The Society for Military History

Department of War Studies, King's College London

Professor Joe Maiolo

Military Intelligence History
Military Sigint
Women's Military History
Pacific Naval War
Battle of the Atlantic
Second World War
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
US Navy

Women in UK and US Naval Communications and Intelligence during the Second World War: WRNS and WAVES and the Emergence of Modern Warfare

Sarah is a doctoral candidate in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. She holds a BA (first class) and an MPhil in History. For the latter, she wrote her thesis on the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and their work in British air intelligence in the Second World War, and carried out extensive research on military intelligence behind major Royal Air Force operations during this period, including the Battle of Britain, the Dambusters Raid, the Thousand Bomber Raids and the discovery of the V Weapons. She is very interested in recovering the history of women in intelligence work, an element that is often missing from existing research on the intelligence world. Her PhD thesis focuses on the women of the Royal and US Navies working in naval intelligence during the Second World War, with particular attention paid to the Pacific Naval War and the Battle of the Atlantic. Sarah is particularly interested in the war in the Pacific.

For most of the duration of her PhD, Sarah has been the leader of WIWIP (Women in War and International Politics) a department-led initiative that seeks to give greater visibility to the achievements of women in the fields of War Studies, International Politics, Security and Defence, and works closely with the department’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee in this capacity. She is also involved in teaching, mentoring MA level writers in writing programs led by Strife, the department's blog and journal, and has been engaged in various media capacities including television (most recently in BBC documentaries) and podcasts on military history.