Miss Winifred Ashford (right) looks on as Mrs Pat Macleod tightens a nut on the wheel of her ambulance. The bonnet of the ambulance is open, ready for an inspection of the engine to be carried out. This photograph was probably taken at the depot in Paddington in 1940. Image: IWM (D 2546)
Women of the Mechanised Transport Corps at work in London England, 1940
June Beale pours tea for her friends in the dining hall at Marchant's Hill camp school for evacuees, Hindhead, Surrey, UK 1944. June is the table monitor of the group. According to the original caption, her father is a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy. The children are about to tuck in to bread and jam and an apple. IWM (D 21623)
Dolly Bennett (bottom left), and Winnie Bennett (top left), with Florence Simpson and a colleague at work on the production of Hurricane fighter aircraft at a factory somewhere in Britain. IWM (D 11126)
Winnie Bennett (left) and Dolly Bennett (right) at work on the production of a Hurricane fighter aircraft at a factory somewhere in Britain WW2. IWM (D 11129)
Mrs A Bowker (left) and Mrs Booth-Jones pack sticky bombs, already in their protective casings, into small cases at a factory somewhere in Britain. The handles are packed around the sides of these cases, which are then sent off to a filling factory for the explosives to be added.
STICKY BOMB: THE PRODUCTION OF THE No 74 GRENADE IN BRITAIN, 1943. IWM (D 14775A)
Sally Brusse installs a hatch on a B-17 Flying Fortress on August 17th 1944 at the Boeing Company plant in Seattle, Washington. Boeing Historical Archives
Original war time caption: 21-year-old Dorothy Crouch has a sailor boy-friend. She assembles nose and tail parts of the mortar bombs at J & F Pool’s No.1 Works Mortar Bomb Production & Testing at Hayle, Cornwall, England 1943. Image: IWM (D 12421)
By Elinor Florence: My mother-in-law Gerda Drews was a teenager living in Berlin during World War Two. She witnessed the ferocious battle of Berlin, and her family’s tragic experiences after her city fell to the Soviet Army.
Note from Elinor: My husband was born in Berlin after the war and emigrated to Canada as a young man. His father Kurt Drews flew with the Luftwaffe, and his mother Gerda Kernchen lived through the bombing of Berlin and its occupation by Russia in 1945. Gerda was eleven years old when the war began. She is still living in Berlin. I interviewed her on tape. She doesn’t speak English, so the recording was translated by my husband.
Original Wartime caption: Mrs. Grimes, who has sons serving in the Middle East watches a Covenanter tank pass through Whittlebury Northants. Photo taken by Sergeant Hardy 6th March 1943 Spartan Exercise. IWM H.27757
They drive by night: The work of the long-distance lorry driver in wartime England 1944.
Lorry driver Fred Horrod walks back towards his vehicle after a spot of lunch at a roadside cafe somewhere between Manchester and London. A removal van can be seen parked behind him: 'Clifford Hunt Removal Specialist' is based in Market Street, Crewe. This clearly a popular spot for lorry drivers, as several other vehicles can also be seen on the parking ground. IWM (D 19040)
Steve Parsons has contacted us with details of his mothers war time experiences. Including her American Air Gunners Story & Factory work stories.
My mum Lily King was aged 16 towards the end of the war and like everyone would go to local dances were many Airman from the local USAAF base would attend, in fact there was often a truck that would go round pre arranged pick up places and take the girls to the dance at the local airbase and bring them back after. My mum met a young American Air gunner at one dance and started dating him.
Mrs Pat Macleod slides out from under the ambulance she is repairing to smile for the camera. She is doing maintenance work on ambulance 8, which was presented by Elliott Nugent Esq. through the American Field Service. The depot is probably somewhere in Paddington in London. Painted on the side of the vehicle are the British and American flags, confirming that this ambulance is part of the American Ambulance, Field Service, Great Britain. Image: IWM (D 2531)
Women of the Mechanised Transport Corps at work in London England, 1940.
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