Still sassy, Doris Gregory takes the reader back over seventy years to the time when she broke with tradition, first by publicly challenging the University of British Columbia’s discrimination against women, and then by joining the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. Her memoir allows us to travel with her across the Atlantic at the height of the U-boat infestation and to take refuge in underground shelters while
bombs fall on London. Unlike most memoirs of the war that focus on battles, Gregory shows the everyday mundane activities of office life, working under some less-than-brilliant supervisors. Gregory transforms what could have been a dull soldier’s life into one of small adventures: cycling along traffic-free roads through southern England, the midlands and Scottish lowlands, hopping on the ferry to Ulster, slipping into neutral, forbidden Eire, and looking into the gun barrel of an angry German sentry. Although at times the war weighs heavily upon her, the author’s optimism, enthusiasm and sense of humour permeate this memoir, full of laughter and surprises.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Date published
- 2014.
- Description conventions
- rda
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 940.54/8171
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 23
- Distributor
- Canadian Electronic Library (Firm),
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9781553803171 9781553803188
- LCCN
- D811
- LCCN Item number
- G743 2014eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xiii, 208 pages)
- Published in
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00234977 (OCoLC)890934582 (CaOOCEL)448568
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Cover 1
- Copyright 5
- Contents 8
- Preface 10
- CHAPTER ONE From Student to Soldier 16
- CHAPTER TWO The Atlantic Crossing 31
- CHAPTER THREE Introduction to London 35
- CHAPTER FOUR Hospitality in Aberdeen and Torquay 45
- CHAPTER FIVE Non-Heroes 54
- CHAPTER SIX Army Blunders and Air Raids 64
- CHAPTER SEVEN Civilians and the International Scene 70
- CHAPTER EIGHT Settling into the Wartime Routine 78
- CHAPTER NINE Highs and Lows 101
- CHAPTER TEN The Build-Up to D-Day 116
- CHAPTER ELEVEN Summer Fun, Military Muddles, Buzz Bombs 126
- CHAPTER TWELVE Flying Hats and Fabulous Coffee 139
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN More Than One Kind of Wound 147
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN Winter Chills 159
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN Irish Spring 167
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN Exiting Éire 181
- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The Golden Summer 190
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Going Home 205
- Notes 212
- For further reading 229
- About the author 231
- Index 234
- Back cover 242
