A photograph showing a parade in St Albans Road prompted Mrs L J Burtt, of Watford, to write in: "This picture could not have been taken later than 1948. The Sea Cadets are followed by the Girls Training Corps (GTC) which was wound up in 1948. I was an Officer Cadet at the time of this photo, there is an officer leading us and two cadets behind her. I am on the left hand side of the photo.

"The GTC was formed in 1942. There was a notice in the paper (probably the Watford Observer) inviting girls between the ages of 14 and 18 to a meeting at the Town Hall. This would have been around May 1942.

"The GTC was started by the ladies who used to deliver the lorries etc from the factories to where they were needed. The intention for forming us was so that girls would have some idea what to expect when joining the forces.

"The Watford GTC was only the fifth unit in England and our emblem was a V'. We started in September 1942 at the old Chater School on Saturdays in the afternoons and several set of girls were asked what they would like to train for nurses, clerks, machanics, cooks, also people interested in the Land Army etc.

"We were drilled by the Army sergeants who were billeted in a house at the top of Whippendell Road/Cassio Road which is now a dental surgery. The training for different skills was carried out at various venues around Watford.

"You may ask why did the GTC finish. The reason is simple, the war finished and the interest for girls to join up disappeared, but we were taught discipline and even trained to fire a rifle."