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Elena Romero, José Alegre, Vicente Espejo and Montse Sánchez
DEFINITION:
The Auxiliary Territorial Service (A.T.S. as an acronym), was the women’s branch of the British Army during WW2.
CHRONOLOGY:
It was formed on 9th September 1938, initially as a women’s voluntary service, and it lasted until 1st February 1949, when it became fused into the Women’s Royal Army Corps.
ORIGIN:
The A.T.S. has its roots in the WAAC (Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps) in WW1 from 1917 to 1921.
Previously to WW2, as the threat of a war increased, the government established a new Corp for women and an advisory council. It was formed by members of the Territorial Army, the Women’s Transport Service and the Women’s Legion.
So, all women in the Army joined the ATS, except for nurses. ATS was the largest of the three organizations and it was also the least popular because the living condition were really dangerous. " If you joined the ATS, you were a woman of stern stuff"
Women choices at the beginning of the war:
• Working in industry
• Joining the QAIMS (Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service)
• Joining one of the auxiliary services:
• The ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Services).
• The WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force)
• The WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service)
NUMBER OF RECRUITS FOR ATS:
From 1938 to 1939 the ATS recruited 17,000 women volunteers.
Women in the ATS served as volunteers until given full military status in 1941.
By September 1941, they reached 65,000 members.
Despite the resignations, by 1943 about 9 out of 10 women were taking an active part in the war effort.
By VE day (Victory in Europe Day, 8th May 1945) there were over 190,000 members of the women’s ATS.
REQUIREMENTS TO JOIN THE ATS:
Women between the ages of 17 and 43 were allowed to join up. However, WAAC veterans of WWI were accepted up to the age of 50. Those under 18 required parental consent.
After applying, applicants had to fulfill other requirements, including an interview and medical examination. If they were deemed (consider) fit to serve, then they were enrolled for the duration of the war.
TRAINING FOR THE ATS:
The new recruits were sent to army camps for their basic training. They were there for four weeks. After that time, the women were asked to carry out written and practical tests to establish which area they were best suited for. Experience in civilian life was usually crucial.
They lived in huts.
DUTIES/JOBS:
Initially they used to be:
• Cooks
• Clerks
• Storekeepers
• Bakers
Later, due to shortage of men, the ATS extended their duties to support tasks as:
• Drivers (all kinds of vehicles, from staff cars to trucks)
• Postal workers
• Ammunition inspectors
• Motorcycles messengers
• Mechanics
• Despatch riders
• Mess orderlies
• Radar operations
• Forming part of the crews of anti-aircraft guns
• Military police
Women were neither allowed to fight nor to fire the guns. Apart from that, they did the same work as men. For instance, if the ATS anti-aircraft crews watched out for enemy aircraft, they could track them with radar, pick them out with searchlights and aim the large anti-aircraft guns onto them, but then it was the men who fired the guns.
LIMITATIONS:
- Women did the same military training as men and lived in the same conditions, but they couldn’t participate in frontline combat. So, women didn’t tend to be nominated for medals of valour or bravery. Despite the fact that they were barred from serving in battle, there were 717 casualties during WWII.
- They couldn’t participate in active operations against the enemy nor fire the guns.
- They wore the same rank insignia as their male counterparts, but there were differences between the discipline given to men and women: a woman was not allowed to be court marshalled unless she herself chose to be.
- The women in the ATS were under the authority of the female officers of the ATS, instead of the male one.
- Women received 2/3 of the pay of male soldiers. The average female in manufacturing was earning £31 per week, while the average male earned £55 per week.
- Women received 20% less rations than males.
UNIFORMS:
The women´s uniforms were khaki with black shoes. Even the underwear was uniform issue and in the same colour.
"We only had the absolute minimum of uniform. We were not allowed to cut anything to fit us, and there were only three sizes of everything: small medium and large"
"It was too big for the small, the medium was too long, and the large was far too big. So, we could only turn things up, we couldn´t cut or make anything to fit us"
FAMOUS ATS MEMBERS:
• Princess Elizabeth (the King’s eldest daughter) as an honorary second subaltern with the service number 230873. She was a driver for the Second Subaltern Windsor Unit.
• Mary Churchill (the youngest daughter of the Prime Minister) worked as a lorry driver.
• Queen Elisabeth, later the Queen Mother, was Commander in Chief of the ATS from 1940 until 1949.
MEMORIES:
Lucy M. Newbery nee Griffiths remembers when the Princess Royal visited the ATS training camp at Craigiehall (in Edinburgh) while women were receiving typing lessons.
She says: “I remember her as very nice as she spoke with each of us.” Thanks to that visit, they acquired a rest room in the camp, curtains on the hut windows, and chairs with cushions.
MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR RECRUITMENT:
A Forces recruitment poster for the ATS by Dugdale (unknow date).
It illustrates a smiling young woman in ATS uniform. The backdrop is of uniformed soldiers surrounding an anti-aircraft gun. The slogan ‘They can't get on without us' demonstrates the purpose of the ATS, which was formed on 9 September 1938 to free as many men as possible for service on the front.
Conscription for women was introduced in November 1941.
ATS developed a reputation of promiscuity and poor living conditions, many women also found the khaki uniform unappealing and, as a result, they favoured WRNS and WAAF over the ATS.
In the picture we can see a beautiful young girl gazing up who represents the freshness and enthusiasm of the ATS members.
Games' ATS poster was removed after complaints were received that the woman depicted was “too glamorous”. The ATS used publicity to counteract its poor public reputation. Parents needed to be reassured that if their daughter joined the ATS, she would not get a reputation for being ‘cheap'.
Poster by Abram Games, November 1941
POST WAR:
After the cessation of hostilities, women continued to serve in the ATS, as well as in the WRNS and WAAF. It was succeeded by the Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC) on 1st February 1949.
The ATS was fully integrated into the British army in 1992.
Married women were allowed to come back home before singles and men, in order to get their homes ready for when their husbands returned from the front.
Many women returned to marriage or to civilian jobs.
END OF THE WAR
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- The History Press, The History of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, extracted by the book “Girls in Khaki”, Barbara Greens; (online) hHYPERLINK "https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-the-auxiliary-territorial-service/"ttps://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-the-auxiliary-territorial-service/ (consulted on 24/11/2018)
- Auxiliary Territorial Service - Regiment History, War & Military Records
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