Craig Smith - Photograph reproduced by kind permission of WW2 Civil Defence Uniforms, Insignia, Helmets & Equipment.
The Ladies in Green
In May 1947, the W.V.S. Bulletin published a remarkable account of the organisation’s work alongside NAAFI and EFI throughout the Central Mediterranean Force. Beginning with the arrival of the first eight WVS workers in Algiers in March 1944, it followed the expansion of their work across North Africa, Italy, Greece and Austria. Its historical value lies particularly in the detail it preserves: the names of individual NAAFI clubs and establishments, the towns and cities in which they operated, and many of the WVS women who worked within them. Taken together, these details allow us to build a picture of the remarkable network of welfare and recreational facilities that developed alongside the advancing and occupying forces, and of the respective roles played by NAAFI and the WVS in making them work. This page uses that contemporary account as its starting point, supplemented where possible by further research, to place those establishments and the people associated with them once again upon the map.
Explore the Map
Select any numbered marker to discover the NAAFI club or welfare establishment at that location, together with known WVS personnel, dates, Registered Numbers and other details where these have been identified. The map will continue to develop as further evidence comes to light, with new information, photographs and related The Sutlers Supreme research added to individual locations where appropriate.
In the Words of the WVS
The 1947 account closes with a simple acknowledgement of the partnership that had made this work possible:
“One last word, and that is of thanks to N.A.A.F.I. for giving W.V.S. the opportunity of serving their fellow countrymen overseas.”
Editorial Note: The names appearing throughout this map have been preserved as they appear in contemporary sources. In some cases the women are remembered not by their formal names, but by the nicknames by which they were known overseas. These small details offer a glimpse into the friendships, humour and shared experiences that developed among WVS workers, NAAFI staff and the servicemen they supported across the Central Mediterranean.
