Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
The Kohima Educational Trust is delighted to welcome our trustee Dr Robert Lyman MBE and our guest speaker Elizabeth Lockhart-Mure, author of 'Front Line and Fortitude' - the relatively unknown story of the Women’s Auxiliary Service (Burma), a small contingent of brave women who worked with the men of the XIV Army.
“THE WASBIES” - WOMEN’S AUXILIARY SERVICE (BURMA) - The Forgotten Women of the Forgotten Army
The Women’s Auxiliary Service (Burma), colloquially known as ‘The Wasbies’, were a little-known, small contingent of women who ran a canteen service for the men of the 14th Army during the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.
They were formed in January 1942 to undertake cipher duties for the Army in Burma, but upon the fall of Rangoon, they transferred to India, where, with the blessing of the army hierarchy, they soon set up a canteen service, operating both static and mobile facilities for the men of the South East Asia Campaign.
Their canteens could be found at staging points, air strips, sea ports and railheads, as well as deep in remote mountainous jungle and on hot, dusty plains.
When operating with forward divisions, they were often within earshot of gunfire and could feel the pounding of the big guns. They toiled in steaming heat and dust, in monsoon rain and mud, living in mosquito-ridden camps amongst the men themselves, with little regard to their obvious discomfort.
Where the troops went, the Wasbies went too.
At the time, the Wasbies were considered to be a huge morale boost to those battle-weary men of General Sir Bill Slim’s Forgotten Army, but now they appear to be forgotten.
The Kohima Educational Trust is delighted to welcome our trustee Dr Robert Lyman MBE and our guest speaker Elizabeth Lockhart-Mure, author of 'Front Line and Fortitude' - the relatively unknown story of the Women’s Auxiliary Service (Burma), a small contingent of brave women who worked with the men of the XIV Army.
“THE WASBIES” - WOMEN’S AUXILIARY SERVICE (BURMA) - The Forgotten Women of the Forgotten Army
The Women’s Auxiliary Service (Burma), colloquially known as ‘The Wasbies’, were a little-known, small contingent of women who ran a canteen service for the men of the 14th Army during the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.
They were formed in January 1942 to undertake cipher duties for the Army in Burma, but upon the fall of Rangoon, they transferred to India, where, with the blessing of the army hierarchy, they soon set up a canteen service, operating both static and mobile facilities for the men of the South East Asia Campaign.
Their canteens could be found at staging points, air strips, sea ports and railheads, as well as deep in remote mountainous jungle and on hot, dusty plains.
When operating with forward divisions, they were often within earshot of gunfire and could feel the pounding of the big guns. They toiled in steaming heat and dust, in monsoon rain and mud, living in mosquito-ridden camps amongst the men themselves, with little regard to their obvious discomfort.
Where the troops went, the Wasbies went too.
At the time, the Wasbies were considered to be a huge morale boost to those battle-weary men of General Sir Bill Slim’s Forgotten Army, but now they appear to be forgotten.
