It is with great sadness that the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest serving British monarch in history, has been announced.

Our thoughts go out to the rural family and as a mark of respect and remembrance here on the warfare podcast, we've chosen to focus on Her Majesty's

personal history as a veteran of the Second World War.

I'm your host James Rogers, and this episode, which was recorded before the announcement

of the Queen's death,

sees us welcoming Dr. Tessa Dunlop onto the podcast. Tessa has of course been on the

warfare podcast many times before and as usual her energy inspires a vibrant discussion about how the inspirational, dedicated, and

devoted monarch that was Queen Elizabeth, went from a young girl living through the Blitz

through to her serving as a second subaltern in the ATS by the end of the Second World War.

I hope hearing a little about the Queen's personal history helps us all to remember what a remarkable person she was.

It's always struck me that Princess Elizabeth was just 13 years old

when the war broke out on September 3rd, 1939.

And she was evacuated, like so many other children

with Princess Margaret to Windsor.

But that didn't stop her taking part in the war.

She gave her first address from Windsor to evacuee children.

Does this epitomise the Queen's role in the war?

Was she ever present and ever active even from that

incredibly young age. I think the Queen very much we've got to remember that her

childhood radically changed direction when Darling

Uncle David advocated. You know she was just an also-round princess and

suddenly crash-bang wallet she's air to the most significant

...