A BAND from the W.R.A.F., the Women’s Royal Air Force, marches towards Glasgow’s George Square in February 1948, drawing attention to a special event at which the VIP was the Princess Royal.
The princess - Mary, the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary - was the guest at the Services Cavalcade at the hall, and she wore the uniform of Controller-Commandant of the W.R.A.C., the Women’s Royal Army Corps.
At the Royal Corps of Signals stand, she spoke to the Fairmilehead Camp in Edinburgh (she had not long arrived in Glasgow from the capital) by means of a No.53 wireless transmitting set.
Her message was to the effect that she was taking a look around the cavalcade and that she was very interested in the various exhibits.
“Message acknowledged,” came the response from the Edinburgh operator. “Over.”
On the princess’s death in March 1965, aged 67, the Glasgow Herald noted that during both world wars she had worked tirelessly to help provide comfort for the troops. In 1918 she had been appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots. She was the first royal to visit France after the armistice, andshe toured several battlefields.
In later years she made many visits to Scotland - she received the freedom of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Inverness - and her already heavy public workload increased substantially during the Second World War, when she became Colonel-in-Chief of numerous Corps.
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