Both Kev and Gaz woz there, it seems, from the names spelled out by candle-smoke. I got the impression it may have been a place for trysts and dares.
Phil told me we were in what was once a NAAFI for WW2 Air Sea Rescue service personnel. On missions, they were vulnerable because their rescue boats had no heavy armaments. Many Conscientious Objectors worked for Air Sea Rescue. The soldiers spent a lot of time in the NAAFI and, presumably bored and homesick, they started to paint the naïve images we could see on the walls. Our torches picked out peeling pictures of their boats. As we explored further, we saw planes, underwater scenes with a shark, crab and octopus. Finally we came to an extraordinary sight. A room painted with arches and latticework like an Indian temple. Here we discovered the probable the origins of the naked women stories. There had been an image of a beautiful dark-skinned woman painted on a door, cocktail in hand, complete with cherry. But definitely clothed, in elegant evening dress. Her image was painted on a door, which has now been removed for display in the public exhibition. The true identity of the Dark Lady is unknown. I suspect she’s a fantasy figure who relates to the Indian Temple theme, an image of exotic and unattainable beauty, which gave the men the ability to dream of somewhere, and something, other than the grim reality of their daily lives. I felt relief arriving back up from the tunnels, breathing fresh air and blinking at the startlingly bright daylight, and understood their desire to paint something beautiful down there. EC