Fuller, Joan

Joan Fuller (nee Belmar) was born January 15, 1918 in Osterley, England. Her parents were both born in St. Lucia but had received their schooling in England, and when Joan’s father received a job with the Colonial Office the family returned to England.  Joan had a happy childhood growing up west of London, even though her father was frequently away attending to his colonial duties in Nigeria. Joan attended boarding school, and she finished her schooling in Wimbledon after the family relocated there. In 1936 Joan took work at Barclays Bank, where she was a typist. The war started not long after that, and Joan recalls the air raid sirens and the Blitz. Her father worked at the local food office during the war, where he helped to manage the rationing system. Her brother went into the army when he turned 18, and when a friend of Joan’s decided to enlist, Joan decided to accompany her. While their intent had been to join the navy, Joan instead opted for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force – she preferred the blue uniforms! She reported for duty and went into training, deciding to specialize in radar. She was posted to RAF Castlerock, a radar station in Northern Ireland, and that is where she spent most of her war. Happily she never discovered any enemy aircraft during her time there. Joan’s brother Basil was tragically killed in 1943, while fighting with the London Irish Rifles in the Italian campaign. In 1945 Joan was transferred to RAF Swingate, near Dover, where she monitored air traffic in the Thames Estuary.  She was discharged before the end of the war so she could care for her ailing mother. Soon after she met Christopher Fuller, a Royal Artillery veteran, and they began to date.  Christopher decided to go to Canada, and in 1947 Joan joined him, and they married and settled in Burlington, Ontario. Joan Fuller was interviewed by Scott Masters and Global Veterans’ Stories Zach Dunn in May 2026.