Edwina Caroline Gearey Burton (Miss)

Edwina spent 18 months at the Hollingbourne Control and Zero Stations. She was living in Malvern when researchers investigating Auxiliary Units in Herefordshire and Worcestershire interviewed her in 2002. Miss Burton's radio duty was shared by another ATS girl and their activities were controlled by a Royal Signals Captain and a small staff occupying a large house nearby, possibly Harrietsham House. Her radio hide was fitted with two camp beds for use by the operators and they were provided with a supply of food and water. Miss Burton thought the radio supplied was the fairly standard British Army No. 17 R/T set. The aerial for the station was fixed in the branches of a nearby tall tree with the connecting wires carefully hidden within the bark of the tree trunk.
Edwina Burton probably owes her transfer to Auxiliary Units as a radio operator to the fact her sister was the civilian secretary to Major Petherick, who was part of the Special Duties staff at Hannington Hall. It seems likely therefore that recommendation and personal contact influenced recruitment of ATS operators rather than simple transfers from general duties. Miss Burton's induction to the clandestine radio service followed an interview with a Captain Jones of the Royal Signals. Part of Miss Burton's training included weapons firing in Thetford Forest. She preferred the Sten to the rifle and revolver as spraying the target with bullets was more successful.
Miss Burton's 18 months at Hollingbourne were only punctuated by visits from Royal Signals' personnel to change the radio batteries and to check the radio was working. Practice transmissions to South East Command, Home Forces, involved reciting various passages of text in 'plain' language. No coding of messages was involved nor was Morse Code used. Sometime in 1944 after the German V1 flying bomb campaign started Miss Burton was transferred back to ATS general duties.