Members of the ATS loading 25 pounder shells.

Listen to May Thurlow talk
about her service with the ATS

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Auxiliary Territorial  Service

Women could join any of the three armed services: the Army, the Air Force and the Navy. If women were interested in the Army, they joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). It was formed in 1938 and included members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). Members of the ATS were granted equal status with men, 'assuming the responsibilities and enjoying the privileges of the rest of the armed forces of the Crown'. In February 1949 they were re-named the Women's Royal Army Corps (W.R.A.C).