A Halifax bomber crew of No. 466 Squadron RAAF relax at breakfast after a night operation, RAF Leconfield, Lincolnshire, England, c. December 1943. The men are being looked after by women of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) who, according to the original caption, 'wait for them for hours to feed them when they come back'. Sometimes these young women waited for the return of a crew with more than usual anxiety. Peggy Mills worked as a bat-woman looking after officers' rooms at No. 462 Squadron RAAF when it was stationed at RAF Driffield, later in the war: After a while you get used to seeing an empty bed—someone not returned from ops. My first service boy-friend was at Driffield and was an air-gunner with 462. His birthday was the same as mine but he was one year older. He went out on a mission on 9 October 1944 and didn't return at 19 years old. I wanted to die but you get over it. [Peggy Mills, quoted in Alby Silverstone and Stan Parker, Brave and true, 446–462 Squadron Association, Sydney, 1992, p. 41; AWM SUK11668]
Copyright expired - public domain