Eileen Younghusband - One Womans War

One Womans War

Eileen Younghusband

The Work carried out by the WAAF on Radar Operations during WW2 was a major contribution in the defence of our country. This book is a testament to their valuable work.

Dame Vera Lynn

Copyright Eileen Younghusband 2011

Published by Candy Jar Books

This book is available in print at most online retailers.

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A catalogue record of this book is available

in print from the British Library.

www.candyjarbooks .co.uk

http://www.onewomanswar.co.uk

Reviews

I think readers of 'The Secret Life of Bletchley Park' and fans of 'The History Channel' will love Eileen's fascinating story of her role at RAF Fighter Command during WWII.

This book offers a thrilling and unique perspective on Britain's 'darkest hours' as she recalls the excitement, the dreadful losses and the sheer terror of war. Eileen tells a gripping and deeply moving story that kept me riveted through every aspect of her involvement in some of the war's most pivotal moments.

John Barrowman

Eileen's story is an inspiration to us all. We must never forget the selflessness, determination and bravery that people like Eileen showed on a daily basis during the Second World War. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

Carwyn Jones (First Minister of Wales)

A fantastic insight into life as it was in one womans eyes from 1938, this book grabs your interest from the first page

I found this book hard to put down and it constantly left me wondering what the next chapter would bring. I almost felt like I was there with her, and it is definitely one of the most exciting reads Ive had in a long time.

Sue Keily (Aeroplane Magazine)

In this vivid memoir of working in the top-secret Filter Rooms of RAF Fighter command, Eileen pays tribute to the unsung, maths-minded women of the Womens Auxiliary Air Force. Their calculations, based on information supplied by primitive Radar network, forewarned of Luftwaffe targets, saved lives and vital resources.

Kate Saunders (Saga Magazine)

If you know your history then give local author Eileen Younghusbands new memoirs a try. Former WAAF, Eileens One Womans War reveals the truth about the top secret Filter Room and the often forgotten woman who worked tirelessly for the war effort. Eileen, who lives in Sully in the Vale of Glamorgan, writes her memoirs from 1938 onwards. Later this year, were told, the 90-year-old will be taking a commemorative flight in the last remaining two-seater Spitfire in the UK. What a woman!

Ladiesfirst Magazine, Cardiff

Brilliantly written and eminently readable, the title One Womans War belies the amazing and rare wartime career path of Eileen Le Croissette in the Womens Auxiliary Air Force. This is no ordinary story; to become a Filterer Officer required great aptitude, skill and judgement to interpret the often-confusing information from the Radar stations.

Altogether there were probably less than 200 WAAF Filterer Officers and Eileen was one of only eight to serve in Belgium targeting the V2 missile launch sites. As well as serving at 11 Group Filter room, Fighter Command on the night of the Normandy invasion, she later received the Big Ben warning when the first V2 was detected approaching London.

Married only a few weeks, Eileen was then posted to 33 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force in Belgium, as a carefully chosen team sent to locate mobile V2 launch sites, by Radar and sound data, so airborne strikes could destroy the launchers before they returned to base. As war ends, she is assigned as a guide to the German concentration camp near Brussels. Not only facing the stark reminders of torture and human degradation, she suffered insults and antagonism from the imprisoned Belgian collaborators who replaced the camp inmates.

The whole story is set against an intriguing backdrop of family and long-time friendships and correspondence with German and French pen pals, which in retrospect, contained many different perspectives on the Nazi regime.

Squadron Leader Mike S. Dean MBE (Historical Radar Archive)

In her autobiography, Not an Ordinary Life, Eileen Younghusband gave us a glimpse into the wartime experiences of a WAAF Special Duties Officer engaged in vital work in the Filter Rooms of Fighter Command, and later, in Belgium helping to track the deadly V2 rockets back to their firing sites. In One Womans War, this vital period in the life of this country, is described in considerable detail, and constitutes an important personal account of an aspect of womens contribution to the Allied victory in 1945 that is often overlooked or not known about at all. The work that went on in the Filter Room was crucial to the ultimate success of Fighter Command operations during the Battle of Britain, demanding the highest level of concentration and competence from the women engaged in it.

This personal account also provides a fascinating insight into the creation and operation of the Chain Home defence system and the wartime development of Radar, written by one who was among the first to have to get to grips with this unprecedented leap forward in wartime technology. The view from the Filter Room shows us the progress of the war in Europe in a new light, and the book also tells a very human story of how momentous events shaped the life of a young woman in wartime Britain.

Stephen Walton (Senior Curator Documents and Sound Section, Imperial War Museum, Duxford)

This is a remarkable memoir. A personal story intimately entwined with the great events of the Second World War. As a nave teenage exchange student, Eileen Younghusband saw Nazi Germany in the months before war broke out. Returning on the eve of war she later took a crucial role in the British Radar operations. Then, venturing abroad again, she saw firsthand the post war desolation of Europe. This is a story of great events but it is also the story of how those great events shaped and transformed the life of a young London office worker.

Nick Skinner (BBC Wales)

Dedications

This book is dedicated to the airwomen and officers of the Womens Auxiliary Air Force who worked in the Filter Rooms of RAF Fighter Command during World War Two. The Filter Room was the nerve centre of the Radar chain. These young women working underground, at speed, both night and day, calculated from Radar reports the position, height and numbers of all aircraft approaching our coast. From this information, hostile aircraft were intercepted, air raid warnings given and air sea rescue undertaken. They remained silent under the Official Secrets Act for thirty years. The story of their work has never been told. It is time to recognise their invaluable contribution to the successful defence of Great Britain in its darkest hour.

Acknowledgements

It is thanks to the encouragement of Hugh Turnbull that this book has been written. After his interview with me entitled My Secret War for BBC Radio Wales, he suggested I should write in detail the unknown story of the Filter Rooms of RAF Fighter Command, which were the key to the victory in the Battle of Britain, and also of the V2 attacks on South East England and on Antwerp, the Allies first free port. He has acted as editor, researcher and encourager.

My thanks must also go to Flight Officer Grogono (now Joan Arundel) for her memories of the Filter Room at the outbreak of World War Two.