The poster girl for Britain\u2019s largest military organisation for women, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), was front and centre of a concerted effort to encourage additional girls to sign up for overseas selection. More women were needed to support the 2 million men who were pushing across the continent towards Germany, including administrative staff and anti-aircraft defence.<\/p>\n

ATS recruits, who had been operational on Britain\u2019s gun-sites since 1941 and provided vital support in numerous other roles, were ideally placed to fulfil this mission. But if \u201cwild excitement\u201d was the overwhelming response of young women, elsewhere there was disquiet at the prospect of sending girls abroad.<\/p>\n

Anne Carter (n\u00e9e Garrad) was a 19-year-old ATS clerk. During the build-up to D-Day she had been typing up top-secret reports on military manoeuvres, but once the Allies had landed in June 1944, priorities changed. ATS girls were now invited to apply for overseas service, and along with several colleagues, Anne put her name down. Few, however, made the final cut. \u201cTheir parents stopped them,\u201d recalls Anne. \u201cThey wanted their daughters to be at home. Safety was the main reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Anne, whose own mother had been the very first ATS recruit in 1938 was an exception. She was given parental consent \u201cwithout delay or hesitation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anne Carter<\/h4>\n
Anne Carter (n\u00e9e Garrad) was destined for the ATS. In 1938 her mother, Marjory, became W\/1 \u2013 the first woman to sign up to the new service. In 1943, as soon as she turned 18, Anne volunteered for the ATS, with the press making much of W\/1\u2019s daughter following in her mother\u2019s footsteps. After an early promotion to lance corporal, she spent time training ATS conscripts, before a clerical posting in Inverness. In 1944, Anne then went to Italy for overseas service, and was selected for an officer training course in Palestine. After the war, she briefly ran transit centres in Italy and Austria, before coming back to England in 1946, where she gained a degree, became a probation officer, and started a family with her husband. Anne died in July 2021, aged 97.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>\n

Parental guidance<\/h3>\n
Winston Churchill<\/a> anticipated a backlash. In a private letter, he acknowledged the gulf between the girls whose response to the prospect of overseas postings was \u201cnot \u2018alf!\u201d, and the troubles many of them had convincing their \u201cPapas and Mamas\u201d.<\/p>\n
Despite unprecedented female service in Britain since the (reluctant) introduction of conscription for women in December 1941, mindsets hadn\u2019t changed. The presence of uniformed women right across Britain did little to reassure the public about girls\u2019 safety overseas.<\/p>\n
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