Princess Elizabeth at a map reading class, 1945

Photograph, World War Two, Home Front (1939-1945), 1945.

Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in February 1945 as a subaltern. By the end of the war she had reached the rank of junior commander, having completed her course at No 1 Mechanical Training Centre of the ATS, and passed out as a fully qualified driver. Earlier in the war the Princess had been appointed colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards.

One of 388 photographs of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, 1939-1949.