NAM.1998-01-115-1

Two copies of memoir of service, Kathleen White (Mrs Bottomley), written in 1966. Memoir, black typed, of Miss Kathleen White January 1917, enrolment as a clerk, Worker 2365. Describes journey from Folkestone to Boulogne. Enrols at St Ermyns Hotel, Westminster, goes to Farnborough station where nearly 200 girls from 20-40 years old and onto barracks. Beds collapse and constant noise from nearby Aircraft Depot. Drilling, vaccination. Allocated job of assistant to Quarter master. Brief leave then off to Folkestone. Caused sensation on the train as women were going to France. Arrive in Boulogne to meal of bully beef, cheese, tomatoes, chunks of bread, margarine, and thick mugs of tea. Slept on floor on three ‘biscuits and three blankets’. Journey on to Etaples, Abbeville-sur-Somme. Arrive at Camp 1 Mautort and see Nissan huts for first time. Engaged in menial tasks but goes off to be a telephonist at Base HQ Abbeyville. Joins staff of signal corps. May 1918 is engaged to future husband in Signals Corps. (Becomes Kathleen Bottomly).

World War One (1914-1918)