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This story was submitted to the People's War site by Katherine Hobart, a volunteer from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Northampton on behalf of Leoni Seymour and has been added to the site with her permission. Leoni Seymour fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

I was billeted in a big house with about forty others beside the River Dee and by the bridge, which led to the vehicle garages. Each vehicle was camouflaged. We had to drain radiators each night and hand in the rotor arm: this for safety and theft. Each day I was given the daily work sheet and logbook of the vehicle allotted. The logbooks denoted time out, time in, mileage in, mileage out, passenger's name, destination and petrol purchase, if any. I had to work with stores for several weeks, then I was given my own car — a number nicknamed 'Honey'. I got to know the area well, travelling into Wales, along the North Wales Coast, down to Warrington and up into Liverpool. Taking officers to their destinations, I especially liked visiting Burtonwood, a vast American camp. If when we were there, it was over a meal time — great — having a meal tray with spaces for various courses! If we went 'on tour' (away several days) I had to find the nearest ATS camp and billet there.

After Chester, three others and I were posted to Warrington. We each had a large ambulance and lived in a dreary barracks. After a few weeks one other and I were posted to Ormskirk. I was billeted with a family in the town. We kept vehicles at the hospital. At this time Liverpool was being badly bombed. We could hear the thuds and see the flashes in the sky. We were ordered to collect two medical orderlies each and evacuate civilian patients from City hospital to hospitals in outer safer areas. The orderlies were Conscientious Objectors (anti killing). My two worked in X-ray departments. We had to travel into the city after each night raid. We used stretchers and trolleys to transport patients from hospital to the ambulance. The Liverpool people were wonderful, offering us cups of tea and cheery words, as we bumped over the hoses curling across the roads filled with rubble and pools of water. Every now and again we saw flickering flames and wisps of smoke where fires had been and were now almost extinguished. The smell of burning was everywhere. Various air raid wardens and civilian persons wandered about looking tired and exhausted, each helping to tidy up and make method of what had been hectic chaos.

From Ormskirk I was posted to Pwllheli, a small seaside place in North Wales. I was billeted with a family in a house overlooking the sea. I was attatched to a medical centre there, in which a cook, two nurses and a medical orderly lived and worked. An officers training unit was in the village — we soon got to know many of them, there was not much work for us, just one or two journeys to nearby hospitals but we had to carry out cleaning work on the vehicle. When not called out and off duty we made the best of the sea and the beach. I even played tennis on the public courts. Being an out station we could wear civilian clothes when off duty. Dungarees were worn for ambulance cleaning.

I was posted next to Rhosneigr, Anglesey. I was with one other driver. We had one Chevrolet ambulance. I was billeted in a house in the village owned by two elderly Welsh ladies. In daytime we lived at the mediacl centre, a house with only a road between it and the beach. At the centre there were medical staff and a cook. Bill had been a baker in civilian life so our meals were full of variety tho sometimes doubtfu! The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) were also stationed in the village (a small contingent)not many needed our help - we took the vehicle into workshops some miles away for its inspection. Each vehicle was due for inspection every few months. The staff in workshops were from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Regiment (REME) and Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). The DLI had a group photograph whilst we were there. Joan had to sit at one end of the first row. I sat on the other end. Nurses sat on the front row with the officers. A mediacl officer (MO) who in this case was later drowned when the ship in which he had been travelling to an overseas posting was sunk. On Saturday nights troops from other camps on the island and RAF came to join the dances in Rhosneigr village hall. The DLI Band was brilliant. A shade of the great American Band!

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