World rights to historian and lecturer Dr Sarah-Louise Miller’s debut work The Women Behind the Few: Women in WWII British Air Intelligence has gone to Biteback Publishing.
The book will investigate the work of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force behind significant and famous air operations in the Second World War, including the Battle of Britain, the Dambusters raid, the Thousand Bomber Raids and the discovery of the German V weapons using aerial reconnaissance.
It also examines the rationale behind the RAF not wanting to employ women in intelligence work, and the emotional reactions of women to warfare and their ability to keep secrets as part of this examination.
Sarah-Louise Miller graduated in May 2022 with a PhD from the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and is uniquely qualified to write this book, having spent the past five years working full time on researching women in British intelligence roles.
Most recently, she appeared on a six-part television documentary series for Sky History speaking about the bombing campaigns of the RAF during WWII. She also helped actor Ralf Little investigate his grandfather Arthur’s experiences during the Second World War on BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?
1 April 2023 is the 105th anniversary of the creation of both the Royal Air Force and its women’s counterpart, the Women’s Royal Air Force (which, in WWII, was renamed and became the WAAF). The book will coincide with the commemoration of this date in 2023.