Mildred Schultz recalls how she grew up on a farm and went to school in Walton-on-Thames. She attended a business college in Kingston and from there worked at a shipping company in Cobham. Even though her job was protected, she volunteered and joined the Inter-Services Research Bureau. She explains how she went to work at S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive) headquarters in Baker Street London, realising she was working for the resistance movement, reading and destroying reports. Asked if she would travel abroad, Mildred said ‘yes’ and undertook FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) training at Chicheley Hall in Bedfordshire. From here she was sent to Italy for further training on a boat and describes how they were pursued by U-boats, bombed and machine gunned. In Italy she became the PA to the man in charge of maps and equipment, and then worked as an assistant to the Admin Captain Amos. She recalls spending a snowy Christmas in Monopoli and then onto Siena to the Headquarters of Number 1 Special Force, taking a perilous jeep journey up a mountain road with boulders near the front-line with guns aimed at them. On a lighter note, Mildred remembers a makeshift Christmas service under a derelict chapel with many nationalities, some of whom had escaped from Prisoner of War camps, and also Germans who had escaped and given up, all singing carols together.

Content warning//

This interview contains discussions of sensitive topics such as PTSD, depression and suicidal thoughts which some viewers may find distressing.

If you are affected by these topics, please consider seeking support from a trusted person or organisation.

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