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“The minimum height for a driver was 5ft 2 and I just met requirements being 5ft 2¼! It was January when I went to Edinburgh to do my six weeks training. I drove a Morris box ambulance. We had to do a certain amount of First Aid. There were 18 tests for driving and map reading. The MT Office had a big map of the area, and we had to pass 100% map reading, (with no signposts). The vehicle test was on a gradient. The instructor got out and stood behind the ambulance. If the vehicle went backwards in the slightest you failed. We had to maintain our own vehicles, change wheels and have mechanical lessons.

Whilst in Dover we were shelled from France by the Germans. I had `a detail’ to go to Dover Station to pick up an officer, and as I left the station a shell dropped and another ATS girl was killed. I just missed it.
After that the buzz bombs came over, and the gun site was right on the coast. We had to help load the guns with ammo, which was very heavy work.
Prior to that I had had to drive to the ammo depot and collect ammunition. All the gears were backwards on the vehicle! I had to take the ammo back to the gun sights and help to change the nozzle on the shells, the new nozzles were magnetic so we were able to connect with the buzz bombs.

I was sent from Dover to Woolwich Arsenal to collect a piece of machinery, which turned out to be extremely small, especially as I was driving a 3tonn Bedford! I collected the package and I had to drive back to London with my head out of the window to see the way as there was a dreadful smog. I had an extremely black sooty face on return!

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