Mechanised Transport Corps

The Mechanised Transport Corps (MTC), sometimes erroneously called the Motor Transport Corps, was a British women's organisation that initially provided its own transport and uniforms and operated during the Second World War. It was a civilian uniformed organisation that provided drivers for government departments and other agencies. Among other roles, members drove staff cars, including for foreign dignitaries whose drivers were not accustomed to driving on British roads, and ambulances in the Blitz.

Two MTC personnel pictured with an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) warden in London in 1940

History

The Mechanised Transport Training Corps (MTTC) was founded in 1939 by Mrs G. M. Cooke CBE as a women's voluntary civilian organisation. It was recognised by the Ministry of War Transport in 1940 and renamed the MTC, and its members were conscripted and received pay.

Various women who served with the MTC were awarded one MBE, two BEMs, nine Croix de Guerre, ten Colonial Medals, a Certificate for Gallantry, and mentions in dispatches.

Some of the best-known members were the women who volunteered to drive ambulances in France at the beginning of the war as part of Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit and became known as the "Spearettes". Their endeavours were held in high esteem by the French and it is said that "petulant General de Gaulle peremptorily ordered the hospital to be disbanded because the crowds at the Paris Victory Parade dared to cheer: 'Vive Spears!'"

Groups from the MTC drove ambulances and other transport in Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, as well as driving SOE agents to airfields to board the planes that would parachute them into occupied France.

A notable MTC driver was Kay Summersby, General Eisenhower's driver, who subsequently claimed that she had had an affair with him.

Despite the appearance of the character Samantha Stewart in the television series Foyle's War there is no evidence that any MTC member was ever seconded to a police force.

Ranks of the Mechanised Transport Corps

Below is a chart of Mechanised Transport Corps ranks compared to the British Army.^[1]

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Mechanised Transport Corps v t e
									Corps commandant		Senior commandant		Commandant		Commander		Captain		Lieutenant			Ensign
British Army (1938 – 1945)
	Field Marshal		General		Lieutenant-General		Major-General		Brigadier		Colonel		Lieutenant-Colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			Second Lieutenant			Officer Cadet

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Mechanised Transport Corps v t e																													No insignia
											Company Cadet Officer												Section Cadet Officer				Cadet Officer		Driver
British Army (1938 – 1945)																													No insignia
	Warrant Officer Class I						Warrant Officer Class II	Warrant Officer Class III	Staff/Colour Sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal				Lance Corporal		Private (or equivalent)

See also

• First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
• Auxiliary Territorial Service
• Military ranks of women's services in WWII