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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by a volunteer from Oxford ´óÏó´«Ã½/CSV on behalf of Iris Lewis and has been added to this site with her permission. Iris fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

PEOPLE IN STORY: Iris Lewis née Wilson
LOCATION OF STORY: London, Italy, Egypt, Palestine
MAIN AREA OF INTEREST: Playing bass in the ATS
TITLE: NO PLACE FOR WIMPS

It was on a notice-board in Inverness that Iris Wilson, then aged 17½, saw an advertisement for players in the ATS band. She had always wanted to play in big bands and had played many instruments when younger so this seemed a golden opportunity. Auditioning for the flute she ended up playing the double bass, and was the youngest player in the all girl band. There were 48 girls in the band, 6 bagpipers and one bandmaster, Charlie Monk. When she started with the band early in 1945 it was based in Gower Street, London. Iris travelled with the band up through Italy, behind the 8th Army, and also in Egypt and Palestine and then back to Malta. The band’s last public appearance was in June 1946, taking part in the Victory Parade and then playing in Hyde Park.

The band operated under a strict army-type regime, necessary because with so many people involved — up to 80 people — considerable organisation was needed to move the band about. The girls were selected for personality as well as musical ability, for with the fast travelling, danger, and no spare players, it was no place for wimps. Tours would be 6 months long,
3 x 3-ton lorries were used for the girls and their instruments. The girls received army pay, the grand sum of 13 shillings a week! One aristocrat’s contribution to the war effort was the provision of ‘bunnies’ — sanitary towels — to the girls.

The concerts could be up to 3 hours long. There were 5 double bass players, the number needed for the sound to carry to the spectators, for there were no amplifiers and there could be as many as two thousand troops in the audience. If the Americans were in charge they would try to build ‘theatres’ for the band to appear in, but concerts would take place in all sorts of places and they had to play wherever they were. Iris remembers playing in the desert for up to 2.5 thousand troops. The music was mostly sing-a-long stuff, at one show in Milan Gracie Fields appeared briefly with them. She sang one of her well-known songs — Sorrento - and then left.

After the war Iris continued in the ATS, working as a staff driver. One day she had the task of taking the pay money to the staff (all ATS members) at the Prime Minister’s residence, Chequers. On her way she stopped for coffee and left the money in the car, which she had parked carelessly, so the police impounded it. She came back to find no car and no money! She returned to camp and explained the loss — fortunately the police soon returned both the car AND the money.

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