WW2 rifle signed by 104-year-old veteran cook

A 104-year-old who served as a cook during World War Two has added her signature to a historic rifle next to the names of 140 other UK veterans.

Joan Ramsay, from Woodstock, visited the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum as part of a national project honouring the legacy of those who served during the war.

The commemorative Lee Enfield Rifle is 100 years old and was used in combat.

Mrs Ramsay, who served in military catering and was stationed in France shortly after D-Day, said she signed up because she was looking for "excitement".

"I wanted to get away from the humdrum of life where I was and just wanted company," she said, adding that she was 22 when she joined up.

She said volunteered to go overseas where she worked in canteen, serving mostly corned beef and bread to the troops.

"When we were getting ready to go overseas, we were in our headquarters, which was in Dulwich," she said.

"This particular night that were moved down to the cellar, a bomb was dropped on the house next door and the roof where we were sleeping the night before was open to the sky."

She described the time as "an adventure", having travelled "from France, to Belgium and Holland and finally Germany".

Mrs Ramsay said she also met her husband Ian in Paris, at a Glenn Miller Band dance.

"I remember he asked me if he could take me home and I said yes, if you take my friend as well," she said.

The couple married after the war and had two children and two grandchildren.

Her son John, 66, said it was "very important" for the next generation to hear veterans' stories.

"With few veterans about, they need to hear the stories first hand because very shortly, there won't be any of them left and it'll be in history books," he said.

Jay Hawkins, founder of the Lee Enfield Project charity, said only 10 of the people who had signed the rifle so far were women.

"But it covers Normandy, RAF, Navy, Burma, Italy - it just it covers all the campaigns so it's nice that we can try and find more women because they were the backbone of the war," he said

He added that the female veterans who signed the rifle ranged from cooks to code-breakers.

Mrs Ramsay was invited to take part in the signing after attending one of the museum's veterans' coffee mornings.

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