At only 16 years old, Jean Argles felt a calling to serve in the army. By 18, she found herself in London, interviewing for the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). A critical question was asked in the interview: “Do you do crosswords?” A test of Jean’s aptitude for critical code and cipher work during wartime. With her answer, Jean entered a world of secrecy, decoding messages in operations that took her over the globe. After carrying out her training on Baker Street, she learned of opportunities overseas. Jean’s work took her from London to Egypt, working on the banks of the Nile. She carried out work to code messages for undercover agents in Greece and the Balkans, and also recalls fond memories of exploration in Egypt: nightclubs, horse-riding and visiting the Pyramids. Following this, she volunteered for a new assignment in Italy. Stationed in a small fishing village, Jean supported resistance members, encoding vital messages. When the German army finally surrendered, Jean remained in Italy until September before returning to the UK. Reflecting on her time with the FANYs, she describes it as the most transformative experience of her life. It offered her freedom, confidence, and a sense of purpose. Jean’s story is a testament to the unique opportunities the war presented to women at a time when their roles were otherwise limited. For Jean, the FANYs weren’t only about service, they were a gateway to adventure and independence.

Coming from a musical and artistic family, John was attracted to military service as an opportunity to become a professional musician. He joined the Staffordshire Regiment, and after arduous basic training, joined the military band. He focused on the cornet and the double bass and describes his development as a musician. He puts his success down to hard work; he wanted to become a professional musician in a military band and he would do whatever it took to achieve this. He was then given the opportunity to train at Kneller Hall, which he describes as ‘the mecca for army music’. He practised hard and won a prize for the most improved musician on double bass as well as best double bass musician for that year. Following graduation, he spent time in Northern Ireland, then Gibraltar. Eventually he became an instructor in the Prince of Wales division and from there back to Kneller Hall as a student Bandmaster. Having graduated, he became the first black bandmaster and went to the Cheshire Regiment and from there to Bosnia and the first Gulf War. He describes his time with the Cheshire Regiment, during which he received a commission before retiring in 2000.

Dennis Bowen retells how as a naive teenager he joined his heroes in the army motivated by the harm World War 2 was having on the UK, the realities of war shattering all of his childish expectations. Initially being too young to fight he served as a demonstrator but due to the lack of action and the overestimation of his own abilities the job felt like a complete waste to him.   Upon reaching 18 he was sent to France as part of the D Day invasion force and was finally among the British soldiers he had always idolised. Whilst Dennis found himself trembling with excitement the older soldiers remained blasé, the realisation of how much experience he truly lacked immediately hitting him. He was shocked to witness them reflexively kill German soldiers before they could even try to surrender but overtime he also found himself treating them more like moving targets than people.   Dennis felt no longer human and like the battle would never end as everything except fighting was leaving his mind; there was no time for hunger, fatigue or pain, only fear, anxiety and excitement. Occasionally the thought of giving up did slip through but the fact none of his fellow soldiers had done so forced him to keep going as to not let them and especially those who had died down. When serious injuries temporarily left him unable to fight Dennis was so angry to be out of the battle he felt none of the physical pain as potentially letting everybody down was so much more distressing to him.