As the film adaptation of the beloved BBC television series Dad’s Army is released today, many critics have applauded the film’s new take on women’s involvement in the war. Far from being the running gag of the little woman heard but never seen, Mrs Mainwaring has stepped up to take centre stage, leading a group of women in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
The role that these women played, whether acting as telephonists in France to or cooks in the home counties, was crucial to the war effort. As a tribute to the women of the ATS we took a look in the newspaper archive to find them in action…
![Aberdeen Journal - Thursday 01 December 1938 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Aberdeen-Journal-Thursday-01-December-1938-1024x389.jpg)
![Gloucester Citizen - Tuesday 12 September 1939 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Gloucester-Citizen-Tuesday-12-September-1939-1024x552.jpg)
![Newcastle Chronicle - Saturday 10 June 1939 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Newcastle-Chronicle-Saturday-10-June-1939.jpg)
![Daily Record - Tuesday 18 July 1939 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Daily-Record-Tuesday-18-July-1939.jpg)
![Liverpool Daily Post - Saturday 17 February 1940 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Liverpool-Daily-Post-Saturday-17-February-1940.jpg)
![Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Wednesday 19 July 1939 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Sheffield-Daily-Telegraph-Wednesday-19-July-1939.jpg)
![Daily Record - Wednesday 25 January 1939 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Daily-Record-Wednesday-25-January-1939-1024x736.jpg)
![Sheffield Evening Telegraph - Friday 06 October 1939 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Sheffield-Evening-Telegraph-Friday-06-October-1939.jpg)
![Manchester Evening News - Thursday 31 August 1939 © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED](http://fh1-fmp-wp01.dun.fh/wp-content/uploads/9/2016/02/Manchester-Evening-News-Thursday-31-August-1939.jpg)