased that I did.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It was a marvellous experience for me, wonderful.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01The best thing that ever happened.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04To be away and to mix with other girls and be independent,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06and to give orders!
0:05:06 > 0:05:09As a corporal, I was a bit laid-back,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11but we got through it anyway.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15The wartime atmosphere was that you did your bit,
0:05:15 > 0:05:16if you see what I mean?
0:05:16 > 0:05:20And that's what you went in to do, yes.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Woman first joined the forces following massive troop losses
0:05:24 > 0:05:26on the Western Front during World War I.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30The War Office set up female-only branches of the army,
0:05:30 > 0:05:32the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36All were disbanded when the war was over,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39but were quickly re-established after the start of World War II.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45And by the time June became a uniform recruit in the 1940s,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Wrens worked in nearly 200 different roles.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54After her basic training, June became a cinema operator,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58playing training videos to troops about to embark on operations.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04Navy veteran Eddie Gaines watched the kind of films that June showed
0:06:04 > 0:06:05during the war.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07- FILM FOOTAGE:- All vehicles are waterproofed
0:06:07 > 0:06:09and these lorries should be able to drive through
0:06:09 > 0:06:12two or three feet of water.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Let's get it sort of... Where's it gone?
0:06:16 > 0:06:20He joined up aged 18 and worked on landing vessels used to take troops
0:06:20 > 0:06:25ashore during battle, seeing action in Normandy and in the Far East.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30I showed these films to train the sailors.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31- Guys like me.- Yes.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36So, things like how to survive at sea, how to survive in the jungle.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40I used to sit in my little box with a little window and show
0:06:40 > 0:06:45training films like that, and then they'd pass me through their tobacco
0:06:45 > 0:06:47and their papers and I'd make them ticklers.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49- Ticklers!- Yeah, roll-ups, you see?
0:06:49 > 0:06:53So I never watched the films, I was too busy making them cigarettes.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Where did you go after your training?
0:06:55 > 0:07:00I went to HMS Armadillo, which was up in Scotland.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02- Near Dunoon.- Yes, near Dunoon.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04I did training in Dunoon.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06- Did you? - In Combined Operations, yeah.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08I used to go dancing in Dunoon.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10I think I danced with you once.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12- You might have done!- Yeah.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15What kind of time did you have there? Did you enjoy it?
0:07:15 > 0:07:19I feel very guilty about it because other people had a very nasty time
0:07:19 > 0:07:21- in the war.- Well, no, everybody...
0:07:21 > 0:07:24You had to make, you had to do what you had to at the time,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28but it didn't mean to say you've got to be miserable.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Eddie and June are here to watch a rare surviving example
0:07:31 > 0:07:36of the kind of World War II training film June used to show.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38- FILM FOOTAGE:- The coastline is divided into sectors on the map.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41These are usually no more than 3,000 yards in length.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Suitable sectors are subdivided...
0:07:43 > 0:07:47But the films could never fully convey the chaos and horror
0:07:47 > 0:07:50of a genuine war scenario, as Eddie was to witness
0:07:50 > 0:07:52during the 1944 D-Day landings.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57And as you went out of the harbour, you'd never see another sea like it,
0:07:57 > 0:08:02a great armada was coming up the Channel, all heading east.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05- Yeah.- There, there was a five-mile wide channel
0:08:05 > 0:08:08that had been swept by minesweepers.
0:08:08 > 0:08:14- Ah, yes.- And we had to go to the American beach of Omaha Beach.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Tasked with getting American troops onto Omaha Beach,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Eddie witnessed first-hand the terrible losses
0:08:22 > 0:08:24that took place there.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27The idea then was to remove the beach obstacles.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Most of the killing went on on the beach there.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34- A killing zone. - A killing zone.- Yes.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37We would drop the ramp on bodies.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41It was terrible. In fact, I...
0:08:44 > 0:08:47At the time, I always used to think that...
0:08:48 > 0:08:51..my whole life was a bonus because I got away with it.
0:08:57 > 0:09:04I was thinking, Eddie, was the part I played in it as a cine op
0:09:04 > 0:09:06of any value, do you think?
0:09:06 > 0:09:08It was fantastic.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13Jobs like that, like you did, released men.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16- Yes.- Like myself, to go and...
0:09:16 > 0:09:18- Yeah, that was our function, really...- Yes.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20..to take the place of the men so they could fight.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22And it was done well.
0:09:22 > 0:09:28All the things that you and a great host of ladies...
0:09:28 > 0:09:31They all came in and did all their effort.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35It was nothing compared with what you did.
0:09:35 > 0:09:41Every man appreciated the big effort that the women made.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48Talking to Eddie has made me feel quite humble, in a way.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52I'm glad that we were able to support them,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56but what we sent them out to was not very pleasant.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02It has affected me quite a lot, quite honestly.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07I watched that film and, oh, it seemed so simple, didn't it?
0:10:07 > 0:10:10But it doesn't happen like that.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Plans go awry.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23The service and support of the Wrens proved vital over the course of
0:10:23 > 0:10:26World War II, and four years later the Wrens were made a permanent part
0:10:26 > 0:10:28of the Navy.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36By 1990, women were serving alongside men at sea,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and three years the later the Wrens disbanded
0:10:39 > 0:10:41and merged with the Royal Navy.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48Today, women are a vital part of ships' companies.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51And to see this modern force first-hand,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54June's been invited aboard HMS Mersey, moored on the Thames.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00She wants to compare her wartime experiences with those of women
0:11:00 > 0:11:03serving in the Royal Navy today,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06and she's anticipating a very different landscape.
0:11:06 > 0:11:12It's very interesting to me what is happening in the services now,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15because the jobs are going to be a great deal different
0:11:15 > 0:11:17from the ones we did.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22So it will be very interesting to see how it's changed,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25not that I like change!
0:11:25 > 0:11:28So there you go, if you come in here, this is my cabin.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- Oh, there's double bunks... - Yeah.- ..so you can have a visitor.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35- So on...- And quite a spacious loo and shower.- And a shower as well.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38So on Mersey, you'll get the maximum of two people per cabin,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41so you'll just have one cabin mate throughout your time on board.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Sub-lieutenant Howes is one of four women
0:11:43 > 0:11:47on the mixed crew of this offshore patrol vessel.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49So this is the bridge.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52This is where, day to day, we navigate the ship from.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56For me, I'm in the watch rotation, so I do bridge watches.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00- Yeah.- So in 24 hours, I'll be on the bridge for eight hours.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- Are there many romances on board? - No, definitely not.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06There, you see, that's amazing.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09But it's almost as if you treat them as chaps
0:12:09 > 0:12:11and they treat you as chaps.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Just colleagues, really, we all treat each other, you know...
0:12:13 > 0:12:17I don't mind if I'm on watch with a male officer or a female officer,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20you know, it's just work at the end of the day, really.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22The women serving in today's Royal Navy
0:12:22 > 0:12:25can take up every role on board ship.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29- What's this? - This is our 20-mil gun.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31They'll fit their shoulders in there.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Shoulders, both shoulders?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Yeah, then you put your hands on there, just on there.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38What happens with this hand?
0:12:38 > 0:12:42That's your squeeze. That will shoot it, it's the trigger.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- Oh, it's a very complicated gun, isn't it?- I know.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And it's a very big gun.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52Now, June is about to get a taste of what current servicewomen can do,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56as she's invited to steer a naval vessel along the Thames.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Morning, ma'am. I'm Oliver Rowan, I'm the captain of HMS Puncher.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00You called me ma'am, how sweet.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03- I'd rather be a ma'am...- Ma'am, yes. - ..then I'd be the Queen!
0:13:03 > 0:13:05That is very true.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Captain Rowan explains to June just how much things
0:13:08 > 0:13:11have now changed.
0:13:11 > 0:13:12Why are we swaying?
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Oh, of course, we're on a boat.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18We've currently got five female captains of the ships,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20who do exactly the same jobs as us,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and obviously in today's Navy
0:13:22 > 0:13:24they're pushing through and we've got
0:13:24 > 0:13:26commanders of all sorts of ships,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28all different backgrounds and experiences.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30So when you first were in the Navy,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32it was a completely different environment.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36- Now we work side by side.- Yes.
0:13:36 > 0:13:3973 years after she left the Wrens,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43the controls are now firmly in June's hands.
0:13:43 > 0:13:44So we've got the engines just here,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46- where we can control both of the engines.- Yeah.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49So we've got the positions of slow astern and slow ahead.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53So you can see now the ship's head is turning slowly.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56So we'll just let us come left of the buoys.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Am I all right steering over here?
0:13:58 > 0:14:00- Yeah, that's absolutely fine. - I don't want to go that way.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03If you turn the wheel round to the right, yeah,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05just keep coming further round.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Once we get to the end, we'll turn all the way round.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09- Right.- Yeah.- Do a U-turn!
0:14:13 > 0:14:15When I started this programme,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18I had a certain prejudice against the Navy being one,
0:14:18 > 0:14:23that women and men were just the Navy.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26I just couldn't see that it could happen.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31I suppose being offered a drive of this patrol boat
0:14:31 > 0:14:36made me realise that I would have been perfectly capable
0:14:36 > 0:14:38of doing this when I was young.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But close-combat roles were out of the question for women
0:14:43 > 0:14:46in the military until 2016,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48even if the women who served before then
0:14:48 > 0:14:52would have considered themselves more than capable.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Women have always proved in hard times
0:14:58 > 0:15:02we are equally as tough as the men, if not tougher.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05I would have liked to have been a pilot on the front line, yeah.
0:15:05 > 0:15:06I was always told that, you know,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09you have to be twice as good to even be considered as an equal.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11It's all about what's inside you
0:15:11 > 0:15:14as an individual and the heart and soul
0:15:14 > 0:15:16you put into training and determination.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24Today, approximately 15,000 women choose to serve in the Armed Forces,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27but during wartime the numbers swelled,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30not simply because of volunteers, but thanks to conscription.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Many women, like June, chose to join the war effort
0:15:35 > 0:15:37before receiving the official call.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44And that the same time June chose to join the Wrens, Sheila Campbell,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46mother of broadcaster Nicky Campbell,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48couldn't wait to sign up to the Women's Auxiliary Air Force,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50or WAAF.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53- Much to my parents' fury.- Really?
0:15:53 > 0:15:56They were furious, because I was reserved
0:15:56 > 0:15:59and I should have finished my degree.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04They went to their lawyer and tried to get me out of my volunteering
0:16:04 > 0:16:07for the WAAF and joining up
0:16:07 > 0:16:10but they couldn't, so I travelled off to the WAAF.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Did you feel that you were part of a cause, defending the country,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19- helping the effort against Hitler? - Yes, definitely.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24And the excitement of it all and being with a group of others.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30It was exciting, always exciting, always intense,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33and one played hard in between.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37When you were off duty, you went to dances, you went here and there,
0:16:37 > 0:16:39you went out drinking.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Nicky is about to find out about his mother's role as a radar operator
0:16:44 > 0:16:47in the WAAF, and is starting with a diary kept at the time.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52What was great, Mum gave me this book
0:16:52 > 0:16:56which was a record of where she was and what she was doing
0:16:56 > 0:16:59before the war, during the war and beyond, which was kept,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01unbeknownst to her, by her mother.
0:17:02 > 0:17:08And so this is actually, from a family point of view, invaluable.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12So where was she, 31st of May 1944?
0:17:12 > 0:17:17"Posted to Beachy Head, then Sussex."
0:17:17 > 0:17:20"D-Day, the sixth of June..." There it is written down there.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Screaming from the page, leaping out,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26"D-Day, sixth of June."
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Sheila was on duty in the operations room
0:17:30 > 0:17:34on the day of this decisive Allied invasion.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37I shall never forget it.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40I mean, one was aware of what one was doing,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44you know, just bombing a little ahead of the troops
0:17:44 > 0:17:47and praying that you got your measurements right
0:17:47 > 0:17:51and that the troops weren't going to be hit by you.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- ARCHIVE FOOTAGE:- Bombing behind the lines and supplying cover
0:17:53 > 0:17:56for our advancing armies are only an indication
0:17:56 > 0:18:00of the many jobs assigned to the air forces.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03To better understand the part his mother played in the war,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Nicky's on his way to a radar museum.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Sheila's primary role was tracking enemy aircraft
0:18:10 > 0:18:12entering British airspace.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Their intelligence was used to sound warnings
0:18:14 > 0:18:17and to scramble defensive planes.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20For WAAFs like Sheila,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24the threat of attack from a German bombing raid was very real.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29730 members of the WAAFs were killed during the war by German bombs.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35George Taylor is a volunteer at the museum
0:18:35 > 0:18:39and used to work as a radar operator during the Cold War.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41This is an amazing bit of technology,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43and is this what my mother would have been looking at?
0:18:43 > 0:18:45- Yes, correct, here on the eye scope. - Yeah.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48So when a raid's coming in, what would the atmosphere
0:18:48 > 0:18:49have been like in a place like this?
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Well, they would just say, "Another raid coming in,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55"strength so-and-so, height so-and-so."
0:18:55 > 0:18:57And that would be it, and then you'd concentrate on the next one.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00- Professional? - It's no good getting panicky.
0:19:01 > 0:19:07This is a scenario that people will recognise from the movies, I think.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09- Yeah.- So how did it exactly work?
0:19:09 > 0:19:14You'd have about 15 WAAFs round a table like this and they'd all be
0:19:14 > 0:19:17getting information in from different radar stations
0:19:17 > 0:19:20and plotting it on this table.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23So Mum is gathering the data, and then the data is being passed
0:19:23 > 0:19:29- over here, which informs this process?- Yeah.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31- ARCHIVE FOOTAGE:- When next you see a plane in the sky,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33think of these people down in the operations room.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37They can see it too, right here on these plotting tables.
0:19:37 > 0:19:43These tracers, they would be moving three or four times a minute.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47- Do I move these arrows? - You move these arrows.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49- Like that?- Like that, that's right.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54It's an impressive system for the 1940s.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59It was that. Yeah, yeah, I can just remember it.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04The work of the aerial intelligence teams provided key turning points
0:20:04 > 0:20:07in both world wars.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09As well as defending British skies,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12their job was also to plan attacks on the enemy.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Assisting the so-called Spies in the Sky,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17they were able to research locations,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20spot targets and track enemy movements.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25But, as Nicky's mum Sheila recalls,
0:20:25 > 0:20:27some of their work came at great human cost.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Winds changed, and perhaps our accuracy
0:20:33 > 0:20:37and our measurements wasn't as perfect.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43In February 1945, during the bombing of the German city of Dresden,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47over 25,000 civilians died.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52And the thousand bomber raids, they just flattened everything.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00What did you think about that, people dying?
0:21:00 > 0:21:04That's the thing. The fact that people were involved
0:21:04 > 0:21:06or lived in some of the places we were bombing,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08we didn't think about it.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11- Didn't you?- No. - You never discussed it?
0:21:11 > 0:21:14It would have been difficult to carry on, in a way.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19You know, to do the job...
0:21:20 > 0:21:23You couldn't entertain the thought, no?
0:21:23 > 0:21:25When did you start thinking about that?
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Not till way after the war.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33It's all such a long time ago.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40She has spoken about her mixed feelings about what...
0:21:40 > 0:21:44she was doing ultimately led to,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46and the disconnect
0:21:46 > 0:21:49between having a board in front of you or a radar screen
0:21:49 > 0:21:54in front of you, and people being incinerated.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58There's huge controversy about some of the bombing
0:21:58 > 0:22:02that we did in Germany, and I think any right-minded person
0:22:02 > 0:22:05can understand both sides of the argument.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10How much was necessary, how much was proportionate,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14how much was stuff that happens in war?
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Like many people who serve their country through war,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Sheila Campbell has mixed feelings about some of the things
0:22:24 > 0:22:26she was tasked with.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29But she had a job to do serving her country,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32and her role in the WAAF and the Allied victory
0:22:32 > 0:22:36has always been a source of great pride and personal satisfaction.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Group Captain Gus Wells has invited the Campbell family
0:22:43 > 0:22:47to the RAF Museum in Hendon, to thank Sheila for the contribution.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51- Hi.- Hello, family. Hello, how are you?- Hi!
0:22:51 > 0:22:53And it's his privilege to invest Shelia
0:22:53 > 0:22:56with the war medal she never received,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59in recognition of the service to the WAAF during World War II.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04On behalf of the Royal Air Force, it's a pleasure,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and actually a privilege as well,
0:23:06 > 0:23:11to be able to present you with this long overdue 1939-45 medal.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14The work that you and your contemporaries did
0:23:14 > 0:23:17throughout the war is very much part of our heritage
0:23:17 > 0:23:18and it guides what we do today,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21so you really are an inspiration to us all.
0:23:21 > 0:23:22Thank you very much indeed.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24- Oh, my goodness! - THEY CHEER
0:23:24 > 0:23:26At last!
0:23:26 > 0:23:29How lovely. Thank you so much.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33That's all right, it's all our pleasure, it really is.
0:23:33 > 0:23:34Wonderful, I'm delighted.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37I never thought I'd ever see it.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45And no-one could be more proud than Sheila's granddaughter Isla.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49She was such a pioneer for what she did in the war.
0:23:49 > 0:23:50Even though I've studied it at school,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53I didn't realise how much they really affected the war effort,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57and, you know, without them it could have been a different story.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00She's really inspirational.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Sheila is delighted to have her family by her side
0:24:05 > 0:24:09as her contribution to the war effort is recognised.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11But while she's earned her place in history,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15she's not alone in facing opposition from her parents when joining up.
0:24:18 > 0:24:24My father was in the First World War and he understood perfectly
0:24:24 > 0:24:26why I wanted to join up.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30My father was absolutely livid.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34I won't tell you what he said, but he was very angry.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36It took him a while to speak to me after that.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38They didn't want me to be a balloon operator,
0:24:38 > 0:24:39because they thought that was...
0:24:39 > 0:24:42That you needed muscles, and they didn't want their daughter
0:24:42 > 0:24:44with big muscles.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46I won't tell you exactly what my father said,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48because it was probably quite rude.
0:24:48 > 0:24:49But the others were fine,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52because my stepmother was in the WAAF
0:24:52 > 0:24:54during the Second World War as well.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Initially my parents were a little bit concerned,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01but fully supportive of all the way through my career.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I wouldn't have been where I am now if it wasn't for their support.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Throughout the 100 years of women's service,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11the role of the military has changed
0:25:11 > 0:25:13according to the demands of the conflicts it's faced.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19In 1965, 20 years after the end of World War II,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22poet Pam Ayres joined a very different air force
0:25:22 > 0:25:25from the one in which Sheila Campbell served.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29One day I saw an advert for the Women's Royal Air Force,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31and it was very persuasive.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32And it said, you know,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35"Life of excitement, join the Women's Royal Air Force."
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I hoped for cheap travel...
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Well, free travel, let's not mince words.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44And I hoped to see the world and meet different people
0:25:44 > 0:25:48and break out and do the things that young people wanted to do.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54During her service, Pam also discovered a love of performing
0:25:54 > 0:25:56that eventually made her into
0:25:56 > 0:25:59a household name in the 1970s.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03I'm like a Cheshire cat, I'm good with a grin.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07But before that career blossomed,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Pam worked in aerial intelligence,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13analysing the photography taken by RAF surveillance planes.
0:26:15 > 0:26:21You would have to identify where it was and the scale of it.
0:26:22 > 0:26:23That was very hard.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Pam was what's known as a plotter,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30first in the UK and later in Singapore and Germany.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34So she's on their way to RAF Marham in Norfolk to see how the role
0:26:34 > 0:26:37she didn't always relish has changed.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43I'm not particularly looking forward to seeing all that equipment again,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46and all that stuff that made me so miserable.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49I dare say, you know, it will be much more modern now,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52but oh, God, I hated it.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Marham is home to the RAF's Tornado GR4 Force,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58and one of the intelligence, surveillance
0:26:58 > 0:26:59and reconnaissance wings.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06Pam's meeting two of almost 5,000 women serving in the RAF today,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10each one tasked with a vital defence role.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14As she did, these analysts have signed the Official Secrets Act,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17so access to their work is strictly limited.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Now, this all looks a little more sophisticated
0:27:21 > 0:27:25than the kind of equipment I was dealing with in the '60s
0:27:25 > 0:27:28when I had a pen and a bottle of etching ink
0:27:28 > 0:27:31and a sheet of acetate, basically.
0:27:31 > 0:27:32If I'd only had all this stuff.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Now, what's this? What are these for?
0:27:34 > 0:27:36They look really serious.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38They will turn the imagery 3-D,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40so you'll be able to see it in stereo.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43- Can I put these on? Does it matter which ones?- No.
0:27:43 > 0:27:44OK. Right.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45THEY LAUGH
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Oh, wow, look at this!
0:27:47 > 0:27:48SHE GASPS
0:27:48 > 0:27:51You see, you feel as though you're in an aircraft.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55You feel as though you're looking down out of an aircraft vertically,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and the tops of the trees seem so close,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01and the aircraft seem so far away.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03No, I mean, this is also much more sophisticated
0:28:03 > 0:28:05than the work I was doing.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08I was just trying to record what photography we had,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10whereas you're looking to see
0:28:10 > 0:28:13what's in it, aren't you?
0:28:13 > 0:28:17We're looking at an airfield here, and we could get asked a number
0:28:17 > 0:28:20of questions as to whether the airfield's serviceable,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24as to what aircraft are at the airfield.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26And then we would just look around...
0:28:28 > 0:28:30..the airfield to see if there was anything of note.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Today, the RAF are supporting missions in the Middle East,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39and in recent years, it's provided aerial surveillance
0:28:39 > 0:28:44in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47This is so interesting for me, really.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49There's something tremendously optimistic about it,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52because I'm enjoying looking at this.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54I just like wearing glasses because I feel cool.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00This year, the RAF became the first branch of the military
0:29:00 > 0:29:04to open every single role to all those serving.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06100 years ago, when women first joined,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09it was a very different picture.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Yet every single servicewoman who played a part
0:29:11 > 0:29:14in the First and Second World Wars
0:29:14 > 0:29:18paved the way for the next generation, like Pam.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21Especially pioneers like Joy Lofthouse.
0:29:21 > 0:29:26She was one of only 166 females in non-combat flying roles
0:29:26 > 0:29:27during the war.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33- I'm so pleased to meet you. - It should be the other way about.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35- Pleased to meet you.- No, not at all!
0:29:35 > 0:29:38I feel a complete fraud, because I was in the air force
0:29:38 > 0:29:42as an air photography plotter, but you were the real McCoy.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45You were a pilot.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48Throughout the war, women in the WAAF were restricted
0:29:48 > 0:29:50from aircraft duty.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53It was deemed unacceptable by the RAF.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56But that changed, thanks in part to the stand
0:29:56 > 0:29:58commercial pilot Pauline Gower made
0:29:58 > 0:30:02when she formed the Air Transport Auxiliary.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07Joy was one of those women for whom Pauline paved the way.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12We did all the non-operational flying to allow the Air Force
0:30:12 > 0:30:15to do the operational work.
0:30:15 > 0:30:20I flew all single-seater fighters, and what they called light twins.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23I wasn't allowed to fly anything fast
0:30:23 > 0:30:25like a Mosquito or anything.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27But what you call light twins,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31which is an Oxford and an Anson and things like that.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34What was your favourite aircraft to fly?
0:30:34 > 0:30:35Oh, the Spit, obviously.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39It was still in everyone's mind as having won the Battle of Britain.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42Yeah.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Were they held to fly? Are the controls difficult?
0:30:45 > 0:30:50You only have to know the take-off speed and the landing speed, really.
0:30:50 > 0:30:51Really?
0:30:51 > 0:30:55You seem very modest about what you did, Joy.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59I'm sure most people would think you were absolutely heroic to go up
0:30:59 > 0:31:00and deliver these aircraft on your own,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04but you seem quite modest and self-effacing about it.
0:31:04 > 0:31:09Well, all women did something, and a lot of the women, you know,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13who were in the Battle of Britain, they got bombed and everything.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17So it was dangerous just to be around then.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20- I suppose so.- So it didn't really matter if one was in
0:31:20 > 0:31:22a more or less dangerous job.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25And you were young, nothing was ever going to happen to you.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27- No, I know. You feel invincible. - Nothing was going to happen.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Absolutely.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33Joy, do you think World War II gave opportunities to women
0:31:33 > 0:31:35that they wouldn't otherwise have had?
0:31:35 > 0:31:37It was the first foot in the door, if you like.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39Yeah, I think it probably was.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41It was probably the first foot in the door.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44- Otherwise, it was back to the kitchen sink, you know?- Yeah.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Alongside their male colleagues,
0:31:47 > 0:31:52the Air Transport Auxiliary Service delivered over 300,000 planes
0:31:52 > 0:31:53to airfields across the country.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59What she did in the '40s, and what women like her did,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02was to take on these ground-breaking jobs,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and that began the process whereby today
0:32:05 > 0:32:08all those things are now open to modern women,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12and I think you can trace it back to women like Joy
0:32:12 > 0:32:14in her Spitfire.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21The war ended, and with it the ATA became redundant and was disbanded.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25After the war, some woman did get to fly as volunteers for the WRAF,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28but it wasn't until 1989 that the opportunity
0:32:28 > 0:32:32to fly military aircraft was reopened to women.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36And after 1994, when the WRAF merged with the RAF,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39another milestone was soon reached.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42This morning, the service's first woman trained to fly combat missions
0:32:42 > 0:32:44took to the air.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46As part of 617 Dambusters Squadron,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Flight Lieutenant Jo Salter set off from RAF Lossiemouth in a Tornado.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52I think it's very important that children
0:32:52 > 0:32:55who are going through school, especially girls,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58have the opportunity to see that everything is open
0:32:58 > 0:32:59in this day and age.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Women like this flight lieutenant have taken up that call to arms.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Qualifying as a pilot in March,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10she is now undergoing training that will enable her
0:33:10 > 0:33:13to offer front-line support in the Puma helicopter.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18What is it that attracts you?
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Why did you want to fly that particular aircraft?
0:33:21 > 0:33:24I love flying helicopters, so I'd always wanted to go...
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Always wanted to end up flying helicopters.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28I like that you're flying low level a lot of the time.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30So I like that you're in amongst it
0:33:30 > 0:33:32and you're doing something that's very involved
0:33:32 > 0:33:33with people on the ground.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35It's such a contrast.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39I was in the Women's Royal Air Force from '65 to '69,
0:33:39 > 0:33:44and the idea of a female pilot was far off into the future.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Yeah, it's still unusual.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49But there are no barriers to it, so I think if you want to do it,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52you can do it, and I think that's how it should be.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54- Indeed, yeah. - So rather than saying, you know,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57you have to have half women and half men,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00and kind of, sort of, forcing it, I just think if you can do it
0:34:00 > 0:34:03- and you want to do it, you should be able to.- Yeah.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05And I'm so glad it's changed from how it was when you...
0:34:05 > 0:34:08- Yes, I know, I'm glad, too that... - If you just give the opportunity...
0:34:08 > 0:34:11- ..these things are open to everybody who really...- Absolutely.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15..is prepared to devote themselves to getting into it -
0:34:15 > 0:34:18that you would be able to succeed in it.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22To get a chance to experience a job that was never on offer
0:34:22 > 0:34:24during her time in the service,
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Pam has been asked to join the Puma team as they practice landing
0:34:27 > 0:34:29in confined spaces.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33How do I look?
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Many women like Pam would say their military service,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20whether in the Navy, Army or the RAF,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22led to extraordinary personal experiences
0:35:22 > 0:35:25which have shaped their entire lives.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33I joined to travel because travel was something which,
0:35:33 > 0:35:34when I was growing up,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38you only did if you were rich and things like that.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40So it was more for adventure.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43It was in my mind to leave home.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46I just wanted to get away, that's all, and do something.
0:35:46 > 0:35:52So I went and signed on virtually the day I was 17 and a half.
0:35:52 > 0:35:58You felt a bit like a pioneer, because before that, they...
0:35:58 > 0:36:00They didn't accept women.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03But there were thousands of us at that particular time.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12The contribution of women extends beyond those who signed up to serve.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14During World War II,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18women were also conscripted to work in other roles on the home front,
0:36:18 > 0:36:23as air raid wardens, bus drivers, nurses, and munitions workers.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25As a child of the war,
0:36:25 > 0:36:29it was something that actor Edward Fox witnessed first-hand.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33The conditions that women lived under during the war
0:36:33 > 0:36:36is somewhat forgotten.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38But of course it was crucial,
0:36:38 > 0:36:43because they just got stuck into whatever needed doing.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46And that was a commitment that women made
0:36:46 > 0:36:51just as strongly for what they could do in a wartime situation
0:36:51 > 0:36:55as men, who as men would say,
0:36:55 > 0:36:58"We go to defend our country and to fight an enemy."
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Edward's aunt Mary was one of millions of women
0:37:02 > 0:37:05who enthusiastically took up the call to do their bit.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Mary was as tough as a man.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13She was a bit like a very delicate, strict colonel.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17But she would have no nonsense with anything.
0:37:17 > 0:37:18She'd do anything.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21Mary left London for rural Cornwall,
0:37:21 > 0:37:24where women were needed in their thousands to help work the land.
0:37:25 > 0:37:30Mary, being of the nature that she was, she embraced hard work.
0:37:30 > 0:37:36Embraced anything that she could do to contribute to,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38again, the war effort.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41And farming, of course, was vitally important,
0:37:41 > 0:37:46because the question of whether the country would have been able
0:37:46 > 0:37:51to provide for itself with its own producing was crucial.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56Mary died five years ago,
0:37:56 > 0:37:59so to fully understand the contribution she made,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01Edward's travelling to North Yorkshire
0:38:01 > 0:38:04to meet ex-Land Girl Iris Newbold.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09Like Mary, Iris gave up the relative comforts of the city in Hull
0:38:09 > 0:38:12for the tougher outdoor life of the country.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Gosh.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17You could be 25 years old.
0:38:17 > 0:38:18- Oh, bless!- You're beautiful!
0:38:18 > 0:38:21- It's not bad for 92, is it? - Wonderful.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24You lived in this house during the war, did you?
0:38:24 > 0:38:27- Oh, yes.- Did you?- Yeah. - A lovely house to live in, too.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29- It was.- A bit basic?
0:38:29 > 0:38:33Very - no gas, no electricity, no water.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38For two years, I just stayed here, living in the cottage,
0:38:38 > 0:38:42and working within a 12-mile radius of this village.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45When you first came to live here,
0:38:45 > 0:38:50- how old were you?- 18.- 18!- Yes!
0:38:51 > 0:38:58At its peak in 1943, 80,000 women in the Land Army worked on the fields,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01and this is one of the farms on which Iris toiled.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06When you first arrived, you were in very foreign land for you, really.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09- Very much so.- And everything that was going on
0:39:09 > 0:39:11- will have been strange.- Yes.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13I can remember feeling bewildered.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Gosh, you know, I don't know...
0:39:16 > 0:39:18I knew I was up to the job,
0:39:18 > 0:39:20but whether I could do it well enough for them...
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Because I'd had a weekend at an instruction farm,
0:39:23 > 0:39:26and that was all the training I ever got.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32Edward is meeting farming historian Mike Tyler to find out more about
0:39:32 > 0:39:37the Land Girls and just how vital their contribution was.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41The Land Army was very, very effective in mobilising volunteers,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44bringing people, young girls, out.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47And then saying, "Right, where do these girls need to go?
0:39:47 > 0:39:50"Where can they make the biggest impact?"
0:39:50 > 0:39:56My Aunt Mary was farming from that time, absolutely.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58But I remember one of the things she said was,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01"We used to plough right up to the edge of the cliff."
0:40:01 > 0:40:08- Yep.- To use every foot of land that they could.- Yes.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11If that million and a half acres of land
0:40:11 > 0:40:15hadn't come back into production, if those pairs of hands
0:40:15 > 0:40:18that the Land Girls provided hadn't been in,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21the food would not have been on the plates,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and you would have quite seriously been looking at...
0:40:24 > 0:40:26- Starvation.- ..starvation.
0:40:26 > 0:40:31Iris's story, although she's younger than my Aunt Mary,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35but they were doing exactly the same work together in the war.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40And although they will have made light of it then, actually,
0:40:40 > 0:40:47without the work of the Women's Land Army and the women's war effort,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51there would have been a serious depletion in food production
0:40:51 > 0:40:53for the nation.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55Erm...
0:40:55 > 0:41:00That's a remembrance worth having.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Although during World War I and World War II,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09women weren't mobilised to fight on the front line,
0:41:09 > 0:41:11over one and a half million were conscripted
0:41:11 > 0:41:15into another vital industry, armaments.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20Keeping up a supply of weapons and aircraft production
0:41:20 > 0:41:22became vitally important.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28Edward's arrived at the Lincolnshire Aviation Centre
0:41:28 > 0:41:30to meet 92-year-old Joan Ray.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33During the war, she worked in a factory in Doncaster,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37riveting side panels for the Lancaster bombers.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40- It's an extraordinary sight, isn't it?- It is, it's so big.
0:41:40 > 0:41:45- It's so big.- Yes.- That's a very good photograph of girls working,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47because that could have been you,
0:41:47 > 0:41:48couldn't it, really?
0:41:48 > 0:41:51When you were doing the riveting, what did it entail,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53and how did you do it?
0:41:53 > 0:41:57Well, we had to go and pick these panels up and put them on a stand.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01- Yep.- And then you had to drill the holes in the panels,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05and then there was two of you, one put the rivets in,
0:42:05 > 0:42:07and at the other side of the panel,
0:42:07 > 0:42:09the other lady would be knocking them down.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13- Over 12 hours in a day, too? - Some days, yes.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17Did you feel that the work you were doing for the war effort
0:42:17 > 0:42:20was vitally important?
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Yeah, because we knew how serious it was, what job we were doing, yes.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28And that everything that you and all the girls did
0:42:28 > 0:42:33was contributing in its own way to winning the war.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Yeah, yeah.
0:42:35 > 0:42:36That was the feeling, wasn't it?
0:42:36 > 0:42:37Yes, of course.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41To show Joan just how vital her contribution was,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Edward has brought her to meet Rusty,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46a World War II pilot who flew one of the Lancaster planes
0:42:46 > 0:42:48she helped to build.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50I were a riveter on...
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Were you riveting, were you? That's amazing.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55A lot of us were only young girls, 17 and a half.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58- Oh, I was an old man. I was 20!- Oh, was you!
0:43:00 > 0:43:04The general public these days have no idea
0:43:04 > 0:43:06what went on in getting these aircraft built
0:43:06 > 0:43:09and getting these aircraft ready.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12If it wasn't for people like you doing the jobs that you did,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16- and so reliably, we as aircrew couldn't have flown.- No.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21So, you know, your job was really just as vital as anybody else's.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26Realising just what you did for us flying -
0:43:26 > 0:43:28people, like, flying, not me personally -
0:43:28 > 0:43:31there's a little something which might...
0:43:31 > 0:43:34You may have dozens of these, but I hope you perhaps like it.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36- It's...- It's lovely, thank you.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41That's lovely.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46The Lancaster bombers that women like Joan carefully assembled
0:43:46 > 0:43:50on the factory floor took on a life of their own once in the skies.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56And Rusty wants to show Edward what being on board one was like.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59Those little windows that you could look into the bomb doors...
0:43:59 > 0:44:03- Yes.- ..and see if your bombs had fallen.- Yeah.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06One thing you don't get is that sort of...
0:44:06 > 0:44:08It's very difficult to put over what it was like.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10As a crew on operations,
0:44:10 > 0:44:17you've got about, what, 60% normal flying, about 40% panic.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19And some raids it was a lot like you were
0:44:19 > 0:44:22in high adrenaline rate all the time.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27Of the 125 crew who flew in Bomber Command during the war,
0:44:27 > 0:44:3155,000 were killed, many of them in Lancasters.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35When you first started on Operations,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37you realised people were killed,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40and you said "poor souls" and that sort of thing.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43But later on, it happened so often,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46you just accepted the fact that people were going to be killed.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49- Yeah.- And you didn't expect to live yourself.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52- No.- I was giving a talk to a school one day,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54and one of the little girls said,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57"How many dead bodies did you see?"
0:44:57 > 0:45:00- Well, we didn't see dead bodies. - No.- All we saw were empty beds.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05It's been a completely fascinating day being here,
0:45:05 > 0:45:07but meeting Joan -
0:45:07 > 0:45:1217 and a half years of age she was on an assembly line,
0:45:12 > 0:45:19and Rusty, I mean, talking to Rusty is just wonderful.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22But as he also was saying,
0:45:22 > 0:45:25the aircrews would never have had aeroplanes to fly
0:45:25 > 0:45:27unless they'd been made.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32And they were put together panel by panel, rivet by rivet,
0:45:32 > 0:45:34mostly by women,
0:45:34 > 0:45:39or in a large majority by women, because it was very important
0:45:39 > 0:45:44and very crucial to the war effort, and to winning the war.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47So I've had a wonderful day.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Wonderful day.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51I mean, two wonderful people.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Whether as Land Girls working in factories like Joan,
0:45:57 > 0:45:58or in the forces,
0:45:58 > 0:46:01every one of the women who served in the war
0:46:01 > 0:46:04paved the way for today's generation of women,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08inspiring them to take on more active roles in the military.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13I think it's amazing what they did
0:46:13 > 0:46:16and to see where we've come now
0:46:16 > 0:46:19and to look back at that.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22I'm really proud to be able to do the job that I do
0:46:22 > 0:46:24because of what they did for us.
0:46:24 > 0:46:30I think they were very courageous at a time where society maybe wasn't
0:46:30 > 0:46:33fully supportive of them in that kind of role.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37I can't imagine trying to forge my way as one of the first
0:46:37 > 0:46:40pioneering females, you know, into the military
0:46:40 > 0:46:43because I imagine it must've been really difficult.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47And because of them, we're here now and we've got mixed forces.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49It's just great, to be honest.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52They've paved the way to where we are now,
0:46:52 > 0:46:55and I'm sort of very proud to be serving
0:46:55 > 0:46:58in their footsteps, really.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03- COMMENTATOR:- Kelly Holmes bringing it home for Britain.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05Can she get there? One more...
0:47:05 > 0:47:06Come on, Kelly Holmes!
0:47:06 > 0:47:09It's gold! Kelly's won the gold for Great Britain.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15Another woman who encapsulates the grit and determination needed
0:47:15 > 0:47:18to face the realities of a life in the Armed Forces
0:47:18 > 0:47:20is Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26Before she became one of Britain's greatest ever sporting heroes,
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Kelly had a career with the Women's Royal Army Corps.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34I felt that by going in the military
0:47:34 > 0:47:37it had given me a bit of identity, something different.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39I didn't want to stay just at home.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42I wanted to feel that I could achieve something,
0:47:42 > 0:47:46meet new people, travel, and possibly toughen up a little bit.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Kelly joined up at the end of the 1980s,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54a decade that saw war in the Falkland Islands
0:47:54 > 0:47:56and the Troubles in Northern Ireland
0:47:56 > 0:47:58demanding strong military involvement.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03It was a time of huge political and social change,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06and as a result of amendments to employment practice,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09the percentage of women entering the Armed Forces doubled.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15But adjusting to life in uniform came with its challenges
0:48:15 > 0:48:18for a young Kelly Holmes.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21So I got my first beret when I joined the Women's Royal Army Corps.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23I had a big Afro then,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26so you can imagine trying to get an Afro into that little cap.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29So, yeah, I never looked that cool, really, I have to say.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32But I'll keep hold of that forever.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37It's nearly 30 years since Kelly joined the force,
0:48:37 > 0:48:39and today she's come to the army training centre in Pirbright
0:48:39 > 0:48:43to meet its newest recruits.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46She's eager to see just how different things are from her day.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Her first stop, the dormitories.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Show us your sleeves.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Do you still use starch, or are you not allowed?
0:48:55 > 0:48:59- We're not allowed to use starch yet. - OK. But we do the soap method.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02Look at that, razor-sharp, that is. Razor-sharp.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06But some things have changed.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08When Kelly trained in the late 1980s,
0:49:08 > 0:49:10she slept on a women-only base.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13Now the boys are just one floor below.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15What's your perception of women in the army?
0:49:15 > 0:49:17- Do you think it's a good thing? - Yeah, yeah, really good.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20- Should, shouldn't? - Something that I've noticed is
0:49:20 > 0:49:23they're a lot more organised than we are!
0:49:23 > 0:49:26You know, when the girls get told to, sort of,
0:49:26 > 0:49:29do this over the weekend, do this, do this,
0:49:29 > 0:49:31it gets to Monday, everything's done.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33And we're all a bit like, "We forgot to do this."
0:49:33 > 0:49:36And do you think it's good that women now
0:49:36 > 0:49:39have a chance to pretty much do any role in the army,
0:49:39 > 0:49:41where before they maybe didn't?
0:49:41 > 0:49:43I think it comes down to the individual.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45I think there's some women that are a lot stronger than some men.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47That's a very mature approach.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50Good luck for the parade, and good luck for your careers.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52- ALL:- Thank you. - All right, take care.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Very nice.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01Kelly qualified as a physical training instructor in 1991.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04A year later, the women's service merged with the army.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09For Kelly, it meant additional training, this time alongside men.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15When I did mine, There was around 30 of us.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17There was about 25 guys and five women.
0:50:17 > 0:50:18I was the only woman that passed,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21and there was only two or three guys that passed.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25Very, very hard. And there was no concession for women,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27which I think is right. But that meant, you know,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29it was pretty tough to reach the standards.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32And I just made sure I trained really hard to pass it,
0:50:32 > 0:50:34because it was something that I wanted to do,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37and also I wanted to prove I was as good as the guys.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41To find out how much of her own training Kelly still remembers,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45she's back in the trademark blue jacket of an army PT instructor.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48Can everybody see the tree line over there?
0:50:48 > 0:50:50- ALL: Yes, Sav.- Go get me a leaf and bring it back.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Let's go. Off you go.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56Don't be last!
0:50:58 > 0:51:00Keep moving. Get rid of your leaf, get rid of your leaf,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03get rid of your leaf, get rid of your leaf. Good effort.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05Show me your leaf. Keep your feet moving.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Keep your feet moving, that's good. Going to start off by jogging.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Yourself... Peel off, everybody else follow on.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12Let's go. Nice little square.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15I love this. I love being back.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18No, it's really cool.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21I think you've got to have a lot of guts as a young girl
0:51:21 > 0:51:23coming in the military now.
0:51:23 > 0:51:29You know, perception of military, perception of females,
0:51:29 > 0:51:31would they come out butch, what do they look like?
0:51:31 > 0:51:33You know, these girls are breaking the mould,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36and I feel that's brilliant.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39That's good, well done, keep your bums down.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42Kelly's full of admiration for these young women,
0:51:42 > 0:51:44and she's even more impressed with
0:51:44 > 0:51:47how their basic training has changed.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51Because now, unlike in her day, over a 14-week period,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54they'll experience the same gruelling training
0:51:54 > 0:51:55as any male recruit.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Hard, fast and aggressive, let's go!
0:52:00 > 0:52:02Go! Let's move!
0:52:02 > 0:52:03Move!
0:52:05 > 0:52:07Learning to fight...
0:52:07 > 0:52:09Ready? Fire.
0:52:11 > 0:52:12OK, rifle fire's away,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14rifle fire's right, rifle stops.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17..and survive on the battlefield.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22What I'd like you to do in your pairs, work out where you are.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26What's nice is that you're seeing the men and the women side by side.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30I just love their attitude and positive thinking
0:52:30 > 0:52:33around the fact that we just want to be the best we can be,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36we don't want to be discriminated against.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38But more heart-warming was the men saying
0:52:38 > 0:52:40women should be given as much opportunities.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43I thought that was great.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Before Kelly became an army physical instructor,
0:52:46 > 0:52:49she trained as a heavy goods vehicle driver.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51I used to drive these.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53Double the clutch and all of that.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57I was lucky I'd passed my driving test
0:52:57 > 0:53:00before I joined the military, though, so I had one step ahead.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04As far back as the First World War,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07women were recruited as mechanics and drivers.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10But fast forward 70 years,
0:53:10 > 0:53:12and they're now in training to take control of
0:53:12 > 0:53:15the army's most powerful piece of kit, a tank.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21Something Kelly would have jumped at had she been given half the chance
0:53:21 > 0:53:23during the time she served.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25- I'm so excited about this bit. - That's good.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29- Obviously in my era, women didn't drive tanks.- That's correct.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32But now we've got sort of the first generation of women coming through.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34- What do you think about that? - I think it's a good thing.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37We need to move with the times and everything else,
0:53:37 > 0:53:38and as long as they can do the job,
0:53:38 > 0:53:40they're more than welcome to have a go.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43- OK, so, do you want to show me round?- Yep, certainly. OK.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46He's part of the team that will be training the new recruits to operate
0:53:46 > 0:53:48the Challenger 2 tank.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52So you could be on these for a long time, right, if you're out?
0:53:52 > 0:53:56Yep, you can be in these for up to about ten to 12 hours.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59So what happens in terms of, I mean, practical stuff?
0:53:59 > 0:54:03We do have a toilet onboard, and we also have a kettle as well,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06- which we can put our rations into. - So excited.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09You know, this is a tank. This is a Challenger 2 tank!
0:54:09 > 0:54:12We're standing on top of it. I mean, really!
0:54:12 > 0:54:15And just hats off to all the guys and then eventually girls
0:54:15 > 0:54:19that are going to be using these in those situations.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25- Main up?- Yep. - Guns live.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Each tank requires a four-person crew...
0:54:30 > 0:54:33Everyone good?
0:54:33 > 0:54:36..a driver, a weapons loader, a gunner,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39and today, Kelly Holmes as commander.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56The tank can reach a top speed of up to 31mph,
0:54:56 > 0:54:59and with a combat weight of a hefty 70 tonnes,
0:54:59 > 0:55:03it's not wise for any enemy infantry to get too close.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08The main armament on the tank can hit the target
0:55:08 > 0:55:10from up to 5km away.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Kelly, lean forward.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17If you lean forward, Kelly, we'll get it to flop over!
0:55:17 > 0:55:19KELLY LAUGHS
0:55:24 > 0:55:26Kelly has fulfilled a lifelong ambition
0:55:26 > 0:55:28to command a Challenger 2 tank.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31It was really good. It's just fascinating.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33There's four people in there. If you've got one woman, three guys,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35and you are in a confined area for a long time, I mean,
0:55:35 > 0:55:38you're always going to have banter, but at the end of the day,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41I think as we've discovered through doing this programme,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44if you want to do the job, you go there to do the job well,
0:55:44 > 0:55:46and that's what you think of first and foremost.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48And your crew are your crew,
0:55:48 > 0:55:50it doesn't really matter whether they're male or female.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55I can see a lot of women wanting to do that.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58It was a lot of fun, I have to say.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02It broadens your mind.
0:56:02 > 0:56:03You stick up for yourself.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06You start being independent,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08and them sort of things.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10I mean, in the three years that I was in the forces,
0:56:10 > 0:56:12I did everything I wanted.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14And it was fantastic.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16I enjoyed every single minute of it.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18I just wanted to make something of myself.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22I didn't want to just stay at home and say I'd just get a job
0:56:22 > 0:56:25in a factory. I'd done that, and, you know,
0:56:25 > 0:56:27I wanted to make something of myself.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35From Land Girls to nurses, from radar operators to drivers,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38every woman who has served has played a crucial part
0:56:38 > 0:56:41in the contribution women have made to
0:56:41 > 0:56:45Britain's Armed Forces over a century of service.
0:56:45 > 0:56:51I suppose looking back, being in the Wrens did enrich my life in a way.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54I never really realised it.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56There was a freedom about it.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59And comparing it with today,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02they also find that it enriches their lives,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05these people who are no longer Wrens,
0:57:05 > 0:57:07who are just part of the Navy.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11It did enrich my life.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14We were cosseted. We were kept in a safe environment.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17But these women are out on the front line,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20and I feel a tremendous admiration for them.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25To be here and to see Mum get her medal,
0:57:25 > 0:57:29I feel that she kind of represents so many women
0:57:29 > 0:57:32and what they did and what they believed in,
0:57:32 > 0:57:36and how their role in the Armed Forces
0:57:36 > 0:57:40has became absolutely indispensable.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43I don't think the desire to serve,
0:57:43 > 0:57:48the sense of commitment to duty has changed today.
0:57:48 > 0:57:54So of course I admire the women service personnel here,
0:57:54 > 0:57:58who none of them will speak about what they've done, particularly,
0:57:58 > 0:58:01but who will have done very remarkable things
0:58:01 > 0:58:04in very difficult and dangerous circumstances.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08And I feel nothing but huge admiration...
0:58:08 > 0:58:10..for them.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15To go, "Do you know what? I can do anything I want to do."
0:58:15 > 0:58:18And that, I think, is something that
0:58:18 > 0:58:22you're just pleased that society's moved in the right direction.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24It just gives us a chance to be who we want to be
0:58:24 > 0:58:28and to work as hard as we can, and to be proud of what we achieve.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Come on!