Joan recalls the timeof her life in WRAF

And they were standard issue when Joan Blackburn joined the WRAF, embarking on one of the happiest periods of her life.

It was partly the era; it was partly the fact that they were all young girls together; but she had a ball, with plenty of laughs, not least at the knickers.

“We were supposed to wear them with our PE kit. They were silk grey, but we never did.”

Instead, the tradition was to hoist them on a flagpole whenever they left a training station - all memories fresh in Joan’s mind, thanks to her dad’s foresight.

“I came out of the WRAF in 1963, and my dad said to me in 30 years time I would have forgotten about it, all the details. So I thought I would write it down while I could remember the names and the people.”

She was 22 - and reading it now, Joan who lives in Littlehampton, finds herself straight back into her 22-year-old mind.

“I first wrote the book in 1964 on A4 paper on an old-fashioned ‘stand up and beg’ typewriter in ‘out of office’ hours after leaving the WRAF after four years. I rejoined the WRAF in 1969 and my parents got lumbered with my manuscript which they kept until they died in the early 90s.

“By that time the computer had been invented and I put it all onto disc and last year found a publisher, Woodfield Publishing of Bognor Regis. Naafi Knickers And Nijmegen is a book that took me 50 years to get published!

“It is quite unique in that I believe it is the only book to be written about the WRAF. There are plenty about the WAAF (wartime). The WRAF, as I knew it, was disbanded in favour of equality in 1992 - a sad day in my opinion.

“I was fortunate because during the time I was in we had fun. There was no great national event to write about which is probably why it is the only book of its kind. It was just a lovely time trying to outwit our superiors and culminating in the 100-mile Nijmegen March which is described in detail.”

Joan loved everything about the time: “It was the friends I had. It was late 50s, early 60s. It was a fantastic time to be around. Everything was fresh and new.

“The war-time austerity started to end with the Coronation. Bill Haley came to Britain in 1956. I was 16. I learnt to jive. We just had a lovely time.

“I must say that it is quite surreal to pick up this book - now that I am pushing 70 - to read about a young girl between the ages of 18 and 22 and see it through those eyes because that is when it was written. A very happy time which is definitely not through rose-tinted glasses!”

/blob/ The book can be ordered through any store or on line from Woodfield Publishing. It is also available in Edlows Bookshop in Rustington and in the Tangmere RAF Museum for the price of £9.95.