大象传媒

In 1939 I was living in Belfast, where my father, who was a Regular Officer in the Royal Army Pay Corps, had been stationed since 1937, and I, at his wish, enlisted at Victoria Barracks Belfast on 2nd September 1939 for 4 years Local Service i.e. you lived out of barracks but could not be posted elsewhere.

I was called up on 25th September - graded "Clerk" and was paid the handsome sum of 8/- a week. I had been getting 17/6d a week as a clerk in a school office.

I started as Shorthand-typist in Q Branch NID HQ in Victoria Barracks. Q Branch dealt with all aspects of "quartering" - movement of troops, billeting them, feeding them, etc. Personnel then were a DAQMG (regular officer), two staff captains, a RSM (regular) in charge of the office, two male civilian clerks and five shorthand
typists (ATS Volunteers). We all had to sign the Official Secrets Act.

My army number was W/23613. We were issued with, and always wore, uniform which consisted of a khaki tunic and skirt, a hat, two shirts, a tie, two pairs of khaki "bloomers", two vests, two pairs of khaki stockings and a pair of shoes. And of course a gas mask which you carried in a haversack at all times.

Until January 1940 I lived at home, but as soon as war started my father was posted to England and in January my mother followed him and I lived in digs.

At work, we were kept busy. The army was expanding rapidly and Q Branch had the job of typing movement orders, trying to fit whole battalions into non-existent accommodation, etc. etc. Everything had to be recorded in at least triplicate, paper, especially carbon paper, was scarce. Correspondence was still formal, especially to the War Office where letters had to begin "Dear Sir, I have the honour to refer to etc." and finished "I have the
honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant".

Even in 1940 there were "troubles" in NI and at some time in that spring we had to be quartered in Victoria Barracks for our own safety - not for long, but it was a new experience. You never walked along the Falls Road in uniform.

Towards the end of 1940 I was posted to Leicester, where my parents were then living. This move was engineered by my father, who was shortly afterwards posted to Durban. I was in A Branch of a Sub-District HQ - A Branch dealt with administration and legal matters, but I can't remember much about the work. We were
quartered in a block of flats, had to parade every morning for roll call, had to move down into the basement during air-raids, which were frequent. I remember particularly the night Coventry was bombed - the procession of aircraft seemed endless. Talking of air-raids my mother and I were staying in London the night the Cafe de Paris was bombed and that was a noisy raid.

In 1941 I twice went before a War Office Selection Board to be assessed for a commission and passed the second time when Dame Helen Gwynne Vaughan was the Chairman. I attended the "Third OCTU in Edinburgh" which lasted six weeks, during which time I had my 21st birthday (singularly uncelebrated). I was commissioned as 211289 2nd Subaltern B.M. James, duly acquired an officer's uniform and was posted to Heysham. Most army units had ATS personnel as part of their War Establishment, but ATS were in a company administered by ATS officers and not subject to military discipline or under the direct command of male officers. So there were small detachments of ATS in various locations - I don't remember much about Heysham and was not there long before being moved to Whalley (near Clitheroe), where the military unit was a Field Artillery Training Unit.
There were three ATS officers there, a Junior Commander (three pips) Mrs.Lee, Barbara Heath and myself, and with several young officers doing their training as Field Gunners, we had a good social life. Even being able to use a jeep to go to Blackburn to see the Old Vic Opera Company in several productions - I still have the
programme.

From there I was posted in February 1942 to a HAA Training Unit at Oswestry - which was a huge camp. I don't remember a lot about it - except that we had to march all over the place in battle dress trousers, gaiters and heavy boots! In AA the ATS personnel were part of the military unit, but with the obligatory female officer who had no particular role, which I must have found very boring. From there I was posted to Chester and at last was in an office as Assistant Adjutant to Lichfield & Chester ATS Group.

This was an enjoyable posting - our office was in the YMCA building on the town side of the river, our mess was on the other side, which we had to reach by a swing bridge. We worked alongside the male staff of District HQ, we had a large and scattered ATS Group to administer and again were kept busy. It was while in Chester that I acquired a puppy, Jenny, one of the unplanned offspring of a cocker spaniel, and she moved everywhere with me until I married in 1946. During this posting I went on a Junior Officers' course at Egham, and was then posted to Shrewsbury and became Adjutant of the ATS Group attached to District HQ. The office was in the
town to begin with but later moved across the river to Kingsland. Our mess was in Claremont Buildings, overlooking the Quarry from the opposite side. Another river to cross (we were excused tolls in uniform), on a bike with the dog running alongside! This ATS Group was one of the largest in the country, at one time with 13 ATS units, 26,000 personnel, scattered across Shropshire and Wales to Barmouth and Towyn. Our (ATS) CO was Chief Commander (Betty) Sewart, 2-i-C Senior Commander (Dorothy) Beston, myself Adjutant, Asst Adj
Subaltern (Sally) Pardoe, RSM Holmes, an ATS Sergeant and two or three other clerks. And we were all kept busy, six days a week at least and very often till 6 or 7 at night.

It wasn't really all work and no play - we took regular leave -there was the wireless to listen and there must have been films at the local cinema. The Americans arrived, D Day came. and in May 1945 VE Day arrived when we could let our hair down at last (not literally, because it always had to be four inches off our collar!). After VE Day
it was suggested that I ought to apply for a staff job, and I was posted to Preston as Staff Captain ATS at District HQ. My immediate superior was Senior Commander Esther Poole-Hughes. Quite a nice posting but I couldn't have the dog living in the mess with me - she was billeted with an ATS Company and I used to pick her up each
day. I stayed in Preston till after VJ Day, but soon afterwards returned to Shrewsbury. By this time many military units were coming home from abroad and there was more young life about.

I was demobbed in February 1946, which meant travelling to Manchester, being issued with clothing coupons and going home to my parents who were then living in Caversham (Reading).

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