By Rob Forsyth from a conversation with Peggy in December 2009

Section Officer Peggy Pacey RAF

Peggy joined the Territorial Reserves in 1938 and transferred to the regular RAF in 1939 until war end. She worked her way up through the ranks via Administration duties then trained in vehicle maintenance. She took a more advance course while a Corporal to become a Fitter and an Instructor. She recalls frequent air raids and, on one occasion, of diving into a trench with a couple of friends. An unexploded bomb fell into the far end of the trench and one of her friends said 'I think it must be a gas attack bomb' but the other friend said 'the gas is entirely human and lets get out of here!' She then bcame a staff car and despatch motor cycle rider while with No 3 Group, Bomber Command in East Anglia.

In this capacity she was the motor cycle escort for a visit by The Duchess of Gloucester to RAF Feltwell near Thetford in 1941.

This photo is of an amphibuous vehicle called a DUKW* crossing the Severn as a watertightness test. Presumably Peggy (seated) and the driver (standing) would have swum back if it failed the test!

* Editors note: THE DUKW was a British design which was rejected by UK armed forces; however a prototype being displayed to US Forces rescued some coastguardmen from a sandbank in bad weather and was instantly put into production. The designation of DUKW is not a military pun - the name comes from the model naming terminology used by The General Motor Corporation; the D indicates a vehicle designed in 1942, the U meant "utility (amphibious)", the K indicated all-wheel drive and the W indicated two powered rear axles.

On another occasion she was required to collect Flying Fortress spare parts on her motor cycle from London and deliver them to an air base in East Anglia in February - a trip she remembers very clearly! On arrival she was called in to meet Winston Churchill who was visiting the base and had heard of her winter journey. She was later apppointed as Transport Officer in command of a large depot at Hartlebury in Worcestershire. Peggy's sister, Elizabeth Maud, was also in the WAAF and became a cypher officer who was stationed in Washington for most of the war.

Follow this link to read an article about her in the archives of The Deddington News, March 1983.

All photographs are by courtesy of Peggy and can also be seen in the gallery