Lady Bruce discusses the tests involved in becoming a radar operator and air raids during the war

Why did you want to join up or was there no choice?
Yes. I didn't have to join up. I joined up before you know the conscription came in, em but I just felt I would like to. I don't know why I chose the ATS, I didn't want to be a WREN, because I thought I would be stuck in Rosyth forever more and then be at home, I thought if I joined the ATS I would be more likely to go abroad.

But you didn't in the early stages?
No, with the Anti Aircraft I got to go abroad. No it was only people like Mary Churchill, you know she was allowed to go, she was the prime minister's daughter.

Any funny moments, sad moments, serious moments anything that sticks in your mind particularly, you know that makes the war your war rather than you know anything at all?
Well em. What can I say. I mean. It was kinda the first time, I had been away at boarding school, but it was the first time sort of properly away from home so I, what I discovered was all the girls were terribly homesick and they really were quite sort of prone. But with having been in boarding school this was more or less the same, so it was quite easy for me. But em we had, we joined in Dalkeith and it was in huts. So we were in Dalkeith and em it was my birthday and when the girls had birthdays they were allowed to get things from home. And so I was sent some food and we were going to have this midnight feast, but we knew the orderly sergeant and an officer were going to come around and we would probably be told Morra. And so we had candles you know because they, anything might have shone through the blackouts. Lo and behold the door opened even though we said to the sergeant please don't bring Madam round, however she was quite alright. So you know she understood, that was alright. I don't know what I could say really, when I took over this street in London, I hadn't any idea about administration because when we were in anti aircraft, we were just on anti aircraft we didn't do administration like knowing how to work out the pay and run the money side of it and everything. And so I was absolutely stuck, then I discovered that half the battery that I had been in, had been posted next door to barracks so I could just go in and say sergeant major please help me with this that and the next thing. So I got on all right.

You were talking about the radar and there was a receiver and a transmitter?
Yes and em and that was what found the aeroplanes in the sky, then the information was feeded back to the guns so that the guns followed what the radar was trained.

And you know when you went down were all the girls did they all pass or what happened to the ones who weren't that way inclined were they put in to different positions what happened?
Well they had a sort of test at the beginning, the beginning ...

For aptitude.
… so they only selected the radar on the ones that came one or two grades. Grade 1 or grade 2 em but we did find that gradually you know they used up all the sort of all the very intelligent ones and we got the people that really were weren't really trainable and it was quite difficult. But then all what happened was they went back to the training centre and were sent out doing a different job. So they tried to fit people in A what they wanted to do and B what they were good at.