He was decorated at the Somme,
And he was a King's Own
My mother's family was Gough, G-o-u-g-h,
and there are many
And they go back a long way.
So, on my mother's side, my history
of military history is very long.
They were a bit annoyed when
The navy would've been excusable, but.
The RAF, what's that?
The RAF? What's that?
Refusing her mother’s wishes to study Domestic Science at a local college, Katherine Du Plat-Taylor instead joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). She served as an Operations Clerk, stationed deep underground in the tunnels below Dover. One of her main responsibilities was to work with Air Sea Rescue, plotting the location of aircrafts on a table map in an operations room, saving the lives of hundreds of pilots.
| Role Clerk SD | Age 20 |
Mother lost her husband, her brothers and all her male cousins.
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorHe had bullets but no rifles.
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorI'm a rebel woman.
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorJust get out of Dover
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorWe had more pilots than planes.
Katherine Du Plat-Taylor
The Ops Room
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorMother was a bit miffed.
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorThey were heroic women.
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorWe were very unpopular with the rest of the WAAF.
Katherine Du Plat-Taylor
You'd wait to hear about the boy you'd been dancing with.
Katherine Du Plat-TaylorGet up and put your trousers on.
Katherine Du Plat-Taylor