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Auxiliary Territorial Service
Cap Badge of the Auxiliary Territorial Service
Active	9 September 1938 – 1 February 1949
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Size	190,000
Commanders
Ceremonial chief	Princess Mary (Honorary Controller-Commandant)

TheAuxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as anacronym^[1]) was the women's branch of theBritish Army during theSecond World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into theWomen's Royal Army Corps.^[2]

The ATS had its roots in theWomen's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), which was formed in 1917 as a voluntary service.^[2] During theFirst World War its members served in a number of jobs including clerks, cooks, telephonists and waitresses. The WAAC was disbanded after four years in 1921.

Prior to the Second World War, the government decided to establish a new Corps for women, and an advisory council, which included members of theTerritorial Army (TA), a section of theWomen's Transport Service (FANY) and theWomen's Legion, was set up. The council decided that the ATS would be attached to the Territorial Army, and the women serving would receive two thirds the pay of male soldiers.

All women in the army joined the ATS except for nurses, who joinedQueen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS), medical and dental officers, who were commissioned directly into the Army and held army ranks, and those remaining in the FANY, known as Free FANYs.

The first recruits to the ATS were employed as cooks, clerks and storekeepers. At the outbreak of the Second World War, 300 ATS members were billeted to France. As the German Army advanced through France, theBritish Expeditionary Force was driven back towards the English Channel. This led to the evacuation of troops fromDunkirk in May 1940, and some ATS telephonists were among the last British personnel to leave the country.

As more men joined the war effort, it was decided to increase the size of the ATS, with numbers reaching 65,000 by September 1941. Women between the ages of 17 and 43 were allowed to join, although these rules were relaxed in order to allow WAAC veterans to join up to the age of 50. The duties of members were also expanded, seeing ATS orderlies, drivers, postal workers and ammunition inspectors.^[3]

Over the six-year period of the War, about 500 ATS personnel were trained to operate theCinetheodolite, with the highest number being in 1943–44, when 305 ATS were in active service using this equipment.^[4]

One application of this specialist camera was in gunnery practice, where a pair of Cinetheodolites a known distance apart filmed the shell bursts fromanti-aircraft artillery againsttarget drones towed by an aircraft. By comparing the filmed location of the shells' detonation and the target, accurate calculations of their relative position could be made that would reveal any systematic error in thegunsights.^[5][6]

In December 1941, Parliament passed the National Service Act, which called up unmarried women between 20 and 30 years old to join one of the auxiliary services. These were the ATS, theWomen's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), theWomen's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and theWomen's Transport Service. Married women were also later called up, although pregnant women and those with young children were exempt. Other options under the Act included joining theWomen's Voluntary Service (WVS), which supplemented the emergency services at home, or theWomen's Land Army, helping on farms.^[7]

There was also provision made in the act for objection to service on moral grounds, as about a third of those on theconscientious objectors list were women. A number of women were prosecuted as a result of the act, some even being imprisoned. Despite this, by 1943 about nine out of ten women were taking an active part in the war effort.

Women were barred from serving in battle, but due to shortages of men, ATS members, as well as members of the other women's voluntary services, took over many support tasks, such asradar operators, forming part of the crews ofanti-aircraft guns andmilitary police. However, these roles were not without risk, and there were, according to theImperial War Museum, 717 casualties during World War II.^[2] The first woman to be killed in action on service with the ATS was Private Nora Caveney. She died while operating a predictor on an anti-aircraft site near Weston Shore, Southampton.^[8]

The first 'Mixed' Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) battery of theRoyal Artillery (435 (Mixed) HAA Battery) was formed on 25 June 1941, and took over an operational gun site inRichmond Park, south-west London, in August. It was the forerunner of hundreds of similar units with the ATS supplying two-thirds of the personnel: at its height in 1943 three-quarters ofAnti-Aircraft Command's HAA batteries were mixed. Several Heavy Anti-Aircraft regiments deployed to North West Europe with21st Army Group in 1944–45 were 'Mixed' regiments.^[9]

A secret trial (the 'Newark Experiment' in April 1941) having shown that women were capable of operating heavy searchlight equipment and coping with conditions on the often desolate searchlight sites, members of the ATS began training atRhyl to replace male personnel in searchlight regiments. At first they were employed in searchlight Troop headquarters, but in July 1942 the26th (London Electrical Engineers) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery became the first 'Mixed' regiment, with seven Troops of ATS women posted to it, forming the whole of 301 Battery and half of 339 Battery. In October that year the all-women 301 Battery was transferred to the new93rd (Mixed) Searchlight Regiment, the last searchlight regiment formed during World War II, which by August 1943 comprised about 1500 women out of an establishment of 1674. Many other searchlight and anti-aircraft regiments on Home Defence followed, freeing men aged under 30 of medical category A1 for transfer to the infantry.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Similarly, by 1943 the ATS represented 10 per cent of theRoyal Corps of Signals, having taken over the major part of the signal office and operating duties in theWar Office and Home Commands, and ATS companies were sent to work on the lines of communications of active overseas theatres.^[13]

ByVE Day and beforedemobilization of the British armed forces, there were over 190,000 members of the women's Auxiliary Territorial Service.

Famous members of the ATS includedMary Churchill, youngest daughter of theprime minister,Winston Churchill,^[14] and Princess Elizabeth, later QueenElizabeth II, eldest daughter ofthe King, who trained as a lorry driver, ambulance driver and mechanic.^[15][16]Nadia Cattouse was a Caribbean member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service.^[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHistorical photographs of the Land of Israel Women's Corps.

TheYishuv saw itself as part of the struggle against theNazis, and the call for women to serve and enlist, just as many men had enlisted, was heard from the beginning of the war, despite opposition from religious groups.

In mid-1941, Zionist women's organizations, including representatives fromWIZO, the Working Women's Council (todayNa'amat), andHadassah approached the British with a request to open the ATS to Jewish volunteers from what is called theLand of Israel. One of the central figures in this initiative was Hadassah Samuel, daughter-in-law of theHigh CommissionerHerbert Samuel. TheJewish Agency joined this appeal. In October 1941, the response was received that 5,000 women could be recruited, with 2,000 immediately. The Jewish Agency stipulated that the women would be enlisted into Hebrew organic units, a request that was only partially fulfilled. It was also stipulated that they would receive a special badge and thatHebrew would be used as a second official language among the recruits.

In December 1941, the official call for women to enlist was published, and in January 1942, the first group of 60 women was enlisted, intended to become officers and NCOs, and trained atSarafand Camp. A Hebrew anthem was composed for the recruits.

After the initial recruitment cycles, it became clear that to achieve the goal of Hebrew women's companies, the recruitment pace needed to increase. In June 1942, the national institutions announced mandatory enlistment for all women aged 20 to 30 without children. Due to opposition from religious circles regarding women's enlistment, this order did not lead to full recruitment into the ATS ranks.

Recruitment efforts included a truck campaign driven by ATS women who had completed a driving course in June 1942, and a large parade held inJerusalem on September 9, 1943. To avoid provoking the Arabs, British censorship described the unit as including women fromPoland,Czechoslovakia, andGermany, even though the vast majority of the women were Jewish immigrants toMandatory Palestine.

Despite the desire to establish Hebrew ATS companies, only a few such companies were formed, and most women were dispersed among various ATS units in the Middle East.

In total, about 3,500 women from the Land of Israel served in the ATS during the war, in addition to 700 who served in theWAAF. Among the women were 50 officers, and one officer named Rachel Maklef-Mazor reached the rank of "Senior Commander," equivalent to the rank ofMajor in theIsrael Defense Forces. The female soldiers served as drivers, nurses, clerks, and in ordnance roles. During theSecond Battle of El Alamein, Jewish ATS drivers transported soldiers and ammunition to the front lines.

With the establishment of theIsrael Defense Forces during theWar of Independence, many ATS veterans integrated into its ranks in command roles. Among the ATS veterans who assumed command positions in the IDF were Hanna Levin, who served in the ATS as a service conditions officer with the rank of Lieutenant, became the IDF's Chief Recruitment Officer with the rank of Major, and after her discharge became mayor ofRishon LeZion;Esther Herlitz, who later became aKnesset member; andStella Levy, who later became the IDF's Chief Women's Officer and aKnesset member.

After the cessation of hostilities women continued to serve in the ATS, as well as in the WRNS and WAAF. It was succeeded by theWomen's Royal Army Corps (WRAC), which formed on 1 February 1949 under Army Order 6.

Initially ranks were completely different from those of the army, but used the same rank insignia, although the crown was replaced by a laurel wreath.^[18] Members were required to salute their own superior officers, but not other organisations' officers, although it was considered courteous to do so.^[18]

On 9 May 1941, the ATS rank structure was reorganised, and as of July 1941 the ATS was given full military status and members were no longer volunteers. Theother ranks now held almost identical ranks to army personnel, but officers continued to have a separate rank system, that was somewhat modified. All uniforms and badges of rank remained the same, although crowns replaced laurel wreaths in the rank insignia. Members were now required to salute all superior officers.

The only holders of the rank of chief controller were the first three directors, promoted to the rank on their appointment, andPrincess Mary, who held it from 1939 and was appointed the ATS's honorary controller-commandant in August 1941.

When other ranks were assigned to mixed-sexRoyal Artillery batteries ofAnti-Aircraft Command starting in 1941, they were accorded the Royal Artillery ranks ofgunner,lance-bombardier, andbombardier (instead of private, lance-corporal, and corporal), and wore the RA's braided whitelanyard on the right shoulder and the 'grenade' collar badge above the left breast pocket of their uniform tunic.^[19]

	General officers										Field officers						Junior officers
Auxiliary Territorial Service (1938–1941) v t e
							Chief controller		Senior controller		Controller		Chief commandant		Senior commandant		Company commander		Deputy company commander			Company assistant
Auxiliary Territorial Service[20] (1941–1949) v t e
							Chief controller		Senior controller		Controller		Chief commander		Senior commander		Junior commander		Subaltern			Second subaltern
United Kingdom (1928–1953)
	Field Marshal		General		Lieutenant-General		Major-General		Brigadier		Colonel		Lieutenant-Colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			Second Lieutenant			Officer Cadet
NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Auxiliary Territorial Service (1938–1941) v t e																													No insignia
							Senior Leader				Section Leader												Sub-Leader				Chief Volunteer		Volunteer
Auxiliary Territorial Service (1941–1949) v t e																													No insignia
	Warrant Officer Class I						Warrant Officer Class II		Staff Sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal Bombardier[note 1]				Lance Corporal Lance Bombardier[note 2]		Private Gunner[note 3]
United Kingdom (1920 – 1953)																	No equivalent												No insignia
	Warrant Officer Class I						Warrant Officer Class II	Warrant Officer Class III[note 4]	Staff/Colour Sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal				Lance Corporal		Private (or equivalent)
NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1

• Chief Controller Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, July 1939 – July 1941
• Chief Controller Jean Knox, July 1941 – October 1943
• Chief Controller Dame Leslie Whateley, October 1943 – April 1946
• Senior Controller Dame Mary Tyrwhitt, April 1946 – January 1949

The 1943 filmThe Gentle Sex is a dramatised documentary depicting the experiences of seven ATS recruits. Directed byLeslie Howard, the film was described as a "morale booster and as a recruitment advertisement" for the service.^[21][22]

• Bidwell Shelford.Women's Royal Army Corps (1997) 141pp
• Bigland, Eileen (1946).Britain's other army: The story of the A.T.S. London: Nicholson & Watson, an official history.
• Cowper, J. M.The Auxiliary Territorial Service (1949), an official history
• Crang, Jeremy A. "The revival of the British women's auxiliary services in the late nineteen-thirties,"Historical Research (May 2010) Volume 83, Issue 220, pages 343–357, online at EBSCO
• Crang, Jeremy A. "'Come into the Army, Maud': Women, Military Conscription, and the Markham Inquiry,"Defence Studies, Nov 2008, Vol. 8 Issue 3, pp 381–395, online at EBSCO
• Dady, Margaret.Women's War: Life in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (1986)
• De Groot, Gerard J. "'I love the scent of cordite in your hair': Gender dynamics in mixed anti-craft batteries"History, Jan 1997, Vol. 82 Issue 265, pp 73–92
• Kerr, Dorothy Brewer.Girls Behind the Guns: With the Auxiliary Territorial Service in World War II (1990)
• Noakes, Lucy.Women in the British Army: War and the Gentle Sex, 1907–48 (2006), pp 61–81 on ATS of war years
• Robinson, Vee.Sisters in Arms (1996)ISBN 0004720849 A personal memoir by an ATS anti-aircraft gun crew member.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAuxiliary Territorial Service.

• ATS/F.A.N.Y Uniforms
• ATS Remembered

• British administrative corps
• All-female military units and formations
• British women in World War II
• Military units and formations established in 1938
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1949

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