Chapter 5

When we went off for lunch, we both needed to buy a frame, Chris having seen a picture of herself at the desk when I was away. We had lunch at the café and then into The Rusty Trunk antique store, where Chris went to some boxes at the back. We each found a nice frame that didn’t cost a lot.

The others had come back before we had left, sporting their new lanyards and big smiles. Mark was on when we got back to the station, so I got my things together, put the photo in the frame where it looked wonderful, and sat beside Norman as we listened to the show. In a break, he turned to me.

“I really should put in for a raise. Before you arrived, I’d just sit here and listen to the show. Now, there’s a call every few minutes.”

The desk lit up and he answered. Just hearing his side was more than interesting.

“That was Saints in Norwich. They’ve been listening to the shows and want to know about getting us in for themed shows. I gave them the email address to put it in writing. They named your shows and the Saturday party show. At this rate, you’ll find it hard to get the time to be on air.”

Mark gave me a hug before I took over the seat, with an ‘I’ll talk to you later’. I did the afternoon show, and Anita also gave me a hug before she took over. Her comment was, ‘when are we going shopping in the Exchange’. I told her to talk to Christine, as we would have to use her car to get on the base.

I prepared for my part of the evening show, and then went off to get something to eat. When I got back, Mark and I started the party show, with Anita joining us after she had eaten. While the tracks were playing, we spoke about the likely parties on the bases, agreeing to meet in the studio the next day to record a six-hour show with adverts for the Saturday we would be away. When we told Andrew, he said that he would come in so that he knew what was being done.

That was our Sunday. A concentrated session in the second booth to record the entire show to computer. There were a lot of songs that were total party favourites, so the only decisions were the ones in between. The two shows would be the twenty-second and twenty-third and would be the same list for both. We would put them together over the next two Sundays, for a show running from seven to one on both nights. We would include a lot more American artists, seeing our audience. As far as Anita and I were concerned, our biggest problem would be what we would get as party dresses.

The confirmations came through in the next week, with the timings as we had been told. I recorded my Saturday afternoon show and phoned home to say that I would be popping in next Saturday as I would be working through Christmas. Chris and I took a couple of hours off on Wednesday morning, and the three of us went to the Exchange at Lakenheath to get presents, including a few for others in the station, from the three of us.

I got Dad a nice ‘Madhatters’ jacket with ‘492nd’ on one side of the front and a big picture of an F15 Strike Eagle over the name on the back. He would be able to play golf in it. I got Mum a Coach handbag, which would have the framed picture in it when she opened the gift. For my brother, I got him a similar jacket to Dads’, but with the ‘494th on the front and ‘Panthers’ under the plane picture. The jackets came in good bags that would suffice as packaging. They obviously sold a few of these as gifts to send back to relatives in the states.

It wasn’t a cheap shop, but we all came away with things we liked. Chris took control of the gifts for the ones in the station, telling us that she would wrap them. We didn’t get party dresses, as Anita told us that she had a shop that supplied hers that she wore for the late show. Later, that week, we three were off again to Bury St. Edmunds, where we ended up getting colourful dresses from Javelins. The other two got ones that showed lots of boob, while mine was less revealing due to just having fillers. Chris told me that it was so much better after an enhancement operation.

On Saturday morning, I loaded up the car and went down to Colchester. It felt odd, almost as if I was visiting relatives, which I was. Both parents were home when I arrived, and I put my gifts in the lounge, telling them not to open them until Christmas morning. I had a card, to all of them, which Mum put on the mantlepiece. She had organised lunch, so we spent a few hours talking, eating, and then talking again. They were amazed that I had access to the bases, and I told them about the show that we had DJ’d. I was caught up with all the local happenings and had to tell them that I wasn’t likely to be able to come home again until well into 2019.

When I left, I had gifts for me in the car, and drove back to Mildenhall with the thought that I hoped that everything would go well tonight, which it did. On Sunday, we got together to write a list for the two shows, mining our library for likely discs. I had a number for Brendon, so called him about American music that they may have. He told me that they used to have a DJ channel on the piped system, and that there was an office that had been used for it, which had been closed since 2013, when the guy that ran it had been deployed home. He said that it had operated from the Youth Centre, in Mildenhall, and, if I cleared the room out, they could use it for something else. A key would be left for me at the main gate, later that day.

Anita and I took Christines’ car the next morning. We picked up the key, with instruction to leave it with the Youth Centre management when we left. I had my tool kit in the car, which was checked out before we were allowed in. Luckily, I had my Licenced Electrician badge to flash to prove that they were my own tools. When we found the room and opened up, it was very dusty, with five years of spider webs and a gold mine in boxes and boxes of discs and CDs, none of them younger than 2012. It took us the best part of an hour with a sack truck we had borrowed to get them down to the car and packed away.

The desk was old, but useable, so I disconnected everything, and we loaded the twin turntables in front of the back seat, with the arms locked down, as the seat had boxes on it. I knew that the motors would be one-ten, but it wasn’t a big job to swap them for two-forty. The controls could be replaced with up-to-date units. When we had everything that we could carry, we got the manager to check the room out and gave him the key, which he took with a smile, giving us both hugs.

On the way out of the base, Anita commented that we had almost enough genuine US releases to run the station for a week. I suggested that it would be good material for the two of us to run four-hours of old US music on a Wednesday night, seeing it was our booty. She told me that I was devious and laughed.

At the station, Mark was there and helped us unload the car, putting all the boxes in a storeroom, and the turntables in the workshop. My toolkit was put where I could take it home. Andrew was also in and was looking through the boxes when Chris and I went for lunch, after I had called Brendon to thank him for the key.

The week passed quickly, and then it was time for our first big party. We were at The Hardstand before six-thirty, all four in Christines’ car, with a few boxes of discs in the back. Andrew had culled some good stuff from our new collection and had made sure that they were playable, so our shows would include some genuine songs from the partygoers past.

We got everything checked out before the guests started to arrive and were given a light tea to keep us going, then told to pop to the food counter whenever we liked during the evening. We three girls were in our party dresses and Mark was in a very colourful shirt and jeans. We looked like DJs; we performed as DJ’s and were applauded at the end of the party. We had all spun the vinyl, including Christine, we had kept the party going at full bore all evening, and had enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Our discs stayed in the car overnight, and on Sunday evening we went to the Page Centre and repeated the show. There, we had both Chuck and Brendon in the audience, with their partners, and they were smiling as they hugged us all at the end, wishing us a Merry Christmas. As he hugged me, Chuck told me that there would be a two-weekly shipment of new material coming in from the second week of January, which would be delivered to the station by jeep.

Monday was Christmas Eve, and Tuesday was Christmas Day. I did a show that ran from ten to six, with a recording of one of our party shows running from six to midnight on both days. I was playing a bit of our new stock and taking calls while locked in the studio, alone. I had the keys to the main door and would set up the automated system that ran from midnight to ten. I did that until others arrived from the second of January, with most starting back on the eighth.

I had opened my gifts on Christmas day, getting an excited call from my mother, in which she thanked me for the bag and especially for the lovely photo, which I hadn’t realised had ‘Official USAF Photograph’ on it. She laughed as she told me that my brother and father had been going around, trying to sound like Clint Eastwood in their jackets. I did have to cut the conversation short as I needed to head for work. She said that I would be the soundtrack to their day, so I did a call-out to them around twelve.

For the week of the eighth to the thirteenth, I was excused the day show, just going in to do the evening ones, with Wednesday now utilising our American collection, getting callers wanting to know how we had the rare recordings.

Then the jeep arrived with a box of discs, which had arrived on the base the day before. They were a mixture of new releases of known artists to new works by unknowns. We sampled everything before playing a track. We started with my Wednesday evening show having a few in it, then we put the rockier numbers into the Saturday show. We started getting queries about the unknown artists.

We were likely the first station in the UK to have played Billie Ellish, Alec Benjamin, Yola, Blueface, Lil Nas X, Orville Peck, and Stella Donnelly. There were articles in industry magazines about Zack FM and its rise in the industry. Through that year, we gained a lot more of a reputation, gained a few more people in the studio, and we had our microwave link to the bases established with a channel on the piped system. We did regular dances on the bases, others in dance halls and function venues around our broadcast area.

A lot of my night shows were pre-recorded, as I was out and about more. The year went by in a few seconds, as far as I was concerned. I was very busy, I was having a lot of fun, I was making waves in the industry and a lot of bigger stations wanted me to jump ship.

The problem, for me, was that I hadn’t had the final operations to become Carol. It wouldn’t be possible for me to do that If I was a face at a bigger station. On top of that, all my friends were in Mildenhall, with most of them knowing my secret. So, I stayed where I was, with far more responsibilities than I had expected.

We had a new van, with the station logo on the side, with racks for two DJ desks and secure storage for boxes of music. We even had our own PA and could put on a show, anywhere there was power, with us out at county fairs and the front of advertisers’ buildings. We had a lighting set for outside affairs after dark. With the only cost being the van, the PA and the lights, we were in the black inside six months. During that summer, we visited every seaside town from Felixstowe to Skegness, playing party music at caravan camps, and as far inland as Peterborough.

It was a very heady period for all of us. There was a boost in income from new advertisers, and the fees that we charged for our van and DJ set up. About the only thing that didn’t change was our location and our friendships, with any new people being pulled into the family. For that year it remained as the four of us with base access, and we often had shopping lists for others after we had brought things back.

I had three weeks off in September, which I used to visit a doctor that Chris had suggested, coming back to work with proper breasts and a new outlook on life. I was given a date, in the summer of 2020, to book for my operation. I had been living as a woman for a year and was now in the system.

I did spend a week at home, over that Christmas, as I wasn’t the last on any longer. We had enough voices on air to cover almost anything. The boss was thinking about moving to a building with a proper tower, using the funds that had been set aside. Early in the year, we started reading news snippets about a strange new disease, and early March, things had got worse, with it cropping up in this country. When we were out, we all wore masks, and Christine stocked us up with hygiene essentials.

I think that we were more prepared than most when the government announced the impending lock-down. At the beginning of the lock-down, we started operating as usual, without any of the outside shows. We were still piped into the stations; we had special dispensation to be able to be travelling as we were classed as an essential service. We kept on playing uplifting music and reporting the news that we were given. That March was the beginning of a nightmare for the country, though. In the station we restricted close contact, so worked without the hugs that we had become used to. We did our jobs, we stocked up on supplies when we could, I helped Maude and Jaunty as much as I could.

A week or two into April, we had a phone call from Chuck, to tell us that he was sending someone to collect our van, which we’d get back in a week or so. We couldn’t use it at that time, so he was welcome. When it was returned, it was vastly modified.

Where it had been set up so that we would carry the turntables into a venue, or set them up outside, we now had one side of the van with a lift-up flap, with the turntables on an inbuilt desk, with the PA speakers set with one behind the drivers’ door, with the other behind the back wheel arch on that side. The roof had been lifted to give a bit over six feet inside, and there was now an extra flap on the nearside, which hid two input sockets, one for two-forty and the other for one-ten, with a transformer in a box so we could tap either power to drive the system. It had been resprayed and looked really good. It’s wonderful what can be done with a fully equipped aircraft workshop and skilled panel beaters.

The reason for this became clear the day after. The USA did not have a mandatory lock-down, opting to leave it to various states. As such, the bases were only under advisories, rather than strict orders. Being in the UK, they still had to show that they were following the local laws, so had cut back on local contractors and other casuals.

Chuck, now a one-star General, had the bright idea to let us back into the bases without upsetting the mandated restrictions. By this time, the Lakenheath base was receiving more personnel to operate two extra flights. They were the Four Ninety Third, the ‘Grim Reapers’, and the Four Ninety Fifth, the ‘Valkyries’. They both flew F35As.

The four of us were sent new lanyards, now with ‘Official Entertainer’ on them. The boss made an unusual visit to the station, after asking for the four of us to be there.

“By now, you would have wondered at the changes made to the van and have seen your new base IDs. We have been tasked to supply entertainment to the USAF, through General Sherman. They could, if they wanted, use the usual venues, but are wary of violating our lock-down mandates. As such, you four will be seconded to the USAF as entertainers. They want you to put on shows, parked on a tarmac when it gets warmer, or inside a hangar if it’s cold and wet. The others will operate the station while you’re away. This will be on both of our bases, with a show in Mildenhall every Saturday, and Lakenheath every Sunday until the lock-down eases. Mid-week, you’ll be doing one show on the Tuesday at Fairford. You will be accommodated near there overnight. It’s near Oxford and is where the B-52 bombers are located if they are brought in for European operations. As such there are SAC personnel there and at Brize Norton. This is a big responsibility, and we will be well paid for the service. I can tell you that it will keep the station on air without needing to shed any staff, if this continues beyond a month or so. We’ll load the bins with all the American material we have, with that stash of oldies that you liberated and the new things that we’ll be given. The van has been approved for all base entry, as well as Christines’ car.”

That was different. The four of us would alternate, with Chris now able to hold her own and very personable stature on the microphone. We would be in our own beds on Thursday to Tuesday, at Fairford Wednesday night. It was a small price to pay for making sure that the station stayed on air and would be exciting as well. The first show was to be Saturday night, so we went out and plugged the van into our power to test the system and practise.

We still got shipments from the base, with Brendon sending boxes of supplies along with the new discs and CDs. It allowed us to still be up to the minute, although the quantity of music was a lot less than it was.

I kept in touch with home. My parents and brother were at the shop with a couple of the salesmen who lived close by, packaging electrical equipment to be picked up by the transport company we used, as internet orders and almost taken over the now non-existent walk-ins. The wholesale side was only open for four hours, twice a week.

That Saturday evening, Chris and I drove to the main gate at Mildenhall. We had a jeep assigned to us to lead us to where we would be parked. The site for the show was a hangar, not far from the Hardstand. We went inside and parked near the back wall. Any planes that may have been there had been moved, and there were tables and chairs down each side. The jeep left, and the door was left slightly open. A few guys were setting up and one pulled a lead over and plugged it in, then helped us lift the flap and put the struts into their sockets. Chris and I checked the sound at a louder volume, and it reverberated in the hanger. We checked out where the toilets were and waited for the first guests.

It turned out to be quite a show, with the open door a nod to it being open air. We did our thing until after eleven, with both of us pulled into the dancing during the course of the night. There was plenty to eat and drink, but we kept to water. It wasn’t a big job to pack up. Just lower the flap, secure the discs and lock the turntable arms. The plug was pulled, and we left through the West Row Gate.

Mark and Anita did the Sunday show and reported that the venue was a hangar, just off the fighter hardstands, with a decent space cleared. On Tuesday, us girls were in Christines’ car while Mark drove the van. At Fairford, the venue was again in a hangar, this time with a hardstand between it and a larger one. The numbers were a bit less, and the main audience were RAF, so we planned to have more British music next time. Our accommodation wasn’t actually on the base, but was in Fairford Village, at the Bull. Chris and I shared a double, while the other two had a room each. The show was easy enough for us to do it as duos in future.

We worked through the shows every week from mid-April until into middle August, when all restrictions were lifted, and all schools were reopened for the September term. Some shops and venues had been open since June. In the better weather our shows had taken place outside, with daylight until we were nearly finished. The four of us were given a week off as a thank you for our extra work. I was due for my annual leave and had missed my chance at the operation that had been planned, so I went home for a couple of weeks to see my folks. Dad had caught the virus, but as a non-smoker and pretty fit, was able to get over it without intensive care. I did find out, later, that in our broadcast area, nearly six thousand had died. Mum had been listening to our shows on the radio during the lock-down, which she said had cheered her up to hear my voice.

I was back in Mildenhall at the end of September, and we started to get things back on an even keel when we were hit with another lockdown in November. The base shows had been in a break until then, but, as soon as the new restrictions were in place, we were back on the road again.

Restrictions were lifted in December, but we kept on with the shows, now adding RAF Marham, in Norfolk, as they had heard about them on the grapevine and did listen to the station. That was organised through Brendon, with us getting RAF IDs. That was also in a hangar with the door slightly open, and was fitted into the Thursday, with us staying overnight on the base. It was home to the famous Six One Seven Squadron and flew F35s.

I did normal sessions through the Christmas period, with a couple of the new guys. It wasn’t as hard as the last time I had worked through that time, and having company some of the time was much better.

Marianne Gregory © 2026