The Women Behind the Few: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force and British Intelligence during the Second World War

This is the little-known story of the Womens Auxiliary Air Force, the womens branch of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, and the vital work they did behind the scenes to ensure the success of some of the most important missions of the war. During the Battle of Britain, for example, WAAF personnel worked in the radar network and the Dowding system, the worlds most sophisticated air defence system, as well as in the Y listening service, intercepting German ground-to-air and air-to-air communications. During the Blitz, they worked with ground-controlled interception radar to aid Fighter and Bomber Commands in protecting Britains civilian population from German area bombing. They assisted with the Allied offensive bombing campaign in various capacities, including working behind the scenes leading up to the thousand-bomber raids. It was WAAF personnel who were behind the discovery of the terrifying German V-weapons and jet-propelled aircraft and assisted with the sinking of German battleships such as the Tirpitz . The WAAFs collected and disseminated intelligence ahead of the Normandy landings in June 1944 and worked in signals intelligence throughout the landings and the Allied advance into Europe. They were also present in their hundreds at Bletchley Park, working with the Government Code and Cypher School on air intelligence and liaising with the RAFs Y service. Though the work and memory of the pilots of Fighter and Bomber Commands are rightfully revered and treasured, their success was made possible by the WAAFs working behind the scenes. This book aims to recover this missing piece of history, granting the WAAFs the recognition they deserve for their wartime contribution to British military intelligence. The courageous pilots of the Royal Air Force who faced the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, affectionately known as 'the Few', are rightly hailed as heroes. Recently, efforts have been made to recognise the thousands who supported RAF operations behind the scenes. And yet one group remains missing from the narrative: the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. WAAFs worked within the Dowding System, the world's most sophisticated air defence network. Throughout the Blitz, they used radar to aid Fighter and Bomber Commands in protecting Britain's civilians. WAAFs were also behind the discovery of the terrifying German V-weapons. Their work was critical ahead of the Normandy landings and they were present in their hundreds at Bletchley Park. In this thrilling book, Sarah-Louise Miller celebrates their wartime contribution to British military intelligence. Hidden behind the Few but vital to their success, WAAFs supplied the RAF with life-saving information. Here, for the first time, is their story. The Women Behind the Few explores the Second World War from the perspective of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force members working behind the scenes to collect and disseminate vital intelligence - intelligence that resulted in Allied victory.