A Future Monarch in Military Uniform
Many stories describe how Princess Elizabeth drove ambulances in the Blitz in WWII, as German bombs fell upon London. It would have been awesome if true, but alas, they are not – although she probably would have loved to do that. The fact of the matter is that Elizabeth was a child, only fourteen-years-old during the Blitz, and thus too young to serve.
What she did when she turned eighteen in 1944 was to join the ATS, the British Army’s female auxiliary branch. Her father, King George VI, made sure she received no special rank or privileges. The princess 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.
Elizabeth learned how to drive and maintain army vehicles at the Mechanical Transport Training Section in Camberley, Surrey. The press dubbed her “The Princess Mechanic”. Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945, before she saw action. Britain erupted into victory celebrations, and the princess, dressed in her ATS uniform, slipped incognito into the crowd with her sister to enjoy the festivities. As she recalled decades later: “I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief … I remember we were terrified of being recognized so I pulled my uniform cap well down over my eyes“.
