My parents met while they were both serving in the Second World War… these photographs tell their story

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Published: Friday, 24 May 2024 at 10:32 AM

My parents got married on 24 December 1944 at Walberton Parish Church in Heathfield, Sussex. My mother, Doris Hill, was a Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) canteen manager at Camberley army camp where my father, Ted (James Edward) Steer, was based as a member of the Royal Army Service Corps.

Black and white photograph of a woman in Women's Land Army uniform sitting on a fence and holding a rake

Mum’s sister Nellie Hill was in the Women’s Land Army. She’s also next to her in the wedding photo.

Black and white portrait photograph of a young woman wearing a hat with a military crest on it

This photo shows my mother Doris in her NAAFI uniform.

Black and white photograph of two young men wearing shorts and no shirts standing in a military base

Here is Dad (left) in India’s Deolali transit camp on 30 March 1946, waiting to return to England.

Black and white photograph of a group of women

Here is Mum again with her Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes team at Camberley army camp.
She is sitting on the left of the cup that they won for the best-run NAAFI canteen.