Written and submitted to this site by Eileen M. Younghusband
"Must be under twenty-one years of age, with quick reactions, good at figures
and female". These were the prerequisites for members of the
WAAF seeking a commission as Officers working in the Filter Room. This Secret
section of the R.A.F's Defence programme in World War Two has never
had the recognition it deserves. Nevertheless it was one of the greatest means
of protection to Britain and aid to our air operations of the whole
war. The reason that very few people even today have ever heard about this is
the extreme secrecy which the personnel maintained about its work
and its influences. Only recently have the restrictions been lifted and freed
wartime members of this close group from the silence imposed upon them.
It is now time that the vital work of the airwomen plotters of the Filter Room
and the WAAF Officer Filterers and Movement Liaison Officers in
charge of the calculating and identifying of the hundred of tracks of aircraft
leaving and approaching the coasts of the British Isles should be
recognised.
The Filter Room was the heart of the Radar system. It received information from
the many Radar stations which formed a chain of protection
around our coasts. This information due to the early forms of detection equipment
and possible human error of its operators needed to be instantly
corrected, co-ordinated and displayed on a huge table of the area concerned,
in a form suitable to be passed on to the Operations Rooms.
It was this cleaned-up information that we have all seen in many films where
WAAF airwomen move coloured counters of diverse shapes around a map
table, using a long pole-like contraption. From this information, orders were
given by the Senior Officers sitting on the gallery above the table, for air
raid warnings to be sounded in threatened areas, fighter squadrons to to be
scrambled, incoming hostile aircraft be intercepted and returning bomber aircraft
in difficulties monitored so air-sea rescue boats could be directed to their
assistance, should they ditch. All vital tasks.
The country was divided into seven regions, including Northern Ireland and the
Scottish Islands and there was a Filter Room for each. These were
manned for twenty-four hours daily from the commencement of hostilities until
after peace was declared in Europe. Personnel were formed into four
watches. Sometimes it was impossible through illness or shortage of trained
personnel to maintain this and a three watch basis was instituted.
This meant leave was impossible and other than eating, sleeping and working,
there was little time left.
Personnel had two fifteen minute periods when possible during the watch for
a refreshment break. The food available varied considerably.
Sandwiches of marmite and raw cabbage were offered at three in the morning for
weeks on end at one particular station! Conditions of working were
often difficult and unpleasant. Many of the centres were underground where ventilation
and heating left much to be desired. The pressure of
work depended upon the amount of aircraft activity and also the region covered.
Naturally the northern areas were not as busy as the Filter
Rooms covering the coast from the Wash to the Isle of Wight and the Isle of
Wight to Wales. The weather too was a key factor in the activity to be
expected so meteorological advices were posted constantly. The need for the
Filterer Officers to have quick reactions was
patently obvious. They had to sort out the correct position of the aircraft
from various Radar station plots which covered the same electronic
responses. They had to estimate both height and number of aircraft from information
given, having intimate knowledge of the siting of the Radar
stations involved and judging their accuracy. All of this had to be done so
swiftly as the aircraft themselves were constantly moving on to new
positions. It was found that male officers, mostly well over thirty years old
were far too slow during periods of intense activity and they had to be
removed from the table!
For the displayed information to be of value to the Operations Room. it had
to be as up-to-date as possible. This meant that in times of
greatest activity, a Filterer Officer must estimate and display salient information
on up to fifty different tracks within a minute. The mental
stress and physical strain were intense under these conditions and when the
personnel came off watch, whether officer or airwoman, tension was
invariably high. After coming off duty, throughout the following meal the atmosphere
was almost hysterical as they gradually unwound. Quite often
sleep was impossible.
On the whole, it was amazing how few buckled under the strain. They all realised
the importance of their work and it took a really major
illness to prevent them from appearing for duty. However, subsequently time
has taken its toll of some amongst that small group. There have been
instances of suicide, of recourse to alcohol in later years and bouts of deep
depression. This is not to be wondered at when one considers that
whilst filtering the tracks of the bomber squadrons on thousand bomber raids
over Germany or plotting routine fighter sorties, these young women
knew that their own husbands or sweethearts were amongst the aircrews. They
would count with trepidation the numbers of the returning aircraft.
The mixture of backgrounds amongst the members of the Filter Room officers was
amazing. Most of the senior male officers hailed from the
Stock Market, jobbers and brokers. The women ranged from psychology students,
young actresses, county debutantes, grammar school high flyers to
daughters of famous people - novelists, painters, musicians and vicars. Many
friendships were forged under these conditions and remain close until
today.
Now the strictures of secrecy have been lifted, it is surely right that their
dedication should be recorded and the importance of their work in the
defence of Britain together with their contribution to the successful invasion
of Europe and the ultimate overthrow of Hitler's forces made known.
This article was kindly submitted to the site by Eileen M. Younghusband in November 2004. Eileen retains all copyright of this text and it may not be reproduced without her consent.
Eileen Younghusband - lecroissette AT ntlworld.com