World War One

In 1918, Annie May Martin was a telegraphist working in France. Her role with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was to pass messages in morse code between front line troops and London. In an archive interview, she looks back on her life as a signaller, why they were called the ‘blue and white angels,’ and remembers the hostility she experienced at the hands of French civilians. Her reflections are included in IWM’s Lives of the First World War, launched today to create a digital memorial to mark the lives of more than eight million people in WWI. Project Manager Melanie Donnelly joins Jane Garvey to talk about the scale of the task ahead.