Layout 8 - Winston Churchill

MedmenhamIn July 1943 I was posted to a typing pool atDanesfield in Medmenham, outside London, with wonderfulviews of the Thames. A neo-Tudor house built in1899, it is now a hotel and spa. Its 300 rooms and extensivegrounds had been commandeered for the war effort.Danesfield served as the Allied Central IntelligenceUnit (ACIU), devoted to photographic intelligence. I wasassigned to an office called “K Section” in one of its tallturrets, and I was the only shorthand typist from the ranks.Again we had to have a cover story. We were told to say wewere in “Maintenance Command.”K Section was staffed by RAF and AmericanIntelligence officers, and three WAAF officers—one ofwhom was Section Officer Sarah Oliver,* daughter of thePrime Minister. A few times—whenever she disappeared—we knew that Mr. Churchill had probably gone overseas,since Sarah often accompanied him as aide de camp—as didher sister Mary, now Lady Soames, on other occasions.Day and night, following the bombing raids overGermany, our officers would interpret photographs taken bysurveillance planes from Lossiemouth, Scotland or fighteraircraft from Benson, Oxfordshire, sent down to us by dispatchriders or Jeeps in relays. At Medmenham, they wereprinted from negatives onto foil photographic sheets.My job was to collect each box-load of photographsfrom various raids, sometimes putting them together with akind of sellotape before passing them to an officer. Usingthe photos as evidence, the officers would then estimate andreport on the damage and recommend whether a site shouldbe retargeted. It was grim but necessary work.*Sarah Churchill, later Lady Audley (1914-1982) was married to thecomedian and singer Vic Oliver from 1936 to 1945.Section Officer Sarah Oliver sat at a desk to my right.She often drafted reports on the raids for me to type in finalform. Her work included interpreting photos with specialglasses that gave a three-dimensional impression, whichhelped to assess the damage more efficiently.I had an electric typewriter, a great novelty at thetime, provided by the Americans. The officers would eitherdictate reports or hand me handwritten drafts to type.There were three shifts, and I could select the shift I wantedto be on; since I was the only shorthand typist available, Iwas kept very busy the whole time.There was a lovely young American officer whom Ithink was rather fond of Sarah Oliver. He would pop overand sometimes kiss my forehead or chat, but then promptlywent over to her. (I think I was a wee decoy.)Having many friends in the theatre, including Sheilavan Damm of the Windmill Theatre in London, Sarah likedto arrange concerts for personnel stationed at RAFMedmenham and Nuneham. She even recruited me as achorus girl, although not of the Windmill variety….**Occasionally when bombers were on a special raidsuch as Dresden and Berlin, we were “locked in,” whichevershift was on; once they had reached their destination, wewere told where they were and permitted to leave for lunchor whatever. After the bombers returned, reconnaissance aircraftwere sent out, flying low to take photographs at greatrisk to pilots and crew. >>**Sheila van Damm (1922-1987) was trained as a WAAF driver in thewar, and began driving competitively in 1950. She won the Coupes desDames, highest award for women, in the 1953 Alpine and 1955 MonteCarlo Rallies, and was Women’s European Touring Champion in 1954.The Windmill, which she managed and later owned from 1960 onwards,was notorious for its nude stage revues and fan dances, inspired by theFolies Bergères and Moulin Rouge in Paris.DANESFIELD, MEDMENHAM. Above: Myra worked in a top window of one of the turrets,overlooking the Thames. Photographs were printed and kept in the ground floor library—along walk to collect them. The flower gardens were beautifully maintained throughout thewar. Returning at midnight from the “Dog and Badger” with her American boyfriend,Sergeant Betty Palmer stepped into the fish pond in error, and began screaming as thehuge goldfish swam round her legs! Right: The author, right, with a fellow WAAF.FINEST HOUR 149 / 29