ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
When Queen Elizabeth Served in Uniform in WWII
Princess Elizabeth wanted to serve in uniform. In WWII, Britain made extensive use of women, and unmarried women under age thirty had to either work in the fields or factories, or serve in the military. Women manufactured weapons and munitions, and served in Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), a female branch of the British Army. Princess Elizabeth did her bit. Many dramatic narratives describe how she drove ambulances in the Blitz, as German bombs fell upon London. They are great stories, and it would have been awesome if they were true. Alas, they are not. Elizabeth was still a child, only fourteen-years-old during the Blitz, and thus too young to serve.
However, when she turned eighteen in 1944, she joined the ATS, the British Army’s female auxiliary branch. Her father, King George VI, made sure she received no special rank or privileges. She was duly commissioned as a subaltern, later promoted to junior commander – the equivalent of a captain. She began to train as a mechanic in March, 1945, just a few weeks before WWII ended in Europe. At the Mechanical Transport Training Section in Camberley, Surrey, she learned how to drive and maintain army ambulances and other vehicles. The press dubbed her “The Princess Mechanic”. Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945, before she saw any action. London and the rest of the country erupted into victory celebrations, and Princess Elizabeth, dressed in her ATS uniform, slipped incognito into the crowd with her sister to enjoy the festivities.