Private Gertrude Roberts of Kingstanding, ATS recruiter, 1942

Pte Gertrude Roberts, 'of Allerton Road, Kingstanding', photographed in November 1942 as an ATS recruiting corporal in Birmingham.

A War Office official photograph from the series 'ATS Recruiting Corporals'. The typed caption card (IWM H 25755, second image) reads: 'Pte. Gertrude Roberts, of Allerton Road, Kingstanding, Birmingham, is going to work at an A.T.S. Recruiting Enquiry Office in Birmingham. She left a business of her own to join the A.T.S. when things went quiet in the business – as soon as she turned her back they picked up. Now she does A.T.S. recruiting work in the daytime and goes to keep an eye on her business in the evenings. She has given a window and a counter in her shop in Glebefarm Road, South Yardley, to the Ministry of Labour for recruiting for industry. Taken by Lt. Taylor. November, 1942.'

Notes

Person and home area: confirmed by the original caption. The street: no 'Allerton Road' has been found in Kingstanding, but Ellerton Road, B44 0QG, is on the estate (and a John O'Toole of 85 Ellerton Road is in the Birmingham air-raid casualty records). 'Allerton' is probably a mis-hearing of Ellerton. Probable, not confirmed. Where it was taken: an ATS recruiting office in Birmingham, not Kingstanding itself; the building is not identified. Date: the caption card says November 1942. Photographer: the card says 'Lt. Taylor'; IWM names Ernest A. Taylor, War Office official photographer. Earlier hunts listed this as a lead, but it is not yet in the archive. Location confidence: confirmed (sitter's home); photo location in Birmingham, building unidentified.