In 1941, Kathleen joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and was posted to Blackpool, where she learnt to drive and was the first person in her family to do so. After passing her test, Kathleen was posted to the Motor Transport Division in RAF Pembrey, South Wales, where she drove cars, ambulances and American, left-hand drive 30 hundredweight Fordson trucks.

Kathleen was then posted to RAF Bishops Court, Northern Ireland, where she met worked on the airfield, leading planes from the runway to the parking bays.  It was here she also met her husband. 

At the time of her discharge from the WAAF in August 1945, Kathleen was pregnant with her first child and held the rank of Leading Aircraftwoman.

Kathleen now lives at Forest View