大象传媒

My mother,and her great friend Hag (she was the oldest of the group at 28!), were drivers in the A.T.S. and first met at Chelsea Barracks around 1940 - where a letter from an admirer addressed to "Pat and Maggie, Chelsea barracks" actually got to them. They learnt to drive in ?Reigate where few lamp-posts survived and had to maintain their own vehicles, often after stripping down the engine, there would be a few spare nuts and bolts, which were duly buried. They managed to stay together most of the war even being sent over to Normandy shortly after D-Day, in the same staff car - Hag driving roared up the gangplank of the troop carrier so fast, they nearly went straight over the other side. As it happened, their's was the first vehicle to disembark, so they set off at the head of the column - keeping firmly to the left - despite repeated hooting from behind, their excuse ever after was that there was nothing coming the other way anyway!
They lived in a hole in the ground, four to a tent which was over the top of them,in a muddy field in Normandy for some weeks. They had one bowl of water to wash up their plates and cutlery and then had to wash themselves using the same water. They drove all types of vehicles, which they had to maintain, the favourite being staff cars driving high ranking personnel to meetings further afield.
They went with the army through occupied Europe, crossing France, liberating my mother's cousins in Brussels, where they had their first baths for weeks and in borrowed clothes went out on the town. They went on through Holland and into Germany. Once there, they were stationed at Hurford for some months and had some great times as there was a cavalry barracks nearby and wonderful country for riding. They drove staff cars all over Europe, travelling huge distances with no signposts to help them certainly Hag drove some of the first army generals into |Belsen. They were back in England in time for V.E. Day.

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