Throughout the events taking place this week to mark eighty years since Victory in Europe, we will be sharing thoughts from FANYs taking part and sharing their reflections on why they joined the Corps, and why it was important to them to take part in this week’s events.
Today we are sharing Alex Milne’s thoughts, who is taking part in today’s VE 80 Day National Parade from Whitehall to Buckingham Palace. Alex joined the Corps in 2001, has been the Operations Officer since 2009.
Today we are joining 1,300 military personnel, civilian uniformed services and cadets in a Military Procession from Whitehall to Buckingham Palace. The event starts at midday from Parliament Square with a reading extracts from Churchill’s VE Day speech before the Procession heads up Whitehall, past the Cenotaph towards Admiralty Arch and then on to the Palace. FANYs have been included in today’s Procession to highlight both our World War II heritage and our very current role assisting the military for both routine and emergency deployments.
This event is particularly special to me as my grandmother was a FANY during World War II, serving in East Africa – so, for me, today is very much about remembering her as well and all those who served in the War. However, the legacy of our brave forebears continues to inspire the FANYs of today as we continue to dedicate ourselves to public service and hidden action.
Despite my grandmother’s FANY wartime service, I didn’t realise the FANY was still very much alive today. It was a colleague at the time I joined (24 years ago) who alerted me to the modern role of the Corps, and I immediately applied and was accepted. I quickly realised I had found my tribe. A group of ordinary women who were, in fact, extraordinary in their commitment, resilience and ‘can-do’ attitude.
I have had the privilege to be involved in so many incredible opportunities since joining the Corps: being part of an inspection and procession from Buckingham Palace to the Royal Hospital to mark our Centenary; standing at the very place where the first two FANYs parachuted into occupied France in September 1942; passing the French parachuting school’s wings course and earning my ‘brevet’; trekking the mini Tour de Mont Blanc and cross country skiing in Norway. But with these privileges comes responsibility: I’ve received calls from distressed members of the public, reporting people missing during an incident; I’ve befriended isolated patients at the Nightingale Hospital; I’ve comforted homeless people in overnight warm spaces in freezing winter conditions; I’ve reassured evacuees at an emergency rest centre.
Odette Samson, one of our George Cross recipients from World War II, said “They could never let anybody down – AND THEY NEVER DID.” This sentiment very much resonates with the volunteers of today who continue to serve the nation in times of crisis.
