photo #2151665

As they honor Queen Elizabeth, I remember her service in the the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). It was the women's branch of the British Army during WWII and was formed on 9 September 1938 and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women's Royal Army Corps.Princess Elizabeth started as a Second Subaltern in the ATS and was later promoted to Junior Commander, the equivalent of a Captain.Princess Elizabeth began her training as a mechanic in March 1945. She undertook a driving and vehicle maintenance course at Aldershot, qualifying on April 14. Newspapers at the time dubbed her “Princess Auto Mechanic.” There were a wide range of jobs available to female soldiers in the ATS as cooks, telephonists, drivers, postal workers, searchlight operators, and ammunition inspectors. Some women served as part of anti-aircraft units, although they were not allowed to fire the guns.By June 1945, there were around 200,000 members of the ATS from across the British Empire serving on the home front and in many overseas theaters of war.Today, Queen Elizabeth is Colonel-in-Chief of 16 British Army regiments and corps, and many Commonwealth units. As a member of the ATS, she was the first female of the Royal family to be an active duty member of the British Armed Forces. The Queen is also the last surviving head of state to have served during the Second World War. Now in her 90s, she is often pictured behind the wheel and has been known to diagnose and repair faulty engines just as she was taught to do during her wartime service in the ATS.