TWO LIVES

In her own words: 'My journey into wartime service started in a rather unusual way. I was invited to go riding in London's Rotten Row by my dear friend Alan Edwards (brother of Jimmy Edwards, the actor and comedian). We all lived in Barnes in our youth and usually rode on Wimbledon Common from stables in Roehampton Lane. This particular day we went to some stables in Montpelier Mews in Knightsbridge owned by a dear little man called Pop McKenzie. Alan, who was still trying to decide which service to join, was doing a voluntary job at his yard training men for the Mounted Police. We had to take a Number 9 bus to get back to Barnes and Alan spotted one going the other way to the Aldwych which was where the RAF headquarters was. So Alan decided it was fate and we should catch that bus and join up. I told him I would have to ask my mother first. But he would not take that as an excuse and yanked me across the road and onto the bus. Afterwards, I got a series of letters from the Air Ministry reminding me that I had signed on the dotted line and asking me to return the forms with my parents' signature. I kept putting off telling them what I had done because I knew what a rumpus it would cause.' 

          WAAF Lorraine Tydeman at Biggin Hill transport division

So in 1941, Lorraine became a WAAF at Biggin Hill where she was assigned to the transport division.  She quickly discovered it was not for the faint-hearted. 'One of the tasks on my first day was to get into the inspection pit and empty the oil sump of a 3-ton lorry and give it an oil change.  But the whole lot gushed out over me! I must admit I was pretty shattered when I realised how dirty I was when I eventually emerged from the pit. We also had to paint up all the vehicles in camouflage which was a huge job and very tiring. All the drivers, mainly female, had to be able to handle anything on four wheels from 3-ton lorries to petrol bowsers to cars and vans of all shapes and sizes. Luckily, I'd learnt how to drive before I joined up.  My main job was to drive the young pilots to and from their dispersal points. These happy, brave and wonderful men -- one of whom I married -- very often did not return from their mission. It was heart-breaking for all us who were waiting for them to return. I also had to do night shifts and I particularly hated driving at night because our headlights had to be almost blacked out, there were no street lights and in winter there were  terrible pea-soup fogs. We often had to go from camp down the hill to Keston for night duty in the Ops Room but usually one of the men would get out and guide us down, it was that dark!  One of the jobs I enjoyed most was driving the camp Padre, Canon Douglas O'Hanlon (father of the author Redmond O'Hanlon). He was always kind and considerate and comforting to talk to. He also wrote wonderful poetry! He was a welcome change from the frisky Free French pilots!'  Dougie O'Hanlan was not the only one who wrote poetry to Lorraine (see below). 

                                                                                             First portrait in uniform

In March 1943 Tommy and Lorraine were married at Chelsea Registry Office. They had to ask permission of the commander at Biggin Hill, Group Captain Dickie Barwell, because relationships were frowned on but they were a popular couple and they were given his consent. Not long after their wedding, Lorraine was posted to Martlesham Heath in Suffolk.  'A few months later, an American squadron arrived on the base and a notice appeared on the Daily Routine Orders for all WAAFs to report to the US photographic unit when we were off-duty. They wanted to have a picture of one of us for the cover of their Windsock magazine. The idea was to put some jingoistic slogans on the blackboard behind us to send a message to the folks back home. And I was very proud that the one they chose was of me.' 

Tommy and Lorraine get married at Chelsea Registry Offfice

                                                                              Lorraine as cover girl for Windsock magazine

After a year at Martlesham, Lorraine was posted to Heston where she drove the Polish squadron. By sheer coincidence, Tommy was nearby at RAF Northolt leading a wing of Polish pilots. 'It felt very nice having him so close but I don't remember being able to spend much time together. I wasn't there for very long before I was seconded to the Royal Navy. Twenty WAAFs were asked to replace twenty Wrens who were needed at the ports for the D-Day landings. We were billeted in Bowden Court in Notting Hill which would have been a nice change from the huts in Heston but the doodlebug (V2) attacks on London had just been launched by the Germans and instead of sleeping in nice beds we had to sleep in the corridors for fear of flying glass.  I was there for six months, after that I was posted to the Royal Naval College at Greenwich where I drove the President, Commodore Augustus  Agar VC.  I drove many senior officers during that time, including the First Sea Lord.' My Uncle George who was in the Navy tells the story of Lorraine driving one of these senior officers to Chatham where he was based and when she saw him on the parade ground she jumped out of the car and flung her arms round her younger brother!  

Uncle George shares his uniform with Great Aunt Maud

Padre Douglas O'Hanlon who was Biggin Hill chaplain

When the Germans started their V2 (doodlebug) attacks on London, working as a driver got a lot more difficult for Lorraine. She records that she was always very nervous about going home to see her family because she wasn't sure what she would find.  Possibly the worst doodlebug attack of the war happened on the 25th November 1944 when the Woolworths store in New Cross was blown apart. It had been crowded with Saturday shoppers -- perhaps more than usual because the shop had a new supply of saucepans to sell -- a rare wartime commodity. 168 people were dead or dying. An eyewitness described 'a huge smouldering crater. Sheets of corrugated iron was placed on what was left of the people but blood was seeping out underneath.'  'There were bodies everywhere, some stripped of their clothing.'  As Greenwich Naval College was quite nearby, Lorraine had to drive a lorry load of cadets to the bomb site and they all helped in the rescue mission.  Later, the College was also bombed although not seriously damaged. 'I was walking down the corridor when a large plate glass window fell in. A rather heavy Wren fell on top of me and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the General Miller hospital suffering from shock. However, I soon recovered and a  week after I left the hospital it took a direct hit.'     The rest of her time at Greenwich, Lorraine drove Admiralty inspectors on secret missions round  the docks which were constantly being attacked, as she said 'teeming with bombs and doodlebugs.' 

Lorraine's next posting was to West Malling in Kent.  'I recall an incredible incident when I was detailed to drive the dental officer to a balloon site (barrage balloons were put up to make it more difficult for the German bombers to hit their targets) for a routine dental inspection. The previous day, my old Standard van had lost its silencer and exhaust system.  It was making a shocking noise. At the side of the road, two workmen were cutting the grass on the verge. They were frantically waving at us to stop and we thought it was a huge joke because of the terrible noise the van was making.  In fact, there was a doodlebug which had cut out and was diving down towards us. It landed in a field behind two cottages on the other side of the road.  The backs of the cottages were completely blown out and all the windows smashed. As far as we knew, no-one was injured in fact we couldn't find anyone around. The only casualty was the dental officer who was shaking like a leaf and suffering from shock. Fortunately I can be very cool in a serious situation and I returned to camp and took him straight to sick bay.' 

Lorraine's last posting was to the island of Orford Ness, Suffolk, where she drove the scientists who were working on Britain's radar system. 'Soon after I arrived, the enemy bombing campaign switched to the East Coast so the army wanted to put up gun emplacements on the island so they put up a huge Bailey bridge to connect us to the mainland. It was one of the worst winters I can remember and huge icebergs were floating down the river, one of which got stuck between the pontoon boats. A team  of sappers were brought in to blow up the iceberg which badly damaged a section of the bridge. A team of naval divers were brought in to inspect the damage and plan the repairs.  One of them left a small box camera in my Standard van. Thinking it belonged to a fellow driver, me and my co-driver took some pictures of each other in comic poses. Unfortunately for us, the camera was Admiralty property and we were reprimanded. But I wouldn't mind betting that someone had a good laugh when the film was developed.'  'All of us were kept on the island long after VE and VJ day and we knew nothing of the celebrations. We felt cheated after serving for so many years. For me, it was five and a half years.'