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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
''The British Home Front 1939-45'', by Martin J. Brayley
''Women in Uniform'', by D. Collett Wadge
MTC - Mechanised Transport Corps: The forgotten women of WWII
British women in World War II Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom
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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. 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.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
departments and other agencies. Among other roles, members drove staff car
A staff car is a vehicle used by a senior military officer, and is part of their country's white fleet. The term is most often used in relation to the United Kingdom where they were first used in quantity during World War I, examples being the ...
s, including for foreign dignitaries whose drivers were not accustomed to driving on British roads, and ambulances in the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
.
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 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, ten Colonial Medals, a Certificate for Gallantry, and mentions in dispatches. Some of the best-known members were the women who volunteered to drive ambulances inFrance
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
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 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 wrestler. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's 53 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships in Oslo, Norway. She won the silver medal in the women's 53 k ...
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 * Auxiliary Territorial Service * Military ranks of women's services in WWIIReferences
{{reflistExternal links
''The British Home Front 1939-45'', by Martin J. Brayley
''Women in Uniform'', by D. Collett Wadge
MTC - Mechanised Transport Corps: The forgotten women of WWII
British women in World War II Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom