Description
Object description
Well-written and detailed ts memoir (386pp) covering briefly her early upbringing in an aristocratic family, but largely concerning her wartime service in the ATS (Women's Transport Service, FANY), initially as a driver based at 61st Divisional HQ, Oxford in 1939, as a driving instructor at Camberley from 1941, at OCTU Edinburgh leading to her commission as 2nd Lieutenant in September 1941, as Junior Commander of the Women's Military Police at Mychett from 1942, and at staff college at Bagshot Park, describing her training, billets and duties, her involvement in organising the distribution of evacuees, civil defence measures and the invasion scare, the experiences of Welsh Guards evacuated from Dunkirk, meeting HRH Queen Mary at a gala performance, and the difficulty she found in adapting to life as an officer; in February 1944 she embarked for Italy via Algiers, serving from March as a staff officer at 15th Army Group HQ in Naples, and subsequently HQ Allied Armies in Italy at Caserta and Siena under General Alexander, describing Alexander's rivalry with Montgomery, an audience with Pope Pius XII, an inspection by HRH King George VI and meetings with Randolph Churchill and the war artist Ted Seago, the excitement greeting the announcement of demobilisation plans, Anglo-American relations, and victory celebrations; from Autumn 1945 until her demobilisation in 1946, she served as a staff officer with the Allied Control Commission for Austria based in Vienna, and describes her thoughts on the repercussions of the war, Anglo-Russian relations, Allied requisitioning during the occupation, the treatment of Nazi war criminals, and the 1946 Victory Day parade in London. The account provides excellent descriptions of her religious and political beliefs, recreational activities, the people she met (including close friend Denis Healey), and the places she visited.
Content description
Well-written and detailed ts memoir (386pp) covering briefly her early upbringing in an aristocratic family, but largely concerning her wartime service in the ATS (Women's Transport Service, FANY), initially as a driver based at 61st Divisional HQ, Oxford in 1939, as a driving instructor at Camberley from 1941, at OCTU Edinburgh leading to her commission as 2nd Lieutenant in September 1941, as Junior Commander of the Women's Military Police at Mychett from 1942, and at staff college at Bagshot Park, describing her training, billets and duties, her involvement in organising the distribution of evacuees, civil defence measures and the invasion scare, the experiences of Welsh Guards evacuated from Dunkirk, meeting HRH Queen Mary at a gala performance, and the difficulty she found in adapting to life as an officer; in February 1944 she embarked for Italy via Algiers, serving from March as a staff officer at 15th Army Group HQ in Naples, and subsequently HQ Allied Armies in Italy at Caserta and Siena under General Alexander, describing Alexander's rivalry with Montgomery, an audience with Pope Pius XII, an inspection by HRH King George VI and meetings with Randolph Churchill and the war artist Ted Seago, the excitement greeting the announcement of demobilisation plans, Anglo-American relations, and victory celebrations; from Autumn 1945 until her demobilisation in 1946, she served as a staff officer with the Allied Control Commission for Austria based in Vienna, and describes her thoughts on the repercussions of the war, Anglo-Russian relations, Allied requisitioning during the occupation, the treatment of Nazi war criminals, and the 1946 Victory Day parade in London. The account provides excellent descriptions of her religious and political beliefs, recreational activities, the people she met (including close friend Denis Healey), and the places she visited.
History note
Cataloguer APR
History note
Catalogue date 1997-04-23