Veteran awarded medal 79 years after end of war

A veteran who volunteered during World War Two when she was 17 has finally received a medal, 79 years after the war ended.

Mary Cliff from Crewe took up a role in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), attached to 36 Company Royal Army Pay Corps in August 1943.

The 98-year-old had said she "wasn't interested" in applying for the The War Medal 1939-1945, but was encouraged to do so by Blind Veterans UK.

Mrs Cliff said she was "very proud" to receive the award.

During World War Two, the administrative worker was based in north Devon, and was affected by air raids on the south coast and Wales.

“We were 60 miles away from Plymouth but could see it being burnt to the ground during the raids," she said.

"The sky was completely red. It was a terrible sight."

Mrs Cliff, who became mostly blind in the 1990s when a brain haemorrhage suddenly took away the majority of her sight, was demobbed in December 1946, on her 21st birthday.

She said: “After the war you had to claim your medal but I wasn’t really interested at that time.

"It was only when I went to Blind Veterans UK’s rehabilitation centre and I saw all the other veterans wearing their medals that I thought I should apply.

“The next time I was at the centre I went down to the mess for the evening meal, and the staff had put a huge photo of 18-year-old me on the wall and presented me with the medal.

"I couldn’t believe it. I was a little bit embarrassed but also very proud.

“It felt super to get it."

The War Medal 1939-1945 was awarded to British Commonwealth citizens who served in the Armed Forces or Merchant Navy during World War Two.

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