ATS girl’s happy one hundredth birthday
SECOND World War veteran Leonora Jeffreys, who lives in Smethwick, celebrated her 100th birthday on Monday, October 5.
Nora was of an age to be conscripted into the Land Army but she did not like the farmer she was assigned to so she considered signing on into the armed forces instead.
Nora did not like the WRNS uniform or the colour of the WAAF’S stockings, so she followed her father and signed-up into the army serving in the ATS from 1942 to 1946.
During her service Nora was attached to the Royal Artillery, (her father was in the RA) and was stationed with an anti-aircraft battery at Romney Marsh, in East Sussex, as a plotter, watching for any enemy activity, including the V-1 flying bomb.
When the RA battery was disbanded, Nora was an instructor NCO to the new recruits. She was stationed in Edinburgh for VE Day and enjoyed the celebrations and she was in Leicester for VJ Day, but the celebrations there were not so good.
Teacher
After Nora left the services she worked for HP Sauce in Aston as a laboratory technician. After about two years, Nora left to pursue a 40-year career as a school teacher. She also joined the TA and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant.
Peter Lloyd, secretary of the 1944 Alliance Normandy-market Garden, told the Bugle: “Nora has been an active member of a number of
veterans associations, including the ATS/WRAC, RA, Royal British Legion, National Service Veterans Association, and the Federation of Birmingham Ex-service Associations.
“Nora has accompanied some of these associations on trips at home and abroad, including visits to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Weymouth, London, Dunkirk, Normandy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and many more.
“Due to health and mobility reasons, Nora has not been able to attend meetings or events recently, and for this reason and the Covid19 pandemic, we were not able to celebrate Nora’s 100th birthday as we wished to. However, she still had a piper play Happy Birthday for her on her doorstep while a birthday cake was presented to her.”