3-062-963 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

Royal Air Force No. 2 School of Photography, Palatine Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, 1941. Portrait of the first intake of WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) recruits to undertake training at the No. 2 School of Photography. The women shown in the photograph have the surnames: Bibby, Bradford, Carter, Constantine, Davies-Colley, Fisk, Gravell, Hanson, Kelly, King, Knapman, Lawson, Lowndes, Maddison, Newey, Nutter, Ogilvie, Parsons, Patterson, Pearson, Pell, Rose, Sporle, Smallburn, Tompkins, and Watson. The photograph shows Knicky Chapman (nee Knapman) with other members of her cohort; the surnames of each woman appearing on the print. The reverse of the print has the handwritten caption 'Sgt. Hambledon'. The RAF’s No. 2 School of Photography was established in August 1940 to meet the rapidly increasing need for more photographers and photographic technicians to aid with aerial reconnaissance during the Second World War. The School was based at the Blackpool Technical College and Palatine Secondary School in Blackpool. Training of women at the School began in 1941.