Women's Legion Drivers

[CorporalPunishment]

On 12/09/2020 at 17:47, Saxydog88 said:

Not sure but you could be correct

can’t work out why the cap looks At least 1930,s issue with the winged cap badge ?

That's because the cap badge with the wings was not introduced until the mid-1930s.   Pete.

[Saxydog88]

Thanks for the confirmation seems there’s little out there for clothing items :/ 

[fiona dowson]

Have you tried the London Transport Museum. They have a great deal of info about women driving to keep London Transport moving so may also have something about women on the front line. Bus drivers were called up early as they needed drivers to ferry men to the front which left a shortage of drivers in London so women fell into the gap. I wonder if any of them were recruited to serve in France.  

[Marilyne]

19 minutes ago, fiona dowson said:

Have you tried the London Transport Museum. They have a great deal of info about women driving to keep London Transport moving so may also have something about women on the front line. Bus drivers were called up early as they needed drivers to ferry men to the front which left a shortage of drivers in London so women fell into the gap. I wonder if any of them were recruited to serve in France.  

 

If you mean women bus drivers to drive the troop busses on the front, then the answer is, IMHO, no. Women drove ambulances and got wounded sometimes very far out but I haven't once come across a woman bus driver on the Western Front. 

 

M.

[Phil Tomaselli]

A female competitor was allowed into The King's Competition at Bisley in 1928 because she had recently joined The Women's Legion as a Driver and the Legion (apparently) appeared in the Army List so she counted as service personnel.  She certainly competed, so even though this comes out of a newspaper it's probably true!

A female competitor was allowed into The King's Competition at Bisley in 1928 because she had recently joined The Women's Legion as a Driver and the Legion (apparently) appeared in the Army List so she counted as service personnel.  She certainly competed, so even though this comes out of a newspaper it's probably true!

A female competitor was allowed into The King's Competition at Bisley in 1928 because she had recently joined The Women's Legion as a Driver and the Legion (apparently) appeared in the Army List so she counted as service personnel.  She certainly competed, so even though this comes out of a newspaper it's probably true!

 

[Mk VII]

That would be Miss Marjorie Foster (1893-1974). She won the Kings Prize in 1930 and is listed on the South London Rifle Club honours board as 'Women's Legion' after the Great War ["during the First World War served with the Women's Legion of Motor Drivers, training other women drivers and servicing vehicles." (D.N.B.)] and 'A.T.S.' after WW2

[northernsoul]

These two photos show my Grand mother and some vehicles  (some are ambulances) from 1918, the top photo is titled, Women's Legion attached to 978 Coy Colchester Jun 1918 and the lower photo is titled 978 (MT) Coy, Army Service Corps, Details, Colchester Jun 1918, my Grand mother is in both of the photos, she donated the photos to the Women's Army Museum in the early 1980's, I have managed to track them down at the National Army Museum and I am in the process of trying to get some copies as the photo I posted is a picture of a picture and not very good quality, although it says Women's Legion it looks like my Grandmother served with the Army Service Corps because on the first photo of her in uniform it looks like an Army service Corps cap and lapel badges, hope this is of interest and is of some help to you

 

 

 

 

 

 

[royalredcross]

Members of the Women's Legion servi.ng with the ASC were granted the privilege of wearing the ASC badge and buttons.  Similarly, those serving with the RFC wore the RFC badge and shoulder titles. 

Norman 

[alf mcm]

On 22/07/2009 at 11:11, royalredcross said:

The formation of the Women’s Legion (WL) took place at a meeting held at Londonderry House in July of 1915 “to provide a capable body of women whose services can be offered to the state as may be required, to take the place of men needed in the firing line or in other capacities”. Its founder, Lady Londonderry, had for some time been discontented with what she considered to be an excess of militarism which had been displayed by some of the women’s organisations which had been formed on the outbreak of war, particularly the Women’s Volunteer Reserve (WVR), of which she was Colonel in Chief. She believed that “it was absolutely necessary to re-organise the composition of the WVR. If the movement was really to grow and extend, it must be on less military lines”.

As first envisaged, the WL was to be an umbrella organisation and to comprise a number of different sections, of which the WVR was to be the first, plus Canteen, Ambulance and Cookery. After a few months, however, the WVR reverted to its original régime and severed connections. Other sections were formed before the end of the war, including Agricultural and Motor Transport. By far the most important, however, were the two sections which provided womanpower for the British Army, Military Cookery and Motor Transport.

The Military Cookery section has the distinction of being the first body of women, apart from nurses, to be employed with the British Army. It was formed on 22 July 1915 and, in the same month, a party of 20 cooks was despatched to Dartford Camp Convalescent Hospital. Parties for Eastbourne and Epsom camps soon followed and by the beginning of 1916, there were 120 cooks in place. The whole organisation was run from headquarters in the Duke of York’s at Chelsea by the Secretary, Mrs. Long. Lists of volunteers were kept and cooks and waitresses despatched as demanded by various units who engaged them through Labour Exchanges as civilian employees. The first Commandant was Miss Lilian Barker, who later went on to be Lady Superintendent of the munitions workers at Woolwich Arsenal. She was followed by Mrs. Burleigh Leach who later became head of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC).

The service expanded, not only to convalescent camps but to command depots and other units, their conditions of service being officially laid down in Army Council Instruction (ACI) 2034 of 1916. In January 1917 the Army Council appealed for 1000 women to enrol in the WL as cooks and waitresses. Some 26,000 replies were received. This success was such that the War Office decided to extend the service to France and to take complete control of the workforce. Thus, the Military Cookery Section of the WL ceased to exist on September 1917 when all 6,000 cooks and waitresses in the United Kingdom were absorbed into the newly formed WAAC. They eventually adopted WAAC uniform but were permitted wear their old WL badge on their lapel.

The Military Motor Transport section grew out of a plan formed in January 1916 to organise an Ambulance Corps to work with the Red Cross in France. This did not materialise and instead it was found more practical to develop a home service and the WL was approached to help. Miss Christabel Ellis was appointed Commandant and began the collection of experienced women drivers to work for the Army Service Corps(ASC). The first 20 women were supplied in April 1916 and on 30 October 1916 members of the section were given the privilege of wearing ASC badges and buttons on their uniforms. Drivers working with the Royal Flying Corps later wore that badge on their hat and shoulder titles. The women normally worked under a Superintendent in squads of up to 22, of which at least 10 were mechanics/drivers. The was also a Head Driver, Probationers and Garage Washers. Their conditions of service were laid down in ACI 221 of 1917.

On 16 March 1918 The Queen inspected a parade of 225 drivers who were representing the 2000 then employed from Cornwall to Scotland. On the formation of the Women’s Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918, some 647 drivers who had been working with the Royal Flying Corps transferred into the new service. However, as the Quartermaster General felt that his army drivers should be controlled only by the ASC, those working at home never transferred to the WAAC

None of the sections of the WL served overseas during the war, though members of the Motor Transport section did so in some numbers after the Armistice. Many members of the Cookery section served in France, but as members of the WAAC

As with the ASC and the RFC, I would suspect that the women attached to AIF woudl have adopted their badge as a matter of course.

Norman

An earlier post from @royalredcross which is of interest.

Regards,

Alf McM