During the Second World War, women were called upon to perform many vital roles, not all of which have received the official recognition they deserve. For Julia’s experiences on the HAA battery at Mudchute and her training as a predictor operator, I am indebted to first-hand accounts written by Frank Yates, Margaret Ward (née Bennett) and Mary Latham, published on the website bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar, as well as to Phyllis Ramsden (www.kingscare.co.uk).
Footage shot in wartime Britain by the director Humphrey Jennings still frames our view of the Second World War. Films such as London Can Take It, Listen to Britain and Fires were Started have earned Jennings critical acclaim as ‘the only true poet the British cinema has yet produced’ (Lindsay Anderson). I have drawn on Jennings’s work and that of the Crown Film Unit in this book. (The title They Also Serve was borrowed from a 1940 film directed by Ruby Grierson; Keeping Rabbits for Extra Meat is also a real film of the period.)
Invaluable sources have included: Humphrey Jennings by Kevin Jackson (Picador, 2004), Humphrey Jennings, More than a Maker of Films by Anthony W. Hodgkinson and Rodney E. Sheratsky (University Press of New England, 1982), Humphrey Jennings: Film-maker, Painter, Poet, edited by Mary-Lou Jennings (British Film Institute, in association with Riverside Studios, 1982), Portrait of an Invisible Man, The Working Life of Stewart McAllister, Film Editor by Dai Vaughan (BFI Books, 1983) and A Retake Please! Night Mail to Western Approaches by Pat Jackson (Royal Naval Museum and Liverpool University Press, 1999). Films by Humphrey Jennings are available in a number of different DVD collections.
However, like Julia, Dougie Birdsall is a fictional creation, and his faults are his own.
My great thanks to the renowned documentary film-maker John Krish for sharing his memories of working with Jennings during the war. And to Debbie Postgate for putting me in touch with him.
To Jane Forster, who kept me supplied me with wartime copies of Lilliput, and who first suggested firing a gun.
To Paul Evans, Librarian, Royal Artillery Museum, and Major Tim Watts (retired) for setting me straight on military matters. (Mistakes are mine alone.)
My publisher Juliet Annan has been an unerring source of good advice and brilliant ideas – I am deeply grateful for her encouragement, for her keen editorial eye and for suggesting the title. At Fig Tree I would also like to thank Ellie Smith, Anna Steadman and Alison O’Toole, as well as Sarah Day for her copy-editing skills. Special thanks to Alice Chandler, who tracked down the previously unseen cover image.
Anthony Goff, my agent, made many useful suggestions, not least about cricket, and has been an immense help and support, as always. Thanks also to Marigold Atkey at David Higham Associates for her assistance.
I’m grateful to Jenny Hall for her kindness and generosity during a difficult time, to Hilary Arnold, Emma Dally, Celia Dodd, Takla Gardey and Debbie Postgate for unwavering friendship, and to Ann Fischer and Carol and Nick Justin for always being there.
As ever, all love to my children, Katharine and Tom Lazenby, whose ideas and encouragement have been so helpful. Most of all, heartfelt thanks to my brother, Glenn, and to Jocelyn Stephens. You both know why.