大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Claire White of 大象传媒 Scotland on behalf of Mary MacLeod and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I volunteered for the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the army, in Stirling in 1943 when I was 20 years old. I trained at New Battle Abbey army training camp and was then posted to the Clerk School in Golders Green, London, to learn shorthand typing using army methods.

After two weeks eight of us were taken off our course. We presumed it was because we hadn't passed but we were then despatched to part of the war office in London.

A Sergeant approached me ten days into my placement and said I was ready to start work. He knew my whole background and I was instructed to start typing the Normandy invasion plans. At the time I was with General Mongomery's Group, the 21st army. Four of us were then moved to the 2nd army under General Dempsey and we continued the same job at Fort Southwick in Portsmouth. 大象传媒place was built into the cliffs and we felt extremely safe.

The work was hectic. We knew what we were doing but all the beaches and placenames were coded. We planned ahead to D-Day+30 with landing places, numbers of cars, lorries, etc. Then in November 1944 I was posted to Brussels and I was there when VE Day was announced. Within a fortnight I was flown into Germany on a parachute plane. The Germans weren't happy about our presence but we soon settled into a routine.

My job was a thrilling one but we weren't able to speak about our work. In London we were escorted everywhere and there were designated chaps for us to dance with in the Hammersmith Palais. It was a relief to reach the coast where we lived in a secure environment but weren't so closely monitored.

I stayed in Germany until I was demobbed in 1947. I was asked to stay longer but my parents wanted me back home in Stirling.

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