Summit House, Berlin. Presentation illustration produced to commemorate the completion of NAAFI's flagship post-war welfare centre in August 1946. (Author's collection; digitally enhanced.)
More than Just a Canteen
How NAAFI and the Women's Voluntary Service Helped Sustain Morale During and After the Second World War
Part Two
The war had ended. The need for a welcome had not.
The Second World War may have ended in 1945, but for NAAFI and the Women's Voluntary Service, the partnership they had forged during the closing years of the conflict was about to enter a new chapter.
Victory in Europe brought an end to the fighting, but not to Britain's military commitments overseas. Occupation forces remained in Germany and Austria, garrisons continued across the Middle East and East Africa, and new commitments soon emerged in places such as Malaya and Korea. Wherever British servicemen and women served, NAAFI continued to provide the canteens, clubs, restaurants and shops that became the social heart of military life. Alongside them, members of the Women's Voluntary Service helped transform these buildings into welcoming places where service personnel and their families could find companionship, practical assistance and a reminder of home.
This second part of the story follows that partnership into post-war Germany, where the British Zone of Occupation became the Women's Voluntary Service's principal overseas operation under NAAFI sponsorship. From the devastated cities of Hamburg and Berlin to the demanding conditions of the Berlin Airlift, it explores how the two organisations adapted from wartime emergency to the long-term task of supporting Britain's occupation forces and the communities that grew around them.
The British Zone of Occupation
The surrender of Germany in May 1945 ended the fighting in Europe and marked the beginning of an immense new responsibility for Britain. Under the Allied occupation agreements, Germany was divided into four zones administered by Britain, the United States, France and the Soviet Union. Britain's zone stretched across the north-west of the country, embracing major ports, agricultural districts, industrial regions and many of Germany's largest cities. Much of this landscape had been left heavily damaged by six years of war.
By the end of 1945 there were around 800,000 Commonwealth troops in Germany. Supporting such a force meant providing not only food, accommodation and transport, but also places where servicemen could relax and escape the hardships of occupation life. NAAFI would have an important part to play in providing that sense of normality.
The British Zone of Occupation, Germany. Britain administered the north-western sector of occupied Germany, where NAAFI and the Women's Voluntary Service supported hundreds of thousands of British servicemen, women and, increasingly, their families. Map reproduced from a British Army of the Rhine information booklet (1948).
During the war, NAAFI and the Women's Voluntary Service had followed Britain's armed forces across North Africa, Italy and North West Europe, providing refreshment, welfare and a welcome wherever they were needed. The end of the war changed the nature of that work. As temporary wartime arrangements gave way to longer-term occupation and garrison duties, more permanent welfare facilities were needed. Canteens, clubs, restaurants and shops became an important part of everyday life in Britain's overseas military communities.
Nowhere would that transformation be more significant than in the British Zone of Occupation. Alongside NAAFI managers and staff, members of the Women's Voluntary Service helped create welcoming centres that offered far more than meals and refreshments. Information bureaux, libraries, concerts, dances and countless small acts of kindness became part of everyday military life, helping to sustain the morale of Britain's occupation forces and their families. Germany would become the Women's Voluntary Service's principal overseas commitment under NAAFI sponsorship and the setting for their first great peacetime mission together.
Hamburg: The First Peacetime Welcome
Hamburg was an early example of how their wartime experience could be adapted to the needs of occupation.
The NAAFI Victory Club, Hamburg. This contemporary presentation montage shows the club's exterior together with its dining room, lounge, recreational hall and other interior facilities. From the author's collection; digitally enhanced.
Two Women in a Devastated City
On 21 June 1945, the Harrow Observer reported that Mrs E. Lapham, formerly a W.V.S. organiser in Central Harrow, was one of only two W.V.S. personnel then serving in Germany. She was engaged in welfare canteen work at the Victory Club in Hamburg, alongside Miss Betty Locker Lampson of Sussex. A second local newspaper report, published the following day, likewise described Miss Locker Lampson as one of the first two members of the W.V.S. to serve in Germany.
Their presence in Hamburg was not entirely improvised. Mrs Lapham had joined the W.V.S. near the beginning of the war and had worked at Harrow and Hendon before volunteering for overseas duty. She had already served in Belgium as part of the third W.V.S. party sent from Britain before moving on to Germany. Her husband was also serving with the Forces. Together, Mrs Lapham and Miss Locker Lampson represented the small beginning of what would become a substantial W.V.S. commitment to the British occupation.
Among the first WVS workers in occupied Germany. Contemporary newspaper reports identify Mrs E. Lapham and Miss Betty Locker Lampson as the two WVS members working at Hamburg's NAAFI Victory Club in June 1945.
More Than Refreshments
The W.V.S. contribution to NAAFI clubs extended beyond the canteen. Reading and writing rooms, information bureaux and organised recreation all became part of the welfare service available to servicemen.
A former member of the British Army of the Rhine later recalled the comforts provided by the W.V.S. reading and writing room in Hamburg and the welcome he received during the long winter evenings. He particularly remembered the women's “kindness and civility”, describing their work as a source of genuine pleasure during his service. His recollection helps explain why these establishments mattered. They were not merely places in which food and drink could be purchased; they provided companionship, assistance and a connection with life at home.
The W.V.S. itself described its work in the NAAFI Information Bureau at Hamburg as typical of the collaboration between the two organisations. By then, hundreds of W.V.S. members were working full-time in clubs at home and overseas. What had begun in Germany with Mrs Lapham and Miss Locker Lampson was developing into an organised welfare service that would eventually extend across Britain's worldwide military commitments.
From Victory Club to Hamburg House
The Victory Club was not the only NAAFI establishment operating in Hamburg during the early occupation period. Photographs from the author's collection also record the Crusader Club occupying another commercial building. Its precise opening date has yet to be established, but its prominent NAAFI signage and substantial premises demonstrate how rapidly NAAFI was establishing a wider network of clubs across the city.
The Crusader Club, Hamburg. Occupying a former commercial building still bearing the name Dreyer, the Crusader Club illustrates the rapid expansion of NAAFI's welfare network during the early months of the British occupation. Although its precise opening date has yet to be established, its scale reflects the increasingly permanent nature of Britain's military presence in Hamburg. (Author's collection.)
The Victory Club itself was subsequently associated with the name Hamburg House. The change reflected more than a new title. It belonged to a broader transition in which clubs established to meet the immediate needs of an occupation force gradually became settled centres of military and community life. Hamburg therefore offers a particularly clear example of the journey from wartime improvisation to organised peacetime service.
Hamburg House. The name provides a marked contrast with the Victory and Crusader Clubs of the immediate post-war period and reflects the more settled character of NAAFI's presence in Hamburg. (Author's collection.)
The NAAFI Network Expands
Hamburg was only the beginning. As the British Army of the Rhine became established, NAAFI rapidly expanded its network of clubs across the British Zone. New establishments appeared in garrison towns from Hamburg and Hanover to Münster, Düsseldorf, Schleswig and Berlin, serving officers, warrant officers, sergeants and other ranks alike.
Although W.V.S. personnel were principally attached to other ranks' clubs, the expanding NAAFI network illustrates the scale of the welfare organisation developing across occupied Germany. What had begun in Hamburg with Mrs E. Lapham and Miss Betty Locker Lampson was rapidly becoming an established service supporting British servicemen and their families throughout the British Zone.
The growing NAAFI network in the British Army of the Rhine. This contemporary table records NAAFI clubs serving officers, warrant officers, sergeants and other ranks throughout the British Zone. Although W.V.S. personnel were principally attached to other ranks' clubs, it illustrates the geographical scale of the welfare organisation supporting Britain's post-war military community.
Maintaining such a network required a steady stream of women willing to leave Britain for lengthy periods of overseas service. Their work demanded adaptability, patience and the ability to create welcoming club environments in circumstances that varied enormously from one posting to another. Who these women were, how they were recruited and what life overseas involved forms the next part of the story.
Becoming a W.V.S. Overseas Worker
As NAAFI's network of clubs expanded, so too did the need for W.V.S. personnel willing to serve overseas. What had begun with a handful of volunteers in Hamburg developed into an organised service, with women recruited and trained for postings alongside British forces in Germany and beyond.
Overseas service required considerable commitment. A contemporary recruitment notice sought applicants between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five who were prepared to undertake an eighteen-month engagement. Candidates attended a selection board, passed a medical examination and completed a month's probationary training with the W.V.S. in London before departure. Uniform, accommodation and meals were provided, together with a modest allowance for personal expenses.
W.V.S. Work with the Forces. A contemporary recruitment notice outlining the selection, training and conditions of service for women volunteering for overseas welfare work. The Scotsman, 7 March 1955.
Germany remained a principal destination, but it was by no means the only one. During the post-war years, W.V.S. members also served alongside British forces in Singapore, Japan, Korea and the Middle East. The partnership first forged with NAAFI during the war was becoming part of a worldwide welfare network.
A Welcome Escape
One of the clearest descriptions of the W.V.S.'s work appeared in the September 1956 edition of The Bulletin. Entitled In Germany with W.V.S., it described a service that had developed considerably since Mrs E. Lapham and Miss Betty Locker Lampson first arrived in Hamburg eleven years earlier. Although conditions were now far more settled, the purpose of the clubs remained unchanged.
Their object was to provide servicemen with somewhere pleasant and welcoming to spend their leisure hours. Whether situated in the centre of a garrison town or attached to a unit in barracks, each club offered a welcome escape from military routine and the restrictions of communal service life.
“The sole purpose of being in Germany ... is that Servicemen can have pleasant and well organised relaxation when they are off duty.”
From “In Germany with W.V.S.”, The Bulletin, September 1956.
That simple statement places morale at the centre of the work. The clubs were far more than places in which refreshments could be purchased. They were deliberately created as environments where servicemen could relax, meet friends and enjoy a few hours away from the demands of military life. Their value lay not only in the facilities they provided, but also in the atmosphere they created.
The circumstances varied considerably. A posting might place a W.V.S. worker in a busy garrison town with an active social life, or in a unit club situated well outside the nearest town. In either case, her purpose remained the same: to help make off-duty hours pleasant, sociable and restorative. Recreation therefore became an important part of sustaining morale rather than simply a way of passing the time.
The W.V.S. Desk
Every NAAFI club possessed its own character, but one feature was almost always present: the W.V.S. desk. More than simply a reception point, it became the centre of much of the club's daily life. Here servicemen could borrow or exchange library books, obtain writing materials or greetings cards, enrol for organised games and excursions, seek local information or simply stop for a friendly conversation.
“There is always plenty to do at the W.V.S. desk ... books to borrow or exchange, greetings cards to choose, games to organise and outings to arrange.”
From “In Germany with W.V.S.”, The Bulletin, September 1956.
Although these services appear modest today, they fulfilled an important purpose. For many young servicemen undertaking National Service or lengthy overseas postings, the W.V.S. desk offered practical help that made everyday life easier. Whether arranging an excursion, recommending a book or answering a simple question, the women behind the desk became familiar and reassuring figures within the club.
The W.V.S. desk also symbolised the wider partnership between NAAFI and the W.V.S. While NAAFI provided the buildings and facilities, the W.V.S. provided much of the personal contact that transformed a well-equipped club into a welcoming community. It was here, in the ordinary conversations of everyday life, that the partnership was often experienced at its most human.
The Personal Touch
The facilities provided by NAAFI were undoubtedly important, but they alone cannot explain why so many former servicemen later remembered the clubs with such affection. The W.V.S. contributed something less tangible yet equally valuable. Through everyday conversation, encouragement and simple acts of kindness, its members created an atmosphere that many veterans remembered long after their military service had ended.
“The club is your club and to the men you are their W.V.S.”
From “In Germany with W.V.S.”, The Bulletin, September 1956.
The significance of this simple observation should not be underestimated. Servicemen did not think of the women simply as representatives of an organisation. They came to know them personally, often addressing them by their Christian names and turning to them for advice, conversation or simply a friendly welcome after a demanding day. Those relationships grew through the countless ordinary encounters of everyday life in the clubs.
The Bulletin observed that the success of a club depended not only upon its facilities but also upon the personality of the W.V.S. member responsible for it. Warmth, patience, sympathy and a genuine interest in people were regarded as qualities every bit as important as organisational ability. Each club therefore developed its own character, shaped as much by the people within it as by the building itself.
It was this personal approach that distinguished the partnership between NAAFI and the W.V.S. One organisation provided the buildings and practical framework; the other fostered the relationships that transformed a military club into a community. The value of the W.V.S. lay as much in this personal contact as in the practical services it provided.
Kindness Remembered
Long after their military service had ended, former servicemen continued to remember the welcome they had received from the W.V.S. ladies in the clubs. One former member of the British Army of the Rhine recalled spending many winter evenings in the W.V.S. reading and writing room at Hamburg. What remained with him was not the furnishings or entertainment, but the women themselves and the atmosphere they created.
"Their kindness and civility made those long winter evenings in Hamburg something I have never forgotten."
Recollection of a former BAOR serviceman, W.V.S. Bulletin, No. 86, December 1946.
His recollection captures something that statistics and official reports cannot. A friendly conversation, a familiar face or a simple act of kindness could make a considerable difference to servicemen living far from home.
For many National Servicemen in the years that followed, an overseas posting would be their first prolonged period away from home. The personal welcome provided by the W.V.S. therefore remained an important part of what these clubs offered.
Wherever They Were Needed
The responsibilities of the W.V.S. did not end at the doors of the NAAFI club. Although much of their work centred on creating welcoming social facilities, their concern for the welfare of servicemen frequently extended well beyond the club itself. Wherever the need arose, W.V.S. members found practical ways to support morale and strengthen the sense of community within Britain's overseas garrisons.
“Visits to the Military Hospitals are regularly undertaken, taking fruit, books and magazines to patients. Excursions are organised, club rooms decorated, records purchased and libraries constantly renewed.”
From “In Germany with W.V.S.”, The Bulletin, September 1956.
These activities illustrate the breadth of the organisation's work. Hospital visits brought companionship to men temporarily separated from their units, while organised excursions offered opportunities to explore Germany beyond the confines of barracks. New books, games and gramophone records helped ensure that the clubs remained lively and welcoming places in which to spend leisure time.
Such duties rarely attracted public attention, yet they formed an essential part of everyday military life overseas. They reflected an understanding that welfare depended not upon a single service or facility, but upon the accumulation of thoughtful acts that relieved loneliness, reduced boredom and sustained morale throughout long overseas postings.
"His W.V.S."
Perhaps the most moving passage in In Germany with W.V.S. concerns neither a club nor an organised activity, but a simple letter. More clearly than any official report, it reveals the personal relationships that developed between W.V.S. members and the servicemen they supported.
“The mother of a boy who had died wrote to ‘his W.V.S.’ asking if she would place flowers on his grave.”
From “In Germany with W.V.S.”, The Bulletin, September 1956.
The wording of the request is striking. The mother did not write to an organisation or welfare department. She wrote to “his W.V.S.”, the woman who had come to know her son during his service overseas. In those three words lies a measure of the trust and affection that could develop between W.V.S. members and the young servicemen in their care.
Moments such as this remind us that the partnership between NAAFI and the W.V.S. was about far more than buildings, refreshments or organised recreation. Those things mattered, but they were the means rather than the end. Its real purpose was to sustain morale by creating places where people felt welcomed, valued and remembered, even when separated from home by hundreds of miles.
Berlin: Welfare at the Heart of a Divided City
If Hamburg marked the beginning of Britain's post-war welfare effort, Berlin became its most visible expression. Entered by Allied forces in July 1945, the shattered German capital quickly assumed an importance far beyond that of any other occupied city. As relations between the former Allies deteriorated, Berlin became the political and military focal point of the occupation, placing unique demands upon the organisations responsible for supporting British servicemen and their families.
Those demands required more than temporary clubs or improvised canteens. During 1946, NAAFI opened Summit House in stages on Berlin's Reichskanzlerplatz, creating one of its most ambitious post-war welfare centres. At its heart stood the new Winston Club, where the Women's Voluntary Service continued the work of providing information, companionship and practical support for Britain's occupation forces.
Opened progressively between April and August 1946 before its formal inauguration later that year, Summit House brought together restaurants, snack bars, reading and writing rooms, a library, concert and dance halls, games rooms and shops beneath one roof. It represented one of the most comprehensive welfare centres established anywhere in post-war Europe.
Summit House, Berlin. Opened progressively between April and August 1946, Summit House became one of NAAFI's largest and most important post-war welfare centres in Germany. The new Winston Club occupied part of the complex and included a W.V.S. Information Bureau serving British servicemen stationed in Berlin. (Author's collection.)
A contemporary newspaper report published shortly after the Winston Club opened provides one of the earliest descriptions of life inside Summit House. Although only three floors were in use when the club opened on 29 April 1946, it already contained a restaurant, snack bar, reading and writing room and a W.V.S. Information Bureau. The report also introduced readers to Mrs Short of Lichfield, affectionately described as the "fairy godmother" to the thousands of British servicemen who passed through the club's doors.
"From Lichfield to Berlin". Published shortly after the opening of the new Winston Club in April 1946, this contemporary newspaper report introduced Mrs Short, a W.V.S. member serving in Berlin. It provides one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the W.V.S. Information Bureau at Summit House and the range of welfare services provided for British servicemen. (Author's collection.)
The Berlin Airlift: Welfare Without Walls
By 1948 the partnership between NAAFI and the Women's Voluntary Service had created some of the finest welfare facilities serving the British Army of the Rhine. Summit House in Berlin stood as perhaps the finest expression of that achievement, providing restaurants, reading rooms, shops, entertainment and a welcoming place to escape the pressures of military life. Yet the strength of the partnership did not depend upon impressive buildings. When the Berlin Airlift began in June 1948, welfare returned almost overnight to canvas tents, muddy airfields and improvised facilities. Once again, NAAFI and the W.V.S. adapted without hesitation.
As hundreds of transport aircraft maintained the air bridge supplying Britain's isolated sector of Berlin, attention naturally focused on the immense logistical achievement. Less visible, but no less important, was the welfare organisation supporting the thousands of aircrew, drivers, ground staff and labourers working around the clock. NAAFI established mobile canteens and refreshment facilities at the principal airlift bases, while the W.V.S. once again found practical ways to provide comfort wherever it was needed.
NAAFI and the Berlin Airlift. A contemporary NAAFI News feature showing the extensive welfare and supply operation maintained for personnel supporting the airlift. The principal photograph records a Dakota unloading NAAFI stores at Gatow Airfield in Berlin.
The contrast with Summit House could hardly have been greater. Instead of polished lounges and concert halls, W.V.S. workers occupied small tents adjoining NAAFI marquees at the airfields. They stocked them with books, magazines, games and jigsaw puzzles, served refreshments, offered friendly conversation and created places where exhausted personnel could rest for a few precious moments between duties. At Wunstorf, the first welfare centre consisted of little more than a canvas shelter standing in deep mud, while similar facilities soon followed at Fassberg and other airlift stations. The surroundings had changed dramatically, but the purpose remained exactly the same.
Airlift for Berlin: A W.V.S. Memory
When the British Army of the Rhine requested W.V.S. assistance on 9 June 1948, volunteers were travelling to the airlift stations the very next day. Their first welfare centre consisted of little more than a small tent erected beside the NAAFI canvas canteen at Wunstorf. Tables, chairs, books, magazines, games and a gramophone quickly transformed the temporary shelter into a place where tired aircrew and ground staff could rest between duties.
The bulletin recalled that a tea chest served as the noticeboard, with the words "W.V.S. Kosy Korner" written across it in lipstick because it was the nearest thing available to a red pencil. Heavy rain initially flooded the site, but duckboards soon made conditions more comfortable and the small welfare centre rapidly became an appreciated part of daily life during the Airlift.
Adapted from Airlift for Berlin, The Bulletin, September 1948.
The Berlin Airlift demonstrated the enduring strength of the NAAFI–W.V.S. partnership. Welfare was never defined by the buildings in which it was delivered. Whether operating from a purpose-built club in the heart of Berlin or from a temporary tent beside a busy runway, the objective remained the same: to provide practical help, companionship and a reassuring sense of normality to men and women serving far from home.
The buildings belonged to NAAFI. The welcome, as ever, came from the people who worked in them.
A Partnership Established
Between the closing months of the Second World War and the Berlin Airlift, the partnership between NAAFI and the Women's Voluntary Service had developed considerably. Whether working in permanent clubs, temporary canteens or canvas tents beside busy airfields, their purpose remained the same: to provide practical assistance, companionship and a sense of normality to servicemen and women overseas.
By the end of the 1940s, the Women's Voluntary Service had become an established part of NAAFI's overseas welfare organisation. Germany was its principal overseas commitment, but the partnership was already extending much further afield, supporting British forces across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East.
The story therefore did not end in Germany. In the years ahead, W.V.S. members would serve a new generation of Regular and National Service personnel in military communities around the world. That worldwide story forms the concluding part of this series.
Sources, References & Image Credits
This article has been compiled from contemporary publications, archival material and official records. Unless otherwise stated, images are reproduced from the author's own collection or from sources acknowledged below.
Image Credits
- Lead image – Summit House, Berlin: Author's collection (Presentation Booklet commemorating the completion of Summit House, August 1946).
- British Zone of Occupation Map: Author's collection (British Army of the Rhine Information Booklet, 1948).
- NAAFI Victory Club, Hamburg: Author's collection.
- NAAFI Crusader Club, Hamburg: Author's collection.
- NAAFI Hamburg House, Hamburg: Author's collection.
- Summit House, Berlin postcard: Author's collection.
- "NAAFI and the Airlift": NAAFI News, Autumn 1948 (Author's collection).
Primary Sources
- Presentation Booklet commemorating the completion of Summit House, Berlin, August 1946 (Author's collection).
- British Army of the Rhine Information Booklet, 1948.
- The RAF Raises the Question (British Army of the Rhine NAAFI Club List).
- NAAFI News, Autumn 1946.
- NAAFI News, Autumn 1948.
- W.V.S. Bulletin, No. 86, December 1946.
- W.V.S. Bulletin, No. 105, September 1948.
- W.V.S. Bulletin, No. 201, September 1956.
- British Newspaper Archive (accessed via Findmypast).
Contemporary Newspapers
- Harrow Observer, 21 June 1945 – "With the W.V.S. in Germany".
- Surrey Mirror, 22 June 1945 – "Copthorne. W.V.S. in Germany".
- Lichfield Mercury, 7 June 1946 – "From Lichfield to Berlin".
- The Scotsman, 7 March 1955 – "W.V.S. Work With The Forces".
Secondary Sources & References
- Harry Miller, Service to the Services (1971).
- George Forty and Anne Forty, They Also Served (1979).
- National Army Museum, The Army and the Occupation of Germany, 1945–48.
