Pte. Martha Liddell
Auxiliary Territorial Service No 1 Signal Coy. Delta Group
from:Motherwell, Scotland
Both of my parents served in WW2. My Mom, Martha Liddell, came from Motherwell, Scotland and I know she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, Signal Corps. She always told me she was a telephone operator and was mostly stationed in the Middle East. She had to learn Morse code. She said she joined the Army and asked what was the best paying job for a woman and that was what she wanted to do. She met one of her best friends in the Army, her name was Betty Anderson and I think she was from England.
Mom told me she was in Bethlehem at Christmas for 2 years in a row and also said she had dinner with King Farouk. She said when she left by ship to travel to the Middle East, there were only 6 women and 600 men. I think I have a picture of them returning from the Middle East. I also have an oil painting of her that is dated in 1943 in Tripoli.
My Mom passed away in 2006 and after that I searched for her army records. They don't tell me much except that she went to the ME, which I can only assume is the short form for Middle East. That date is 30th of June 1945. The next two entries I can't read, then I can see what looks like she returned from the Middle East on 17th of April 1946.
