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Keeping Watch A WAAF in Bomber Command by Beck, Pip (2004) Paperback
A sensitively written true story by a RAF Bomber Command wartime R/T operator who talked down the crews on their return from operations, met them off duty and so often, mourned their loss within days. The book sparkles with anecdotes and humor yet has a very special poignancy as the author reiterates her deep admiration for these truly remarkable men of Bomber Command.
- GenresHistoryWorld War II
Paperback
First published March 28, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 14, 2020
A fantastic book and a truly wonderful read although I am biased, Pip Beck was my auntie.
March 1, 2021
A wonderful read if you want to get the feel of wartime Britain and, in particular, service on a Bomber Command station in Lincolnshire. I didn't want this little book to end as it is a mine of detail and anecdote casting light on young Pip Beck and her roles within the WAAF, and the friendships she formed with other young girls posted to RAF Waddington.
Pip Beck volunteered in 1941 and was deployed as a Radio Operator and in Signals. Long hours on duty and waiting for the squadrons to return to base made her appreciate the high stakes being waged by her airmen, many of whom went 'Missing in Action.' Many airmen asked her to be their "Girl' , some ask for more, either to get engaged or just to be pen pals, and so young Pip, reluctant to disappoint, writes to no end of different airmen, of all nationalities, and to their families in Scotland, Canada, Rhodesia and New Zealand.
At times her writing reads like a novel and becomes a real 'page turner' and there is sadness and joy in equal measure. She made mistakes and admits to her own naivety and gullibility, when she falls for men who are 'inappropriate' or 'unavailable', in more ways than one, but she had great perseverance and never seemed to be demoralised for long. She refused to be defeated and displays admirable stoicism, resigning herself to the school of thought that said 'these things happen in war.' Never judgemental she personifies the 'keep calm and carry on' mentality.
Pip has an artistic bent and listens to concerts on the radio, and sings in a hastily put together choral society and joins an amateur dramatics. She has a poetic inclination and, feels things deeply and writes sensitively; indeed she includes some of her poems in her memoir.
I didn't want the story to end but it does so, rather suddenly. After D-Day many of the squadrons moved overseas and there seems less tension in the air, her life is less dramatic, the war has moved further afield, and the outcome of the conflict was becoming more of a formality, and this is reflected in her writing. The final chapters are brief and lack the same vitality of the earlier work, and her engagement and marriage get scant little attention. Maybe she had already lost the man of her dreams.
I was left with the feeling that Pip Beck had 'a good war' in that she seized the opportunity to serve her country and to go other own personal voyage of self discovery.
Pip Beck volunteered in 1941 and was deployed as a Radio Operator and in Signals. Long hours on duty and waiting for the squadrons to return to base made her appreciate the high stakes being waged by her airmen, many of whom went 'Missing in Action.' Many airmen asked her to be their "Girl' , some ask for more, either to get engaged or just to be pen pals, and so young Pip, reluctant to disappoint, writes to no end of different airmen, of all nationalities, and to their families in Scotland, Canada, Rhodesia and New Zealand.
At times her writing reads like a novel and becomes a real 'page turner' and there is sadness and joy in equal measure. She made mistakes and admits to her own naivety and gullibility, when she falls for men who are 'inappropriate' or 'unavailable', in more ways than one, but she had great perseverance and never seemed to be demoralised for long. She refused to be defeated and displays admirable stoicism, resigning herself to the school of thought that said 'these things happen in war.' Never judgemental she personifies the 'keep calm and carry on' mentality.
Pip has an artistic bent and listens to concerts on the radio, and sings in a hastily put together choral society and joins an amateur dramatics. She has a poetic inclination and, feels things deeply and writes sensitively; indeed she includes some of her poems in her memoir.
I didn't want the story to end but it does so, rather suddenly. After D-Day many of the squadrons moved overseas and there seems less tension in the air, her life is less dramatic, the war has moved further afield, and the outcome of the conflict was becoming more of a formality, and this is reflected in her writing. The final chapters are brief and lack the same vitality of the earlier work, and her engagement and marriage get scant little attention. Maybe she had already lost the man of her dreams.
I was left with the feeling that Pip Beck had 'a good war' in that she seized the opportunity to serve her country and to go other own personal voyage of self discovery.
February 22, 2016
I read this after reading Muriel Gane Pushman's happy book "We all wore blue" about her WAAF experiences and I must say that in comparison, this book is the book to read if one really wants to know what it was like during the war years for these girls.
While Muriel's book is very self centered Pip Beck's covers a wide spectrum.
It starts with some very touching poems written by her during the war. And then it moves on to her service time which lasted till well after the war, January of 1946.
What makes this book so much better is that she really gives a feel for what it was like for an ordinary girl to join the forces. She came from a not well-to-do family and was the only child. Her family really lived on their rations and had no more. Not like Muriel Gane Pushman's who were able to shop on the black market and whose mother had all Canadian servicemen over for dinners and teas and was given oodles of clothing coupons and other items. Pip Beck's parents had to make do and sent her what they could to cheer her up.
When her tiny pay came and two days leave, she had to hitch hike home or to wherever she desired to go. She could never stay anywhere posh, when she headed for sight seeing to places like Stratford-upon-Avon but she did take advantage of her time in service to go and see something of England.
Pip describes her work in detail, what the places looked like, what people looked like and their personalities. We get descriptions of the huts where they lived, the food they had to force themselves to eat and conditions of hygiene.
She describes friendships that are for life, colleagues work tasks. You really get to know a lot during her 185 pages of book.
The most touching things in this book are how a lot of people looked down on the work that she and her friends did and on the WAAF. But these girls really cared. They did their best. They were in to help win the war. And even if some people said that they were just out to find husband's that is not the case with Pip. She worked for Bomber Command, and after all those years she really had nothing for it. No promotions, no commission, she was just an ordinary girl that had done her job. She never sought fame or glory.
The other very touching thing was her relationship with a Rhodesian that she got engaged to and much later found out that he was already married. It showed one of the darker sides of the war because she was not the only one getting in the way of dishonest men.
My only disappointment in this book was with the description of the last year of the war. In one way it is good, because it shows her having less and less important work to do since the Allies were successful and winning the war. But it also made it sound like the air had gone out of her. That she was getting tired of writing the book. She could have gone in to a little bit more and with more feeling, for example how she met her husband. It sounded like he was just an appendix to her friend and that she just married him after the war because she was depressed that it was all over. Perhaps it was the case but since other relationships had been described so well, I would have like to have known what finally made her decide to be married.
And the other disappointment is my own fault. Through out the book there is lots of acronyms that I had no knowledge of, what they stood for, and when I had finished the book, I found a list at the very end of the book of them ALL. That could have been good to have had at the beginning of the book instead for us ignorant people.
While Muriel's book is very self centered Pip Beck's covers a wide spectrum.
It starts with some very touching poems written by her during the war. And then it moves on to her service time which lasted till well after the war, January of 1946.
What makes this book so much better is that she really gives a feel for what it was like for an ordinary girl to join the forces. She came from a not well-to-do family and was the only child. Her family really lived on their rations and had no more. Not like Muriel Gane Pushman's who were able to shop on the black market and whose mother had all Canadian servicemen over for dinners and teas and was given oodles of clothing coupons and other items. Pip Beck's parents had to make do and sent her what they could to cheer her up.
When her tiny pay came and two days leave, she had to hitch hike home or to wherever she desired to go. She could never stay anywhere posh, when she headed for sight seeing to places like Stratford-upon-Avon but she did take advantage of her time in service to go and see something of England.
Pip describes her work in detail, what the places looked like, what people looked like and their personalities. We get descriptions of the huts where they lived, the food they had to force themselves to eat and conditions of hygiene.
She describes friendships that are for life, colleagues work tasks. You really get to know a lot during her 185 pages of book.
The most touching things in this book are how a lot of people looked down on the work that she and her friends did and on the WAAF. But these girls really cared. They did their best. They were in to help win the war. And even if some people said that they were just out to find husband's that is not the case with Pip. She worked for Bomber Command, and after all those years she really had nothing for it. No promotions, no commission, she was just an ordinary girl that had done her job. She never sought fame or glory.
The other very touching thing was her relationship with a Rhodesian that she got engaged to and much later found out that he was already married. It showed one of the darker sides of the war because she was not the only one getting in the way of dishonest men.
My only disappointment in this book was with the description of the last year of the war. In one way it is good, because it shows her having less and less important work to do since the Allies were successful and winning the war. But it also made it sound like the air had gone out of her. That she was getting tired of writing the book. She could have gone in to a little bit more and with more feeling, for example how she met her husband. It sounded like he was just an appendix to her friend and that she just married him after the war because she was depressed that it was all over. Perhaps it was the case but since other relationships had been described so well, I would have like to have known what finally made her decide to be married.
And the other disappointment is my own fault. Through out the book there is lots of acronyms that I had no knowledge of, what they stood for, and when I had finished the book, I found a list at the very end of the book of them ALL. That could have been good to have had at the beginning of the book instead for us ignorant people.
August 2, 2009
Read this nearly twenty years ago and I should go back and re-read. I've given it four stars as if I remember it was a very well written book.
June 11, 2021
I loved this memoir by Pip Beck of her WAAF days during WWII. She was a R/T operator; she called the planes in when they returned from missions.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews