Brenda Pullin Deigan

Shortly after the start of the Second World War, Brenda joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) — the women’s division of the Royal Air Force, established by King George VI in 1939. The WAAF was created to allow women to take on vital duties that released men for front-line service. By the height of the war, over a quarter of a million women served in more than 110 different trades, from aircraft maintenance and meteorology to code work and radar operations.

Brenda trained and served in one of the WAAF’s most secret and essential wartime roles — as a radar operator, a position critical to Britain’s air defence network. Working long, tense hours in operations rooms, she survived several close calls during bombing raids. Through skill and determination, she contributed directly to the success of the RAF’s defence of Britain and its air campaigns across Europe.

When the war ended, Brenda came to Canada in 1946 as a War Bride. Continuing her spirit of service, she joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC) in the Canadian Army Reserve Force, qualifying again as a Corporal in 1952.

Brenda’s story reflects the courage, discipline, and resilience of the thousands of women who proved that their work and commitment were indispensable to the Allied victory — and helped open the door for women’s permanent service in the armed forces.