Witnesses of War
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WWII veterans

Olga Hopkins

Born October 1925

WAAF Wireless Mechanic

Women’s Auxiliary Air Force · RAF · Women soldier

United Kingdom
Olga Hopkins holding a photograph of herself in WAAF uniform.
Olga Hopkins holding a photograph of herself in WAAF uniform.

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Olga Hopkins with historian Jiri Kluc.
Olga Hopkins with historian Jiri Kluc.

Olga Hopkins, née West, was born in October 1925. Determined to contribute to the war effort, she volunteered for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) at eighteen, joining in January 1944.

Selected for technical training, she studied radio engineering at the Royal Technical College in Glasgow and RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire. She subsequently served at RAF Church Lawford, RAF Wellesbourne Mountford and RAF Spitalgate, attaining the rank of Leading Aircraftwoman.

As a wireless mechanic, Olga inspected and maintained aircraft radio equipment, working on Bristol Blenheims, Avro Ansons and North American Harvards. Her work supported the communications on which aircrews depended.

Olga Hopkins at home with a cat resting on the back of her chair.
Olga Hopkins at home with a cat resting on the back of her chair.

She remembered hearing news of D-Day on 6 June 1944 while training in Glasgow. When Germany surrendered in May 1945, she was listening to the American Forces Network in her Nissen hut. Following an announcement over the loudspeaker, she and her fellow servicewomen pulled their battledress over their pyjamas and joined celebrations in the sergeants’ mess.

Demobilised in 1947, Olga studied at Cardiff University and became an English teacher. She was the first female teacher at Verulam School in St Albans, where a study room was named in her honour in 2025.

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