The Mechanised Transport Corps (MTC), sometimes erroneously called the Motor Transport Corps, was a British women's organisation that initially provided its own transport and uniforms and operated during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It was a civilian uniformed organisation that provided drivers for
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
departments and other agencies. Among other roles, members drove
staff car
A staff car is a vehicle used by a senior military military officer, officer, and is part of their country's White fleet (UK military vehicles), white fleet. The term is most often used in relation to the United Kingdom where they were first us ...
s, including for foreign dignitaries whose drivers were not accustomed to driving on British roads, and ambulances in
the Blitz
The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War.
Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
.
History
The Mechanised Transport Training Corps (MTTC) was founded in 1939 by Mrs G. M. Cooke CBE as a women's voluntary civilian organisation. It was recognised by the
Ministry of War Transport
The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transpor ...
in 1940 and renamed the MTC, and its members were conscripted and received pay.
Various women who served with the MTC were awarded one
MBE, two
BEMs, nine
Croix de Guerre
The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
, ten
Colonial Medal
The Colonial Medal () was a French decoration created by the "loi de finances" of 26 July 1893 (article 75) to reward "military services in the colonies, resulting from participation in military operations, in a colony or a protectorate". A decr ...
s, a Certificate for Gallantry, and
mentions in dispatches.
Some of the best-known members were the women who volunteered to drive ambulances in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
at the beginning of the war as part of
Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit The Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit was an Anglo-French volunteer medical unit which served initially with the 4th French army in Lorraine, eastern France, during the Second World War from February 1940 until it was forced to retreat on 9 June ahead ...
and became known as the "Spearettes". Their endeavours were held in high esteem by the French and it is said that "petulant
General de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
peremptorily ordered the hospital to be disbanded because the crowds at the
Paris Victory Parade dared to cheer: 'Vive Spears!'"
Groups from the MTC drove ambulances and other transport in Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, as well as driving
SOE agents to airfields to board the planes that would parachute them into occupied France.
A notable MTC driver was
Kay Summersby,
General Eisenhower's driver, who subsequently claimed that she had had an affair with him.
Despite the appearance of the character
Samantha Stewart
Samantha Leigh Stewart (born 12 October 1989) is a Canadian Freestyle wrestling, freestyle wrestler. She won one of the bronze medals in the 2021 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 53 kg, women's 53kg event at the 2021 World Wres ...
in the television series ''
Foyle's War
''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...
'' there is no evidence that any MTC member was ever seconded to a police force.
Ranks of the Mechanised Transport Corps
Below is a chart of Mechanised Transport Corps ranks compared to the British Army.
See also
*
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) (FANY (PRVC)) is a British independent all-female registered charity structured like a military reserve unit. which primarily provides surge relief to civil and military authoriti ...
*
Auxiliary Territorial Service
The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...
*
Military ranks of women's services in WWII
References
{{reflist
External links
''The British Home Front 1939-45'', by Martin J. Brayley''Women in Uniform'', by D. Collett WadgeMTC - Mechanised Transport Corps: The forgotten women of WWII
Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom