GIRL POWER
In late 1944, the prime minister’s youngest daughter, Mary Churchill, gushed: “Finally... we have been chosen for service in North West Europe. Wild excitement and enthusiasm.”
The poster girl for Britain’s largest military organisation for women, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), was front and centre of a concerted effort to encourage additional girls to sign up for overseas selection. More women were needed to support the 2 million men who were pushing across the continent towards Germany, including administrative staff and anti-aircraft defence.
ATS recruits, who had been operational on Britain’s gun-sites since 1941 and provided vital support in numerous other roles, were ideally placed to fulfil this mission. But if “wild excitement” was the overwhelming response of young women, elsewhere there was disquiet at the prospect of sending girls abroad.
Anne Carter (née Garrad) was a 19-year-old ATS clerk. During the buildup to D-Day she had been typing up top-secret reports on military manoeuvres, but once the Allies had landed in June 1944, priorities changed. ATS girls were now invited to apply for overseas service, and along with several colleagues, Anne put her name down. Few, however, made the final cut. “Their parents stopped them,” recalls Anne. “They wanted
