I love how this topic is developing with little snippets of information that will build into a resource of information on QE2 female crew.
Forum member Jane Nilsen a QE2 telephone operator 1980 to 1985, who had sailed with the task force to South Georgia, gave me information on a senior telephone operator, Margaret Cameron Shaw and her deputy, Jean Wilson. They had worked as children's nanny and stewardess, but when their job description changed they had utilised previous wartime telephone experience to transfer to the telephone exchange.
Does anyone remember these telephone exchange crew?
Quote from Jane Nilsen:
Margaret was trained as a nanny at the Princess Christian college, which was an establishment at least equally as prestigious as Norlands today, if not more so! She told us that Nannies had a strict hierarchy, dependent on employer's status and that they addressed each other as Nanny + employer's surname. She, having worked for the Duke of Sutherland at one time was Nanny Sutherland and was entitled to sit on one of the more favourably situated benches in Kensington Gardens. Her telephony training took place in one of the Ministries of State and was classified war work in the Civil Service. Jean, I believe, volunteered for the WRAF and was trained by them. I understand she saw wartime service overseas.
They were extremely well travelled and very interesting women. Their experiences and recollections would have been vast!
Another little snippet of information from Jane in relation to the Falklands crew:
.....in 1982 when the ship was commandeered for the Task Force, non-British nationals were unable to sail and female laundry staff (several from Liverpool) volunteered to return to their former positions onboard. They were collectively referred to as the Steam Queens and I do wonder if any information on their service was collated.