Codebreaking Sisters, Food and Climate Change, How to Handle Conflict
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2020
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
To mark VJ Day 75 we’ll be speaking to two sisters, Patricia and Jean Owtram whose father was a prisoner of war in the Far East. At the time both sisters were serving their country. They are the last two living sisters to have signed the official secrets act in WW2. Patricia received a Legion of Honour for her interception of enigma code for Bletchley park as a WREN tapping into German shipping radio while Jean was a code & cipher officer in Egypt and Italy supporting secret agents and partisans fighting the Nazis. Now aged 97 & 94 they have collaborated on a book, Codebreaking Sisters, Our Secret War. They acknowledge that the war changed their lives “instead of just marrying, I went to university and then journalism before being a BBC TV producer” remembers Pat. And Jean says: “Girls from our class were destined to live a very narrow existence, focused on husband and children. The war gave us broader horizons and bigger adventures. I believe we have both been more useful to the world because of it.” How can you choose a planet-friendly sandwich? And how bad is it for an apple to travel from the other side of the world to get to your fruit bowl? Professor Sarah Bridle is part astrophysicist, part food-enthusiast, who wanted to know the environmental cost of her lunch. Much of the data was complex – so she’s simplified it in her book Food and Climate Change: Without the Hot Air which includes the greenhouse gases created by growing, harvesting, transporting and cooking what we eat, as well as the food itself. She’d like to see labelling of air-freighted foods in supermarkets to give consumers a better understanding of the impact of our diet on the planet. Throughout the summer, Woman’s Hour is offering ‘How To’ guides for some of life’s biggest questions. Today, we explore the best way to handle conflict and tension – whether it’s at home, with friends and family, at work or in public. What’s the best way to get your point across without letting your emotions overwhelm you? Ama Afrifa-Tchie is the Head of Culture & Wellbeing at Mental Health First Aid England. Charly Lester is a dating expert and freelance journalist. Jessamy Hibberd is a chartered clinical psychologist.
Presenter: Jenni Murray Producer: Lucinda Montefiore
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.2 | Hello, Jenny Murray welcoming you to the Woman's Hour podcast for Friday the 14th of August. |
| 0:11.7 | Good morning. Throughout the summer we've featured a series of how-to guides and today it's |
| 0:17.9 | how to handle conflict and tension. What's the best way to get to your point across with |
| 0:23.4 | family, colleagues or in the queue at the supermarket without looting your cool? It can take |
| 0:30.6 | two hours to bake a potato in an oven and ten minutes in a microwave which method does |
| 0:37.3 | most damage to the planet. Professor Sally Bridal's book analyzes food and its contribution |
| 0:44.0 | to climate change and the serial the final episode of Bird in the Hand. |
| 0:50.2 | Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of Vijay Day, the 15th of August 1945, saw the surrender of |
| 0:57.8 | Japan and the final end of the Second World War. It was a very significant day for two sisters |
| 1:04.0 | from Lancashire whose father had been a prisoner of war for three years in the Japanese camp at |
| 1:09.0 | Jun Kai. Prisoners there were forced into the building of the infamous Burma Railway. |
| 1:15.0 | He was somewhat surprised when he came home to find his two daughters had been serving |
| 1:19.7 | their country during the war. They are Patricia and Jean Outram and the book about their |
| 1:25.5 | wartime exploits is code breaking sisters our secret war. Patricia and Jean, good morning, |
| 1:33.8 | welcome to woman's hour. Jean, let me start with you. How was your father when he got home? |
| 1:40.4 | Well, as you can imagine, we were all a bit nervous about any change of might have taken place |
| 1:47.7 | with him and how he would be reacting to it and he came back at the end of war. We took care that |
| 1:54.6 | we were my sister and I were with our mother at the family home when he came and I think we were |
| 2:00.7 | all protectants but in fact when he arrived he was so much himself it was just just getting |
| 2:08.0 | our father back again and we laughed and we talked and it was such a happy day. |
| 2:13.5 | What was his reaction to you when he saw how grown-up you were? |
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