mrs. richard helms, she was more than that and that comes through in this book and that is an important thing that every human being wants their own identity. we are going to begin today with our discussion with her service during world war ii. cynthia helms grew up on the southeast coast of england which is part of the island closest the continent and for the millennium that part of england had been invaded by vikings and you name it and the people in that area were acutely aware of the threats of the nazis, more than anyone else because it was in their dna that they were vulnerable to invaders. she enlisted in the women's royal naval service exactly as soon as she could come as soon as she turned 18 and was legally eligible. my first question is tell us, why did you enlist and what was driving you as a teenager to become a member of the women's royal naval service, and tell us about being a boat crew which is very special. >> i was sent to the west coast by my parents when war broke out. peace in our time was 1938 and the work came in 1939 and our area was very vulnerable so after a few mon