The title sequence begins with a self-mocking message in the style of a needlework sampler: 1838 THE GENTLE SEX In whatever station in life a woman is placed, a spirit of modesty, humility, obedience & submission will always be required of her...
1938 ONWARDS.
1938 ONWARDS.
The women are in what was known as the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), established as a volunteer force on 9 September 1938. By the end of the war, 200,000 women had served in its ranks. It was succeeded by the Women's Royal Army Corps on 1 February 1949. The future Queen, Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill's youngest daughter Lady Mary Soames served in the ATS. Women between the ages of 17 and 43 could volunteer, and after the National Service Act was passed in December 1941, women 20 to 30 were drafted.
The first lines of the film, after the opening credits, are from a poem by the English poet John Keats (1895-1821).