Princess Elizabeth served as a truck driver, auto mechanic … and honorary Colonel during the war.
“telephonists, clerks, drivers, postal workers, dispatch riders and ammunition inspectors.” Women also served in air defencee units where they could track enemy aircraft and aim guns, but the actual shooting was left to men.
Elizabeth was enlisted as a subaltern and trained both to fix and drive trucks. She was the first female member of the Royal Family to serve on active duty during wartime, and was nicknamed “Princess Auto Mechanic” by the press. Her service as a military mechanic—as well as the bombing of her family’s royal seat, Buckingham Palace–made Elizabeth, the second in line to the British throne, a relatable figure to a people at war, both at home and abroad.
Queen Elizabeth looks through the sighting system of a Milan anti-tank guided missile system while inspecting British forces in Hanover, West Germany, 1984.Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952, whereupon she was known as Elizabeth II. Elizabeth II was not only the Head of State but also the Head of the Armed Forces, and British military personnel swore an oath not to the government.
Three of Elizabeth’s children served in the armed forces. Charles, now King Charles, served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy as a pilot and the captain of a warship; Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot; Edward briefly served in the Royal Marines. Her grandson Prince William served in the Royal Air Force search and rescue, and Prince Harry served in the British Army as a forward air controller and WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter pilot.
Johnny Caie, brother of Trooper Ian Caie who was killed in Northern Ireland in August 1972 , holds the Elizabeth Cross which was presented to him and his family on behalf of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
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