"During the Second World War, life changed dramatically for the people of Britain, including the Royal Family. On September 13, 1940, shortly after the start of Germany’s bombing campaign on the towns and cities of Britain, five high explosive bombs were dropped on Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Chapel, inner quadrangle, and Palace gates were hit, and several workers were injured. Rather than flee the city under attack, King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, remained at Buckingham Palace in solidarity with those living through the Blitz.

Princess Elizabeth was 13 years old when the war broke out on September 3, 1939. Like many children living in London, Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret were evacuated to avoid the dangers of bombing raids. They were sent to Windsor Castle, approximately 20 miles outside of London.

She championed many aspects of wartime life and resilience as the war progressed. In 1943, she was photographed tending her allotments at Windsor Castle as part of the government’s “Dig for Victory” campaign, in which people were urged to use gardens and every spare piece of land to grow vegetables to help combat food shortages.

Princess Elizabeth undertook her first inspection of a military regiment during a parade at Windsor Castle on the morning of her sixteenth birthday. She had been given the honorary colonel of the Grenadier Guards, symbolizing her military involvement in the war effort. When Princess Elizabeth turned 18 in 1944, she insisted upon joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women’s branch of the British Army.

Britain conscripted women to join the war effort. Unmarried women under 30 had to join the armed forces or work on the land or in industry. King George ensured his daughter was not given a particular rank in the Army. She started as a second subaltern in the ATS and was later promoted to Junior Commander, the equivalent of Captain. In 1945 her training began as a mechanic. Newspapers at the time dubbed her “Princess Auto Mechanic."

Before her passing, Queen Elizabeth served as colonel-in-chief of 16 British Army regiments and corps and many Commonwealth units. As a member of the ATS, she was the first female of the Royal family to be an active duty member of the British Armed Forces." ¹

Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)


¹ Source: The Greatest Generation Foundation