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More than just a canteen

For most people, the story of NAAFI is one of shops, canteens and clubs serving British forces around the world.

Less well known is the remarkable partnership that helped transform those establishments into places where servicemen could relax, socialise and briefly escape the pressures of war.

During the Second World War, more than 1,000 Women's Voluntary Service (WVS) volunteers served alongside NAAFI in clubs, leave centres and mobile canteens stretching from North Africa to Italy, North-West Europe and, later, the Far East. Affectionately remembered by many servicemen as The Women in Green, they brought warmth, hospitality and a welcome sense of normality wherever British troops were stationed.

This new feature tells the story of that partnership through contemporary photographs, newspapers, personal stories and original archival material. Along the way it introduces some of the remarkable people behind the organisation, including Sir Lancelot Royle, Lady Reading, Veronica Eastwood and Daisy Nicholls M.B.E., whose courage under fire in Athens earned national recognition.

Rather than simply serving tea, the WVS helped create the atmosphere that made NAAFI clubs places to remember.

I hope you enjoy reading it.

Read the full article

More than just a canteen: How NAAFI and the Women's Voluntary Service Helped Sustain Morale During and After the Second World War