Aunt J

[Terry_Reeves]

Jessie Millar Wilson, MBE, served in France with the YMCA during WW1. Her workplace for most of that period was at Hut 15, near Le Havre. Fortunately for us, Miss Wilson left her memories in a cardboard box which were eventually retrieved from an attic and expertly edited by a family member.

Jessie, known to the troops as Aunt J, was one of the 40,000 ladies who volunteered for the YMCA during the war. Aunt J has left a charming account of her life with the YMCA and for a short period at a military hospital at Etretat. I can do no better than quote the back cover blurb which says it all: "Aunt J gives a straightforward, often humorous, first-hand account of her wartime experiences, both happy and sad, along with stories of events and people." Absoloutely correct. Edited by Joan E Duncan, "Aunt J - WarTime Memories of a Lady Y.M.C.A Volunteer in France 1915-1918" is privately published but available from this site:

http://www.familyhistorypartnership.com/prod13.htm

A bargain at £7-50.

TR

ps - keep an eye out for soldier who pursued an acting career after war and became a well-known TV personality. .

[marina]

I'll second that. She is a warm brisk woman with pure cold in her heart and a real determination to keep the memory of the people she met alive in her character sketches. She succeeds wonderfully.

[Sue Light]

It's very easy to look at aspects of the war in isolation; to always think of men in trenches without considering how they got there and who they encountered on the way. This is the second account of the work of the YMCA I've read recently, and it uncovers an entirely different side to the war than the one usually seen. Battalions of men arriving and passing through the ports and base towns, and how they related to meeting women, perhaps for the first time in many months; the endless rounds of sandwiches and thousands of cups of cocoa which were provided for them, and a warmth and friendship from strangers that meant so much to them in difficiult times.

Sue