From 'in service' to 'the services'!Housemaid to Air-Raid!

The call for women to join the war effort came in 1939 in my 21st year whilst working as a housemaid in Backwell, Somerset. The situation wasn't immediate so I had some time to think what I would like to do. In 1941 I decided to join up. My family back in Aylburton in rural Gloucestershire were shocked. I didn't tell my Mother until after I had signed up, she was mad! Working in ammunitions or a factory didn't appeal at all so along with a fellow local domestic we went to Weston-Super-Mare to sign up. Initially we wanted to join the WAAF's, they had the most stylish uniforms, however we were told by the recruiting Officer that they were well subscribed so we plumped for the Army instead, the A.T.S. -Auxilliry Territorial Service. We were told that we would be called to a health check-up in Taunton. After a head to toe examination we were given the all clear. The next stop would be Tilehurst Camp in Reading to be given our Uniform and undergo an induction into life in another type of service than that I'd been used to. Lectures and drills continued for 2 weeks so we could be assessed for our future roles within the A.T.S. I was asked if I would like to work on gun-sites on the ground but I was determined to be a driver and was lucky enough to get my preferred role. I had my driving lessons in Hereford at Bradbury Lines Camp. In 7/8 weeks I was fully trained in utlity cars with 6 girls to a car (there were so many girls learning at that time as it wasn't usual for women to have driving licences).
After passing out we all felt that we had insufficient experience as there really weren't enough instructors so we were deployed to different areas to continue to learn. Myself and 6 other girls were sent to Drummond Rd in Perth, Scotland. Our Corporal took us out individually for a further month to fully pass us out.
I was then sent to Inverness to be a driver. We lived in a private house with meals provided for us and were treated so well. Every morning we would go to the garage office to check our lists for our jobs. My first job in November was to pick up a Major at 8am from Dingwall. That day we went to Aberdeen, measuring every bridge on our way. I had to help measure in the bitter cold but the Major was very considerate. Stopping for lunch he insisted on buying me a hot meal in a hotel rather than the unnapealing sandwiches I had brought with me!
After 3 years I put in a posting to come back to England. So I was sent to Aberysthwyth in Wales! I was still driving Officers around but was beginning to tire and wanted something a bit more exciting. I was hoping that my new posting would be just what I was looking for as I was to be an Ambulance driver in Seaton, Devon. How wrong could I be as nobody hardly went sick! I got really fed up! I loved walking along the front though and remember seeing American G.I.s sat cooking sausages on the beach! This was only sick cover so after 6 weeks I was moved on to Dorchester in Dorset. Still driving I was living in long huts with about 40/50 girls. The next stop was Newbury in Berkshire, again only for about 7 weeks, staying in a private house in Kintbury. After that my next posting was 2 miles out of Weymouth. My experience in the war had been quite removed from the front line but how this was change one night when i was duty ambulance driver. The night before the second front opened up I was driving an Officer to Weymouth in my Ambulance as it was so hectic and transport was in short supply. Lines of American soldiers were lined up on the beach. Barbed wire to stop anyone deserting. The sky was full of fire...sounds of drums. Shrapnel and firing made it difficult to negotiate the traffic and personnel swarmed around the beach front. Returning back to barracks we were ordered to get into the air raid shelters. It was the war in it's full horror. I will never forget the faces of those men and boys lined up and often think how many made it.
I returned to Hereford at the end of my service and was demobbed in January 1946 after 5 years with a good reference and skills that were never available to women before. It was a fantastic experience that I will never forget.

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