We were privileged to welcome Gillian Cane as our speaker on Monday 23 January, talking on ‘It’s a Girl’s Life in the Army’.

Gillian was one of the first women to attend Sandhurst Military Academy and train as an officer.  During training, she and her cohort were sent out on a training exercise to Ashdown Forest, where – far from meeting Pooh Bear and friends – they instead stayed out in sub-zero conditions for four days, surviving on chocolate and getting frostnip in their extremities.  On their return to Sandhurst it emerged that the boys had been called back in because it was “too cold” whilst the girls had been left out because they needed to “prove themselves”.

Gillian regaled us with stories of her time at Sandhurst and in the army told with humour and grace, traversing her agreement to join up under the influence of gin & tonic, her posting to the Green Jackets as their first female officer, the animosity that she encountered, and the difficulties with finding facilities on Salisbury Plain.  It was wonderful to hear about Gillian’s experiences, and we could happily have stayed and listened to more tales for the rest of the afternoon.