Queen Elizabeth II in the ATS during World War II

Queen Elizabeth II in the ATS in reality is a key happening that brings the story together. The Battle for Jesus is fiction although, as the saying goes, reality is stranger than fiction. Note, she was Princess Elizabeth at the time.

Queen Elizabeth II in the ATS during World War II is the link between herself and Mary Magdalene.

Initially, I believe, she wanted to join up as a nurse but the King stepped in and put a stop to that idea for fear that she might be sent overseas. But, Elizabeth, even as a young princess, was determined to do something for the war effort, and somebody suggested that she join the ATS, Auxiliary Territorial Service, as a mechanic.

Photos below are of Princess Elizabeth as a 2nd Subaltern in the ATS in 1945, courtesy of the Imperial War Museums. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

She joined up in 1945,  eighteen going on nineteen and very keen. Primarily, I think she worked as a mechanic and truck driver. There are many famous photos of her driving a Military Katy Field ambulance. She has always said that she thoroughly enjoyed her time at the depot. She was a good mechanic, much liked and respected by all those that worked with her. (Notice the Katy ambulance in the background in the photo on the right. This is probably the depot where she worked).

In the novel, The Battle for Jesus, she meets Mary Magdalene and Nancy Shuttleworth, both FANYs driving a Katy ambulance for St Vincent’s Hospital. She was checking out the opportunity to join up when they met, so she was not in uniform at the time. This is when the little black and white snapshot of ‘All the Gang in ’44’ was taken. And this is where, as a young princess yet to become Queen, she bonds with Mary Magdalene and Nancy Shuttleworth. Her trust in them is absolute.

In later years, the Queen treasures the photo and keeps it on her work desk along with pictures of her children. In the story, set in 2006, the Queen uses this photo to check the veracity of Mary’s phone call by asking her questions from the picture that only Mary would know.

 

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