The Light Over London(94)

While my grandfather’s covert work was the inspiration for Iris Warren’s own closely held secrets, the gunner girls captured my imagination in an entirely different way. As soon as I read about them, I was fascinated by these extraordinary women of the Ack-Ack Command who defended London’s skies on anti-aircraft guns.

Made up of recruits from the army’s women’s branch, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the gunner girls were formed to help fill out the ranks of anti-aircraft batteries stationed in Britain and across Europe as the war raged on. In April 1941, the first women were recruited for their aptitude, among other skills, and sent to Oswestry to train for their new, vital roles before entering active duty later that year.

By parliamentary decree, women were unable to engage in combat roles back then, so they couldn’t actually load or fire the massive guns they were stationed at. Instead, they did everything else. Each battery had a spotter who would identify German aircraft, while the other women operated the complex set of sensitive instruments that aimed the gun and set the fuse. These teams moved fast, executing a complex set of adjustments with one goal: to damage or shoot down enemy aircraft.

The nature of their work meant that the gunner girls were constantly exposed to danger—more than 350 of them lost their lives. But that danger also bonded them together. They worked, ate, slept, and relaxed together. Women who might never have otherwise met became lifelong friends amid the chaos and devastation of war. But like them, I saw the positive side of their experiences. I’ve always found joy and satisfaction in writing about female friendships like the ones Louise, Vera, Charlie, Lizzie, Mary, and Nigella share. It’s a special bond, unbreakable by circumstance or distance. And it was easy to imagine the growing respect of the men who worked with these brave, disciplined women.

While the gunner girls were very real, I took artistic license with other parts of this book. If you go searching for the Star Inn, Bakeford’s, or the Woolwich Depot, you won’t find them. A few small moments in the book’s timeline have been nudged up or back for ease of narrative. Similarly, Paul’s betrayal is entirely fiction, although there are countless stories of people who took advantage of each other in unthinkable ways during a desperate time in London’s long history. (Joshua Levine’s The Secret History of the Blitz is a fascinating, sobering read for those interested.)

However, what is not a fabrication is the incredible bravery of ordinary people during this era. Conscription for women started in December 1941, right as The Light Over London wraps up. At first the National Service Act called up only single women and childless widows between the ages of twenty and thirty, but it soon expanded. The idea of British women “doing their bit” for crown and country was very real—from the air wardens who patrolled the streets to the volunteer ambulance drivers like Lenora Robinson who navigated cratered streets to ferry the injured to hospitals. During the war, women flew planes, drove motorcycles, and built bombs. But most importantly, they proved to themselves and everyone else that they could do all of these things.

If you visit Whitehall today, the Monument to the Women of World War II stands as a reminder of the sacrifice that women across Britain made when their country needed them most. I like to think that The Light Over London is my way of honoring the remarkable women of Ack-Ack Command and their incredible stories.





Acknowledgments


Writing my first book about World War II was a deeply satisfying, daunting task, and I’m grateful to several authors for their excellent work on the time period. In particular, The Girls Who Went to War by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi, Girls in Khaki: A History of the ATS in the Second World War by Barbara Green, and The Secret History of the Blitz by Joshua Levine proved invaluable in my research. I am also thankful for the women who served and have since shared their stories.

I am eternally grateful for the generosity and enthusiasm of my support network. The HBICs in my life: Alexis Anne, Alexandra Haughton, Lindsay Emory, Mary Chris Escobar, and Laura von Holt (who danced through the Village with me when I told her this book was going to be a reality). Sonia, Jax, Ben, Tamsen, Nigel, Sarah, Aidan, Kather, Christy, Sean. My wonderful agent through thick and thin, Emily Sylvan Kim. My incredible editor, Marla Daniels. (We’re going back to that restaurant and ordering champagne next time.) Jennifer Bergstrom and the entire team at Gallery Books, including Polly Watson, Christine Masters, Kristin Roth, Meagan Harris, Abby Zidle, Diana Velasquez, and Mackenzie Hickey.

Mum, Dad, Justine, and Mark, thank you the most for putting up with a writer on deadline for months. You helped me figure out characters, didn’t say anything when I plastered my bedroom with Post-it notes to figure out plot, and have been asking, “When can I read it?” for ages now. I love you all and couldn’t be more grateful that you’re my family.