Elspeth Candlish Green (née Henderson; 1913–2006) was an NCO and officer in the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

(WAAF). She was a

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during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, serving at

Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a settlement on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Kent, prior to 1965 it was also in the administrative county of Kent. I ...

where she won the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

for her bravery during repeated

air raid Air raid may refer to: Attacks * Airstrike * Strategic bombing Other uses * ''Air Raid'' (album), by the improvisational collective Air * Air Raid ''(Transformers)'', the name of three characters in the Transformers universes * ''Air Raid'' ...

s. After the war, she worked for the British Council and the first Edinburgh International Festival.

Early life

She was born on 16 June 1913. Her father was Robert Candlish Henderson (1874–1964), the professor of

Scots law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...

at Edinburgh University. She was educated at the private school of St. Denis in Edinburgh and then the

Harrogate Ladies' College Harrogate Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school located in the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a girls' senior school in 1893, the college includes Highfield Prep School and educates girls from ages 2 ...

. She then travelled in Ceylon and Europe where she became fluent in French and German.

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she initially worked for the

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

(VAD) as a driver and

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

er. In January 1940, she joined the

, was given two weeks of training as a

, and then posted to RAF Biggin Hill – a front-line base in the

. During August of that year, at the height of the battle, she was responsible for maintaining contact with RAF Uxbridge – the headquarters of No. 11 Group, defending London and the South East of England. Biggin Hill was bombed repeatedly – six raids in three days – and she was in the thick of the action: digging out fellow WAAFs from bombed trenches, avoiding unexploded bombs and surviving the blast from the bombs that did explode. Throughout, she continued to perform her duty and maintain effective communications. When her operations room received a direct hit, she was knocked down by the bomb blast but continued to stay on the line until she was ordered to leave the burning building and had to exit through a broken window. In November 1940, she and two other WAAFs at Biggin Hill – Helen Turner and Elizabeth Mortimer – were awarded the

for "courage and example of a high order". Only six WAAFs received this award during the Second World War. She was reticent about the award and her wartime service and so, thereafter, her friends and relations were surprised to learn of it. Henderson and Turner were the subjects of a 1941 portrait – ''Assistant Section Leader E. Henderson, MM, and Sergeant H. Turner, MM, Women's Auxiliary Air Service'' – which was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee and painted by Laura Knight. She was trained for

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work and then commissioned as an officer. She worked on bomber bases for the rest of the war, finally doing duty as a welfare officer in Egypt in 1945. She was demobbed in 1946 as a

Squadron Officer Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Personal life

She married Alastair McWatt Green in 1949 and then focussed on raising her family – a son and a daughter. She continued to do charitable and voluntary work in Edinburgh, especially for the Aged Christian Friends Society. She died on 24 August 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Elspeth 1913 births 2006 deaths British women in World War II People educated at Harrogate Ladies' College People educated at St Margaret's School, Edinburgh Recipients of the Military Medal Women's Auxiliary Air Force officers