Private Ena J. Collymore, ATS

When Ena Collymore-Woodstock’s daughter, Marguerite, reached out to Nick Devaux with a photograph she had just found of her mother in uniform, she asked a simple but evocative question: what does the badge on her shoulder mean?

At first glance, the small rectangular patch on Ena’s upper right sleeve appeared unusual. Many ATS servicewomen wore the familiar insignia of their trades, usually on the left arm, signifying ground roles.^[1]RAF Dress Regulations (AP1358, 1943). See excerpted version: Air Cadet Central – AP1358 Chapter 7
Ena’s badge, however, was different: a dark central circle with radiating “flashes” spreading left and right, sewn onto a rectangular backing and placed prominently on her right sleeve.

This was closely related to the Royal Artillery’s “fist and flashes” insignia, introduced during the war for technical specialists in radar, radio-location, and related electrical or signals trades. The standard pattern showed an upright fist grasping lightning bolts, but Ena’s version appears to replace the fist with a roundel-like disc from which the flashes radiate. Variations in manufacture and service-branch practice meant that several forms of this insignia circulated, and in Anti-Aircraft Command all were understood to identify radar and predictor operators. Within the “Mixed” HAA regiments, this badge marked those trained to handle the radar and communications equipment that guided the guns. For Ena, it made visible her role as Pte (Private), ATS in 485 (Mixed) Battery, one of the most technically demanding wartime trades open to women.

This positioning and design point to her specialist wartime role. Trade badges like wireless or radar operator were conventionally worn on the left arm. By contrast, right-arm insignia were often formation or specialist badges, denoting attachment to a particular Army command.^[2]War Office Dress Regulations, 1943 (Army Council Instructions). Digitised copy available via The National Archives This interpretation is strongly reinforced by Ena’s surviving service record, which shows that by April 1945 she was serving as Private Collymore in 485 (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, “F” Troop, 139th (Mixed) HAA Regiment, Royal Artillery, part of the British Liberation Army.^[3]Service record letter of W/MC/273106 Pte Collymore, E.R., 485 (M) HAA Battery, “F” Troop, 139th Regiment RA, BLA, 26 April 1945 (private family archive).

The Structure of the 139th (Mixed) HAA Regiment

The 139th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was composed of three organic batteries — 483, 484, and 485 (Mixed) HAA Batteries. The term “Mixed” was a wartime innovation that described the formal integration of women into Royal Artillery units. Male gunners crewed the heavy 3.7-inch guns, while women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) operated the SCR-584 radar sets (designated Radar No. 3 Mk. V in British service), predictors, range-finders, and plotting instruments. These mixed formations were among the first in the British Army to place women in combat-support roles essential to live firing in action.

Importantly, the designation “Mixed” had nothing to do with race or ethnicity. Britain did not organise anti-aircraft regiments along racial lines, and unlike the United States armed forces of the time, which maintained strict segregation in both combat and support units, the British services did not apply such policies.^[4]Killingray, David, and Richard Rathbone. Africa and the Second World War. London: Macmillan, 1986^[5]Smith, Graham. When Jim Crow Met John Bull: Black American Soldiers in World War II Britain. London: I.B. Tauris, 1987. Colonial volunteers from across the Empire — including Jamaica, the Caribbean, Africa, and South Asia — were generally integrated into existing British units according to role and trade, rather than placed in racially separate formations. Ena’s service as a Jamaican-born ATS Private in a mixed regiment therefore illustrates both the broadening of women’s roles and the wider imperial contribution to Britain’s air defence.

While most published accounts of the Brussels “X” campaign single out 484 (Mixed) Battery — often because it fired the first rounds against V-1 flying bombs on 28 December 1944 and features in surviving official photographs — 485 (Mixed) Battery was equally part of the regiment’s deployed order of battle. The relative prominence of 484 in secondary sources reflects the survival of more photographs and reports, but does not mean 485 was less engaged. Ena’s posting to 485 Battery therefore places her squarely in the same operational environment: manning radar and communications positions that fed the guns around Brussels through the winter and spring of 1945.^[6]RA 39–45: 139th (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA — Batteries 483, 484, 485 listed at formation (December 1941).^[7]139th (Mixed) HAA Regiment, RA (Brussels ‘X’ deployment and 484 Bty’s first action), Wikipedia; Farndale, M. History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat and Victory, … Continue reading

The SCR-584 mobile radar

At the heart of this effort was the SCR-584 radar, a revolutionary microwave gun-laying system developed in the United States and rushed into Allied service from 1943. In British service it was designated Radar, AA No. 3 Mark V, continuing the numbering sequence of earlier Gun Laying (GL) radars. Mounted on a mobile trailer, the set combined a steerable dish antenna with automatic tracking capability, feeding precise range, bearing, and elevation data into the M-9 Predictor fire-control computer. For the first time, anti-aircraft guns could be guided with a level of accuracy fast enough to intercept V-1 flying bombs, which travelled at over 400 mph and flew at low altitude. In practice, the SCR-584 (Radar No. 3 Mk. V) raised interception rates dramatically—where older sets achieved only limited success, the new radar allowed British HAA batteries to destroy up to 80–90% of incoming V-1s in defended zones.^[8]139th (Mixed) HAA Regiment, RA (Brussels ‘X’ deployment and 484 Bty’s first action)^[9]Farndale, M. History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat and Victory, 1939–45 (London: Brassey’s, 1986).

ATS personnel like Ena operated the SCR-584’s consoles, predictors, and plotting instruments, ensuring that the fire-control data reached the gun crews within seconds. The deployment of this radar was so significant that historians often describe it as the single most effective technological advance in Allied anti-aircraft defence of the late war.

Life for units like 139th Regiment was far from secure. Their radar trailers and gun sites were positioned in open ground on the approaches to Brussels and Antwerp, making them high-visibility targets for German air raids and ground-attack sorties. Operators worked in exposed conditions, often under threat from strafing or bombing, while their equipment itself—vital to the defence of the cities—was a prime target. In this environment, Ena and her comrades not only mastered complex technology but also faced genuine frontline danger, sharing in the risks that came with protecting Europe’s newly liberated cities.

A Badge that Speaks Volumes

The badge on Ena’s sleeve thus signifies far more than a technical speciality. It identifies her as a radar and communications operator in Anti-Aircraft Command, one of a small cadre of ATS personnel sent forward into active service with the British Liberation Army. In her case, it locates her with 139th Regiment in Belgium in 1944–45, on the very front line of Britain’s final anti-aircraft campaign of the war.

First-hand accounts from ATS radar operators emphasise both the technical skill required and the vulnerability of their work. Operators trained on the SCR-584 described the constant concentration needed to hold a fast-moving target, often in poor weather or under pressure of imminent attack.^[10]Dobinson, C. AA Command: Britain’s Anti-Aircraft Defences of the Second World War (London: Methuen, 2001), pp. 345–352; Younghusband, E. One Woman’s War (Cardiff: Candy Jar Books, 2011).
Radar and anti-aircraft sites were typically established in open terrain to give clear lines of sight, which also made them conspicuous to enemy aircraft. In Belgium during 1944–45, these positions were within reach of German fighter-bombers and artillery, and personnel understood that their radar trailers and antenna masts were valuable targets. For the ATS women, it meant not only mastering cutting-edge technology but also enduring the strain of being under threat in forward positions.

Seen in this light, the small patch that caught Marguerite’s eye speaks volumes. It tells of Ena’s courage in leaving Jamaica to serve in Britain’s hour of need, her skill in operating one of the most sophisticated pieces of Allied wartime equipment, and her place within the pioneering mixed regiments that extended women’s military service into combat support roles overseas.

The photograph captures not only Ena’s poise but also the quiet authority of a woman whose service badge symbolised one of the most advanced and critical wartime duties of all. It is a reminder that behind each piece of insignia lies a story of personal resolve, technical mastery, and service in conditions that were as dangerous as they were vital to victory.

We are indebted to Ena’s daughter, Marguerite, whose decision to share this photograph prompted a deeper exploration of her mother’s wartime service. In doing so, she has not only shed light on Ena’s role within the 139th (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment but also helped illuminate the wider story of women’s service in both the ATS and WAAF, and of the Caribbean men and women who crossed the Atlantic to serve in Britain’s hour of need.

This single image thus connects family memory with a broader understanding of wartime service, reminding us how individual stories enrich the shared history of a generation.