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An interview with
Mary Soames
Published thanks to a grant from the Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Charity. From bread-van ambulances...
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A veteran interview with
Ali Brown
Ali Brown joined the army in 1984 and rose to the rank of Colonel. She was in the first female intake at Sandhurst College and subsequently saw action in Iraq and the Balkans.
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Talking Point:
"Bosnia"
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Discover 23 key interview topics and talking points
02:00
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
04:00
Weapons training
08:00
Passing Out Parade
16:00
Royal Green Jackets
18:00
IRA (Irish Republican Army)
20:00
Officer's Mess
24:00
Germany
26:00
Grenadier Guards
28:00
Cold War: Berlin
32:00
the White Mice
34:00
SIB
36:00
Homosexuality
38:00
Berlin Wall
40:00
Disbandment
42:00
Operation Granby
44:00
Iraq
54:00
Instructing at Sandhurst
60:00
Bosnia
66:00
Army Staff College
72:00
Kosovo
78:00
Colonel
82:00
Monmouth
90:00
Reflecting on the WRAC
About Ali Brown
From a young age Ali knew she wanted to join the army, and was part of the new 1984 revolution of women that went straight to training at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy.
Ali describes the developments in training, such as compulsory weapon exercises and more intensive physical fitness. She was posted to 10 Company Aldershot where she took on administrative roles in welfare and career management. Ali was then taken to the Royal Green Jackets, then the Light Division Depot at Winchester. She describes this as the point in which her ambition for a military career took over and she began to dedicate herself entirely to the army. From here she was posted to the NATO camp in Sennelager, the Grenadier Guards, and Hohne for gunnery training where she began to understand Soviet tactics in the Cold War.
When the Gulf war broke out in 1990 Ali knew that the WRAC was coming to an end. She was initially told that as a member of the WRAC she could not go to the Gulf, but she was grateful that the orders changed. In her interview she gives an incredible description of her experiences on ground operation. Ali continued to serve with the Adjutant General Corps and left as a full Colonel responsible for training across the whole of the army.
Credits
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Evie Painter
Transcribed by:
Rachel Jennings
Transcripts:
Please note that transcripts and closed captions in the video player are automatically generated by Vimeo.
If you would like a version of the transcript that has been transcribed manually by Rachel Jennings, please complete this form or email info@legasee.org.uk.
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A veteran interview with
Ali Brown
Ali Brown joined the army in 1984 and rose to the rank of Colonel. She was in the first female intake at Sandhurst College and subsequently saw action in Iraq and the Balkans.
Related topics & talking points
Adjutant General Corps
Army Staff College
Artillery Logistics
Berlin Wall
Bosnia
Checkpoint Charlie
Cold War: Berlin
Colonel
Court Martial
Disbandment
Germany
Grenadier Guards
Gulf War
Gunnery training
Homosexuality
Instructing at Sandhurst
IRA (Irish Republican Army)
Iraq
Kosovo
Marriage
Monmouth
Officer's Mess
Operation Granby
Passing Out Parade
Police and Criminal Evidence Act
Reflecting on the WRAC
Royal Green Jackets
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Sennelager NATO camp
SIB
societal change toward women
Soviet tactics
The Armoured Infantry Training Advisory Team
The Warrior (armoured fighting vehicle)
the White Mice
Training exercises
Treatment of women
Weapons training
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