Celebrating Female Veterans

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The British Legion-Bahamas Branch celebrating Bahamian women served in World War I and II, on Remembrance Day 2022.

Adina Munroe-Charlow, Chairman of the British Legion-Bahamas Branch tells Our News that 24 women serving in WWII in various jobs, including cooks, office clerks, telephone operators, motorbike messengers, vehicle engineers, ambulance and lorry drivers.

“We were there 100 years ago and 77 years ago,” Munroe-Charlow says.

The women were part of the Auxilary Territorial Service, or ATS branch of the Royal British Army during WWII, established in September 1938. In 1949, it was merged into the Women’s Royal Army Corps.

Among the Bahamian women who served are:

• Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Ruth Clarke-Goodridge nee Thompson 
• Woman/N.C. Officer- Private Zoe Maynard nee Cumberbatch  
• Woman/N.C. Officer- Private Dorothy Louise Fullerton nee Cooper 
• Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Dorothy Lorraine Wisdom nee Roberts 
• Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Pearl Eugenie Grant  
• Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Vera Johnson 
•  Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Grace Knowles nee Fountain  
• Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Sybil Ford nee Lightbourne  
• Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Shirley Wright 
• Woman/N.C. Officer-Acting Corporal Doreen Rickards nee Jones* 
• Woman/N.C. Officer-Private Vernell Armbrister 
•  Private Officer-Patricia H. Bedford– B2-Wireless Operator-A.T.S.-N. Ireland  

W.N.C.-Non-Commission Officer (Ref.: The Brave Eleven) 
*Acting Corporal Doreen Jones-Rickards is still alive and lives in Kingston, Jamaica-(October-2022)  

Bahamian women also served in the Women Auxiliary Air Force

• Aircraftwoman 2-Joan Straton
• Aircraftwoman2-Margaret Loughran
• Aircraftwoman2-Peggy Hilton
• Aircraftwoman2-Grace Johnson
• Aircraftwoman2-Mary Brown-Simpson
• Aircraftwoman2-Rosemary Kelly
• Aircraftwoman2-W. Brownrigg
• Aircraftwoman2-Rosalie Knowles
• Aircraftwoman2-Bobby Duncombe
• Aircraftwoman2-Ann Wanklyn 
• Aircraftwoman2-Peggy Moseley-Millar Corporal Joan Winder (Transport Division)  

Note 1-Ref.: Magazine entitled: NASSAU Vol.12 No.1 d/d December, 1945) Note 2-Ref.: Online Search Wikipedia definition of Aircraft Woman 2–A.C.W.2  

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