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

plotter A plotter is a machine that produces vector graphics drawings. Plotters draw lines on paper using a pen, or in some applications, use a knife to cut a material like vinyl or leather. In the latter case, they are sometimes known as a cutting ...

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 defended ...

, 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. ...

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 The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh la ...

and the first

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are ...

Early life

She was born on 16 June 1913. Her father was

Robert Candlish Henderson The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(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 ...

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI i ...

. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 London Biggin Hill Airport is an operational general aviation airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south-southeast of Central London. The airport was formerly a Royal Air Force station RAF Biggin Hill, and a sma ...

– 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 RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three year ...

– 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 A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is prod ...

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 The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

and painted by

Laura Knight Dame Laura Knight ( Johnson; 4 August 1877 – 7 July 1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressi ...

. She was trained for

cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...

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 Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

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