Wartime Watnall - a "secret bunker girl" explains what they did down there

A chance discovery in Kimberley Library's local history section revealed this lovely letter written in 1976 from an amazing lady who worked in RAF Watnall's secret underground bunker in WW2. She was called Mary Harrison and she says... 

"I have a very soft spot for Watnall and all that went on there and it gladdens my heart to know someone is still interested in it."

Mary Harrison, ex-Watnall bunker girl

She was stationed at Watnall for 3 years and the letter explains her role in the Battle of Britain, the Dambuster's raid and the D-Day Normandy Landings³. It helps us to understand what they did deep underground in Watnall and how vital it was in helping to win the war. 
The young girls who staffed Watnall's underground bunkers in WW2 did an amazing job. Radar was still extremely primitive and the readings from several radar stations had to be telephoned in and then "filtered" by staff in RAF Watnall's Filter Block in order to give a clear and accurate depiction of incoming aircraft. This meant it had to be mathematically analysed, triangulated and collated with human Observer Corps data before it could be relied on. 
It was proper Official Secrets Act "secret squirrel" stuff so they could not even tell their families what they did. Living conditions were primitive and long shifts day and night were the order of the day. She also did a series of watercolour cartoons that really bring life at RAF Watnall and the people who worked here¹... 

Jan 12th 1976

Dear Mr. Bennett,

I was most interested in your letter in the Nottingham Evening Post tonight concerning the now derelict old Ops Room at Watnall, and as one of the many who worked below ground it was in its day a happy place.

I always understood it was 80 feet below ground and I went there as a plotter in the Waaf early in 1940. It was then the headquarters of 12 Group Fighter Command and worked in co-operation with five Fighter Stations under the Command. On a vast map of England and the tip of France we plotted the course of all aircraft, hostile or friendly. Any aircraft was represented by a plaque, given a raid number and estimated height and placed on the grid reference on the table. These references were supplied by other stations, The Royal Observer Corps and what we called R.D.F. which no doubt can be identified as Radar today.  The course of these aircraft was shown by metal arrows in three different colours. The colours representing five minutes flying time. When it was officially recognised as hostile it was given an X in front of the number, and the squadrons from the Satellite Stations given their orders to intercept or investigate. Although we were the HQ of Fighter Command we had to plot aircraft from Bomber Command as often fighters were out to protect.

Mary Harrison's sketch of Watnall's Ops Room 

This artist's impression of the Operations Room is just like Mary's sketch of the one deep below Watnall

There were several rooms underground, the Ops room being the largest. I should say the actual table itself must have been 15 ft. by 20 ft. and was on a slope downwards from the back of the room, so the Office could look down from their balcony, which we called the gold fish bowl because it was glassed in, and could see at a glance the position of all aircraft. At the back of the room were several large panels on which the positions of the various squadrons in flight or at readiness were shown, thus enabling the officer in charge to see which Squadron was the next to be sent out and accordingly give his orders. The position of these squadrons were indicated by lights. There were two balconies which we ascended by ladder. The army used one as of course the Anti Aircraft Gunners had to know the positions as well

There were several smaller rooms which were just called "signals" and we didn't have to ask questions. There were two rest rooms, for if we were not too busy, we were not required to man the table, but had to be on call should an emergency arrive. Though certain sectors had to be manned all the time, so we took it in turns. To get to the rest rooms and canteen one went upstairs just as in an ordinary house, in fact once down below it was difficult to realise one was so deep underground and of course it was air conditioned.

I was lucky enough to be there during the Battle of Britain, and although 11 Group had the major part in that⁴, it was also plotted by us. When eventually the 1,000 bomber raids began our tactics had to change, and aircraft was plotted 'in block'.

Although so safely tucked away below ground, we missed none of the excitement when one of our Group Fighters demolished one of the enemy planes and felt the sorrow when one failed to return. For plotting we wore headphones and with magnetic rods moved the arrows immediately on receiving a plot. There were many amusing incidents. The Observer Corps sent us plots lasting nearly an hour, and we wondered what this plane which could not be identified, was doing hovering over a place which to our knowledge had nothing worth bombing. The unidentified plane, did in fact turn out to be a farmer ploughing up his field on a tractor.

WAAF plotters whose Operations Room took a direct bomb hit and carried on working.
The both received the Military Medal, only 6 of which were awarded to WAAFs in the war.
Painted by Nottingham's Dame Laura Knight.

We worked shift systems, which were pretty tough as except on stand off, we were never away from the ops room for more than eight hours at a time, We all dreaded the early morning 4am to 8am shift, for that was when in turn we had to scrub out the rest rooms, and I can assure you there is, or was in our opinion, nothing worse than having to get up at 3am to parade before going on that stint. I was there about three years, and can only say of those I worked with I have never met a finer bunch of men and women, and today I am still in touch with many and they are always the first to rally round in time of trouble.

Early shift meant scrubbing the latrines for the WAAFs

The real girls of RAF Watnall. Mary Harrison is top row 2nd from right.
 
The real-life cartoon girls are pictured here. 
Mary Harrison is 6th from the left, centre row

We saw many interesting people down in the Ops Room. Douglas Bader, Max Aitken, Leigh Mallory. The late Duke of Kent and the late Princess Royal and many more, As far as radio communications are concerned I can tell you little, apart from plotting we did have to relay the plots in our area to stations in other areas.

After I left Watnall I worked with RAF Intelligence as a Topographic Model Maker³ and was with the team to make the models for the raids on the Dams, and which were shown briefly in the film the 'Dam Busters' and the film 'Operation Crossbow' was based on a book written by one of the WAAF officers, who discovered the sites of the experimental flying bombs, but that is another side of the RAF that little is known about, although for eighteen months before D-Day we were working on the models of the Normandy Beaches.

I am sure you will get hundreds of letters from ex-Watnall 'types' for many like myself, came from Nottingham, and who like myself come straight to Watnall without any training whatsoever in RAF discipline, and were absolutely clueless when first going on 'parade'.

I think I can say we were in touch with aerodromes all over England and Wales. If there is anything else can tell you please do not hesitate to write, for I have a very soft spot for Watnall and all that went on there and it gladdens my heart to know someone is still interested in it.

Incidentally it looked this year as though I should have to spend Christmas alone. Three ex-Watnall colleagues just would not hear of it and I spent one of the happiest Christmas's I have spent in a long time. I have had my fair share of 'ups and downs' in the past five years, but the friendship and loyalty of the old Watnall Waafs has helped me more than I can say.

I do hope you can get more information on the station and the RAF.

Yours sincerely,

Mary E Harrison







Notes and Sources:
1 - Mary's cartoons and other tales of wartime Watnall are here... https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/search/label/wartime%20watnall

2 - You can also listen to Mary's Imperial War Museum interview here. It is split into 4 audio reels/clips. It's a bit quiet so you'll have to crank up the volume! ... https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80020746
Object description
British NCO served as plotter and model maker with Women's Auxiliary Air Force in GB, 1940-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1921-1940: family; father's experience in First World War; death of father; education; outbreak of Second World War, 9/1939. Recollections of period with as aircraftwomen with Women's Auxiliary Air Force in GB, 1940-1945: decision to join services; recruitment procedure; training as plotter; posting to RAF Watnall; description of plotting room; plotting duties; reaction to loss of British aircraft; attitude towards plotting 1000 bomber raids; description of plotting duties; witnessing devastation of Coventry; shift system; class background of WAAFs at RAF Watnall; various duties. 
REEL 2 Continues: uniform; regulations hair styles; food rations; story of cake she received for 21st birthday; social life; attitude towards plotting 1000 bomber raids; relations between men and women at Watnall; VIP visits to Watnall; attending model making course, Newnham Courtenay, Oxford, 1942; instructors; atmosphere at Newnham Courtenay; posting to RAF Medmenham; constructing models of sites to be bombed; details of model making process; relations between photographers, map and model makers. 
REEL 3 Continues: starting work on models for D-Day landings; story of meeting Sir Arthur Harris; VIP visitors; working hours; attitude towards modeling work; modeling technique; description of various models made; relations with US co-workers; making copies of models; well known artists and sculptors working at RAF Medmenham; lack of women at RAF Medmenham; reads poem relating to Norway; reads poem 'My Hands.' 
REEL 4 Continues: reads poem 'Bristol' on destruction of Bristol in bombing; reads poem 'The Flying Bomb'; information on book of wartime cartoons that she has donated to Department of Documents; impact of war on women's emancipation; impact of war on her life; post-war work.

3 - RAF Model making 
After a short training course at Nuneham Harcourt, south of Oxford, the Americans joined up with the RAF model-making team to form a powerful allied group which, during the course of the war, turned out a remarkably fine series of models in wide variety” (Clough 1952, p. 556).
Oddly, the Americans were hitherto unfamiliar with the interpretation of air photography, particularly the use of photogrammetry for intelligence gathering (Reed 1946). A great many of the American generals required much convincing and training about the uses of air photos for gathering
intelligence. In Britain, by contrast, aerial photograph interpretation had become a basic source of intelligence, and the use of air photography represented a major British contribution to the Allied intelligence effort.
V-Section moved from Henley back to Danesfield House, Medmenham, Buckinghamshire, in the summer of 1943, apparently due to the increased demand for models. Invasion plans for the Sicilian and Normandy coasts dominated the work of the Model-Making Detachment. A model of the island of Pantelleria, near Sicily, was made in the United States and sent over in October 1942. Models were also prepared for air attacks on the dams at Eder, Sorpe, Möhne, and Bisorte, the ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt, the viaducts at Bielefeld and Neuenbecke, oil refineries at Ploesti, the ship lift at Magdeburg, and many others, plus various targets for South East Asia Command. Later on, the unit supplied models of the experimental V-weapon sites at Peenemünde and launching sites at Bois Carré, Watten, Siracourt, and Wizernes.

Film about model making ay RAF Medmenham, photo reconnaissance including an interview with US Spitfire pilot John Blyth and Operation Crossbow https://archive.org/details/operation.crossbow
The Dambusters film also shows the models in Guy Gibson's briefing scene.


4 - Battle of Britain Bunker for 11 Group RAF Uxbridge
No. 11 Group was an important part of the system for several reasons: Firstly, as one of four group headquarters, No. 11 Group's Operations Controller was responsible for making key decisions that would affect the outcomes of aerial battles - how many fighter aircraft to scramble, which type of aircraft, which squadrons to use, when to scramble them, where to scramble them from, where to scramble them to, etc. Secondly and also due to its role as a group headquarters, No. 11 Group was responsible for organising and coordinating the activities of seven sector stations at which its fighter squadrons were based - RAFs Kenley, North Weald, Debden, Biggin Hill, Tangmere, Hornchurch and Northolt. And thirdly, the Bunker and its Operations Room were the prototypes by which the other five group headquarters (No. 9 Group at RAF Barton Hall, No. 10 Group at RAF Box, No. 12 Group at RAF Watnall, No. 13 Group at RAF Newcastle and No. 14 Group at Raigmore) were planned and constructed.[2]


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