250384 Cpl. Joyce Enid Freeman Womens Auxiliary Air Force from:Hartley, Kent Joyce Enid Freeman , was my mother. She joined the WAAF in 1940 at the age of nearly 18. She lied about her age but was accepted because her birth certificate was mislaid and by the time it appeared she was just 18. Her first posting was as a maps clerk in Plymouth, underground. Her next posting was at Liverpool which was also severely bombed. Next posting was at Squires Gate which was at the time an RAF Home Command station. She again served as a maps clerk this time at the rank of Corporal. She told me that she had a tea fiddle going for the officers, not for financial gain, but because tea was very short then. One story was that a friend of hers witnessed the death of an airman on site when he walked in to a propellor and was decapitated, this had a most dramatic effect physiologically. Joyce kept in touch with my father, Norman Francis Saul, who was abroad serving in 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment. Not having seen each other for over 3 years they actually got engaged through the post. She spent her leave time visiting her parents near Bristol as her father was attached to an anti aircraft position there.
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