News Women's History Month: The Women of Medmenham

Women's History Month: The Women of Medmenham

A black and white historic photo of 2 uniformed women sitting at a desk underneath a window. There are maps and aerial photos on the desk, and books on a bookshelf behind them.

Women's history month

This Women’s History Month, the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP) is privileged to introduce you to a small selection of some of the many women who contributed to the vital photo intelligence work undertaken at RAF Medmenham, home of the Allied Central Interpretation Unit (ACIU).

Women’s uniformed services had existed during the First World War, but were disbanded shortly after the Armistice. They were reformed with volunteers just before the outbreak of the Second World War, and by late 1941 women were being actively conscripted.

Some of the earliest volunteers who joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) became plotters in operations rooms, a high-pressure role tracking the live positions of enemy and RAF aircraft. Some of these went on to become photographic interpreters (PIs), while the first dedicated women PIs were actually recruited and employed as civilians, before being commissioned into the WAAF.

A black and white historic photo of a group of about 20 uniformed women and men in an interior, some sitting and some standing, all looking at the camera.

The Operation Crossbow team that led the hunt for the German V Weapons, illustrating the prominent role women had at RAF Medmenham. Image courtesy the Medmenham Collection.

a growing service

The number of PIs – men and women – continued to grow through the first months of the war, as the vital importance of photographic reconnaissance became increasingly understood. When they were moved from their initial home in Wembley to RAF Medmenham (based at Danesfield House near the village of Medmenham) in April 1941, one third of the total PI personnel were WAAF commissioned officers.

They came from a wide range of backgrounds. In age some were only just out of school, while two (Dorothy Garrod and Lady Charlotte Bonham Carter) had volunteered during the First World War. There were teachers, photographers, academics and students; the niche natural attributes required to be a successful PI meant that they were an eclectic lot.

Regardless of whether they were a typist or the daughter of the prime minister (Sarah Churchill), the photographic interpreters all went through intensive training. The PIs learned basic scaling, recognition, identification and measurement – all key skills for their work. A crucial element was learning how to view pairs of images in three dimensions using a stereoscope.

A black and white historic photo of 4 uniformed people around a table. 2 women stand to the left and right, while a 3rd woman sits on a chair in front of the table and a man sits behind it. A lamp and mosaic of aerial photos are on the table.

The Camouflage Section - from left: Pauline Growse, John Bowden RAF, Flight Officer Mollie 'Tommy' Thompson (head of section) and Kitty Sancto. Image courtesy the Medmenham Collection.

Leading the Way

Women were not just at Medmenham to make up the numbers, several went on to head up various of the different interpretation sections at Medmenham, although they were often joined in charge by a male officer. The remarkable Constance Babington Smith – who had a background in aviation journalism – was one of the few to head a section on her own.

A black and white historic photo of a large group of uniformed women and men standing on some steps in front of a grand stately home. A balustrade is visible behind them, and there is a topiary bush to the right of the image.

Z Section - responsible for Second Phase interpretation - at Danesfield House in 1945. Its international nature is evident from the many different uniforms. Image courtesy the Medmenham Collection.

By March 1945, WAAF numbers at Medmenham outnumbered RAF numbers 719 to 684; across all services there were 794 women to 908 men, with the WAAF being the single largest service group. Women PIs contributed to some of the most significant operations of the war, from the Normandy Landings to Operation Crossbow combatting deadly German V Weapons.

To celebrate their achievements, this Women’s History Month we will be publishing a short series of articles spotlighting just five of these remarkable women: Constance Babington Smith, Ursula Powys-Lybbe, Dorothy Garrod, Lady Charlotte Bonham Carter and Sarah Churchill. NCAP is responsible for maintaining their legacy through our collections, and we are privileged to bring you their stories.

We are indebted to Christine Halsall’s Women of Intelligence - among many other books and other sources - for providing much of the information we will be discussing during this series.

 

Ben Reiss, NCAP Collections Manager

 

Find out more about the work of the Allied Central Interpretation Unit:

ACIU  Aerial Photography and the Second World War  The D-Day Landings