Script Extract - Roof over Britain

This document is an extract from a now iconic publication that celebrated the often unsung work of the men and women who operated and assisted the anti-aircraft guns. They spent long and often monotonous days and nights searching out and shooting down enemy aircraft that had made it past the planes of Fighter Command. The transcript records how, in September 1940, when the Nazis changed tactics and decided to bomb London, the gunners, with only the altitude of the aircraft to guide them, sent up barrages of gunfire that successfully saw the enemy off.

Until 1941, women were restricted to 'non-operational' roles in the war effort, but as the conflict moved further afield and men were increasingly recruited to serve in the overseas campaigns, it became necessary to use women from the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in the Anti-Aircraft Command. Mixed batteries were inaugurated in August 1941 and drew large crowds of observers, who marvelled in fascination. By 1942, more women than men were working on anti-aircraft sites. They could do the jobs of radar operators, height finders, spotters and predictors, but they still weren't permitted to pull the trigger on the guns.