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Duty Calls

UK based women’s living history association. Educating current generations on female military servicewomen of WW2.

Dedicated collectors, researchers and enthusiasts.

18/08/2026

American Red Cross

As you can see from the original images, these girls shared some of the rugged realities of the enlisted personnel with their pup tents and rations. Sometimes even sleeping beneath the Clubmobile trucks on their stops.

Despite the often harsh conditions, the American Red Cross Clubmobile girls offered a brief escape from warfare, providing a listening ear and hot drink in their tummies (amongst so much more).

Since I had the pup tent and rations out at a recent event, I figured it would be a good opportunity to capture some ARC inspired images. I’ve included original images along with said inspired images.

17/08/2026

From the Archives: Doughnut Dollies (left to right) Betty Jones of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Blanche DeClercq of Duluth, Minnesota, and Connie Briggs of Huston, Texas serve hot coffee and doughnuts to 45th Division Soldiers in Italy.

12/08/2026

• Yorkshire Wartime •

Over the weekend I took one of the Duty Calls displays to Doncaster for Yorkshire Wartime. This set up included a recruitment station, field training and a WAC officers quarters setup. The idea behind this display was to show a few different stages of joining and being a member of the Women’s Army Corps.

The recruitment set up included our original field desk, filled with plenty of original recruitment documents, reports and booklets issued during WW2. Some of which arrived on the day of leaving for the event, so naturally they came along for the journey and featured on the display!

For the field training display, I figured it was a good opportunity to dig the pup tent out and do a small layout of some of the items that would be used by the WAC.

Finally, the WAC officers quarters. This consisted of two cot beds, original footwear, sleeping bags and a whole variety of original items that WACs were issued and would have acquired/purchased, or even re-purposed such as the crate, for example.

This was one of my favourite displays to share with the public.

28/07/2026

Three smartly turned-out women bringing the roles and experiences of wartime servicewomen into the heart of the event.

📸 Photo: Jordan Folkard

22/07/2026

The U.S. Army Women’s Museum’s digital collection contains powerful stories of the service and sacrifice of our nation’s servicewomen. One such story is that of the Accra WACS - 18 women serving with Squadron D, 1202d Army Air Forces Base Unit during World War II who, to this day, are listed as unaccounted for. These WACS were aboard one of four planes carrying WACS from Accra, British West Africa to Roberts Field, Liberia. Tragically their plane never arrived and despite extensive search efforts (that continue today) the crash site remains unknown. This event was the largest loss of WAC life during World War II. You can learn more about these women in the online exhibit “Missing in Action: The Accra WACS.”

https://awm.historyit.com/public-sites/exhibits/digitalcollections?hsxezn=kezfcv

20/07/2026

New recruits off to the checking station.

13/07/2026

The hobby hat cover.

One of the less commonly found items of headwear within our Women’s Army Corps collection.

The image below is one of the few images I have found of WACs wearing their hobby hat covers.

12/07/2026

Duxford Summer Airshow.

I dug out the tropical worsted summer WAC uniform for my recruitment impression. It’s been some years now since my last recruitment display so I figured it was time to dust off the old brassard and clipboard!

Reunited with one of my favourite girls (and CO of ). Our calendars finally aligned to allow us to spend one of the two days together. The last time we saw one another was on D-Day at Utah Beach, in 2024. Hopefully it won’t be so long til next time and already looking forward to future plans!

Big thanks to Andy for our evening tour of ‘Hap-Penstance’, Douglas C-41A. The only example of its type, ever built. Commissioned by the USAAC in 1938 and delivered in 1939. This aircraft served as personal transport for Major General Henry ‘’Hap’’ Arnold, who served as the commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

Great to see the Flying Bulls again too, as always! They seem to bring the weather wherever they go. The overall amount of polished aluminium at this event was enough to catch anyone’s eye!

I did take the opportunity to wear some Civil Air Patrol kit in the mornings before the heat picked up and my Flight Nurse uniform for an evening at The Chequers; another location full of history and one of my favourite pubs!

Slowly catching up with posting. Still need to do my Armour & Embarkation post so that shall be on it’s way soon enough. Now the prep is on for the next few months worth of events and displays.

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