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I joined the Fanys and was a driver. We learned how to mend the engines although I wasn’t much good at it. I was stationed at Bulford Camp in the war, in huts. They were very basic. We drove army cars and sometimes ambulances or trucks. I remember when I started I was really impressed because the men drivers could roll a cigarette one-handed while they were driving.

At one point I was stationed in Salisbury at a house just inside the gates to the Close. At ten o’ clock the gates were closed for the night, so sometimes we worked late and were locked out. We had to go down a little alley just outside the gates and climb over people’s fences to get back in. They never stopped us.

When we could, we went to dances at the Rose and Crown in Harnham. It was mostly big band music I think. We were supposed to wear our uniforms all the time, but we used to stuff our dresses down our jackets and change in the toilets. We had to hope that no officers would come in and recognise us. When we got back to camp, we had to climb in through the window because the door was locked.

There were Americans around. A friend told me about a car coming down the hill where the Army Headquarters is now, an armoured vehicle came down that road and knocked down the gates of Wilton House. There were lots of Americans there and they all cheered but she made herself scarce because she didn’t want to be involved.

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