´óÏó´«Ã½

Once apon a time, there was a young lady of 19yrs who was called up into the A.T.S, the year was 1943. She had to leave her home and family and go away to the Glen Barracks in Leicester for 6 weeks to be trained. She was very home sick at first and longed to be home in familiar surroundings. Instead she was fitted out with khaki uniform and suitable underwear. The cap, they had to order specially as she had rather a small head and they came down over her eyes.

Finally she, with the rest of the recruits were put in a very large Barrack room with beds down each side of the room, the mattress consisted of 3 ‘biscuits’ (that’s what they called 3 small mattresses put together to make one).

In the morning she was woken up at 6am to get washed and dressed for breakfast, she found it difficult to eat anything. It was cold and bleak outside and she was told to line up on the parade ground and they would teach them how to march, she found she quite liked marching.

When the 6 weeks were up, she was posted to Woolwich, Garrison Town and seconded to a Civilian Quantity Surveyor working for the army. She had to do his typing and general office duties. It was a very large building called Artillary Place, the ATS girls had a billet in the same building, but after a while with promotion she had her own room.

After some time they discovered that she had been singing semi professionally since she was 16 yrs. She was auditioned by the Royal Artillery Orchestra and sang with them whenever they performed so she spent a lot of her time on duty working and singing at concerts, including a performance at the variety show at Drury Lane, including a radio show.

Being at Garrison Town, very near the docks, they were often bombed. Many nights they were woken up with the sirens going. They had to put greatcoats over their pyjamas and wear tin hats to dash down to the shelters. The worst times she remembers were towards the end of the war when the Germans sent over 'Doodle Bugs', that was what they were called then. They were a psychological war device where you could first hear their loud hum before the engine cuts out dropping to the ground silently bombing everything in their path. If you heard the engine stop, you knew it was heading near you. They were the most frightening times.

When the young lady had some leave she would go home to visit her family where her mother founded a concert party to entertain the troops on Ack Ack sights round the county, she had one of the best and sought after concerts parties going. They were very dangerous places to visit but she and her entertainers were determined to continue to give their thanks to the men and women who manned them. During that time at home, the young lady used to go with them and sing for her supper.

When the war was finally over, this young lady was still at her base waiting to be demobbed in Sept 1946, a solider came home from Italy having been serving for 6 years in the Eighth Army (The Desert Rats) in the Desert and Italy. He was billeted at Garrison, also waiting to be demobbed. He was well decorated including the Military Medal, he was fair with curly hair and very tanned. She met him! He was your grandfather and that and the rest they say is history.

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Alessandra Grave from WM CSV Action Desk on behalf of Mrs. Jean Grave and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs. Jean Grave fully understands the terms and conditions.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.