The priority now, however, was to increase numbers through publicity, and raise their profile. This would also involve working to overcome the then current attitudes of the man – and woman – in the street. Their usual reaction to the sight of FANYs in uniform was ribald laughter and jeers. This had to be overcome. To aid this process, Grace was working on rebuilding the image of a FANY as a woman of daring and adventurous spirit, with cheerfulness, humour, a touch of glamour, plus ability and efficiency.

It was a process which would have its problems, one of which was to make sure the girls knew the boundaries. Grace was already looking on the Corps as her Corps, and frowned on any behaviour seemingly frivolous or bringing discredit on it. After one incident Grace sternly laid down that 'no member shall be allowed to sit on the box of an ambulance in the arms of a young man'!

Over time, she took on the task of organizing personnel. She hunted round for recruits of the right sort, pestered her friends to join. On the other hand, she was keen to weed out those who did not come up to scratch, or take things seriously. "Amongst them'" wrote Grace "a soulful young lady with peroxide hair, very fat and hearty, who insisted on wearing white frilly drawers under her khaki skirt. She also insisted on falling off her horse at every parade and displaying them. She had to go!"

Grace, now a Sergeant-Major, involved herself in other publicity events, bringing the FANY and their uniforms and abilities to the general public's gaze and attention. In one such stunt, with no real experience, but confident in her own ability to cope with any situation, she drove a large 2-horse ambulance round London, via Knightsbridge, past Harrods, - (plenty of ladies of independent means there) – navigating Hyde Park Corner, getting almost hopelessly mixed up in the heavy traffic along Piccadilly, past Green Park, through Piccadilly Circus, and thence safely back to the Holborn HQ.

Another of her escapades, which she later admitted she was 'happy to forget' was to lead a Troop of six inexperienced FANY on horseback from Hyde Park, round Marble Arch, down Oxford Street and down to the Embankment, alongside the Thames. Stressful it may have been, but it was seen by a large number of Londoners, and got some press coverage the next day. Mission successful!

By this time Grace had organized horsemanship training with the Surrey Yeomanry, and the Hussars from Hounslow Barracks; membership was increasing, and the confidence of the ladies in the future of the Corps had recovered completely from the traumas of 1909. With this new confidence came a determination to show themselves off more often.

On the death of Edward VII in May 1910, Grace and Katie Baker went to Buckingham Palace with a red and white Maltese-Cross-shaped wreath on behalf of the FANY Corps. This gesture was later personally acknowledged by Queen Alexandra. It was a start.

As a follow up to that action, Grace approached the Metropolitan Police, offering the services of a fully equipped horse-ambulance and stretcher bearers, to help with the crowds who would be flocking to the funeral. The offer was declined. Undeterred, Grace arranged for members of the Corps to attend the Lying-in-State in uniform, where some were able to give First Aid to several who fainted in the heat and the crush.

A small detachment of FANYs, under the supervision of Nurse Isobel Wicks, a strong-minded, devoted and outstanding FANY, attended the Finchley Hospital Carnival, a magnificent, spectacular and crowded event, getting more coverage all the time.

The Corps also turned out in force for Derby Day at Epsom, helping out with minor ailments, such as 'ladies wilting under the sun'. It was on their way home, however, when they were able to flaunt their usefulness. A man had fallen off the back of a car, and, though not seriously injured, was taken to the Epsom Cottage Hospital, at his request by some of the FANYs. Later on, while the remainder were on their way home with the ambulance, they came across a more serious case of a motor cyclist who had been knocked off his machine by a motor car. The FANYs immediately administered First Aid. "Blood was pouring from his head", and one eye was "badly torn". Once patched up they took him off to the South Wimbledon & Merton Hospital. Again, their actions and uniforms gained attention. After that, attendance at the Derby became a regular event for the FANY. In fact, the following year they had to convey the body of a policeman struck by lightning to a mortuary.

Grace, though very active, had not yet got fully into her stride, and in 1911, with the two Bakers losing ever more control, she herself arranged for Headquarters to move from Holborn, where it had been since Baker set up his Corps, to a flat she had rented in Lexham Gardens, South Kensington, much more accessible to the Corps Members.

There they were able to carry out more training under RAMC Sergeants and Army signallers whom Grace had managed to co-opt, and who actually came to the flat to do the training. On top of this, never one to take 'no' for an answer, she cajoled the 19^th Hussars at Hounslow Barracks to give them cavalry drill, and ride there also. Later on, when the flat became too small for the numbers being attracted, she arranged for the instruction to be done at the Surrey Yeomanry Barracks.

As a result of all this specialist training, the Corps set its sights higher still; at the great Festival of Empire at Crystal Palace, for instance, attended by people from all over the world in fact. That they were allowed to take part at all says a great deal for their negotiating expertise, as well as their connections. It was to be a demonstration of the original, but now obsolete, concept of a FANY's role, galloping onto the field of battle and attending to the wounded. A mock battle had been orchestrated between soldiers who had served in the Boer War, and scores of other veterans disguised as Zulu warriors, armed with the short stabbing 'Zulu' spears and knobkerries, -. long, thin but deadly clubs. Boss and Grace were to be the FANYs involved.

Grace wrote in her memoirs 'Five Years with the Allies' "We had to come in at full gallop, leap from our saddles, and gallop off again (with our wounded) amid the shouts and spears of Zulus, and to the wild applause of thousands of spectators. One admiring and rather drunken gentleman forced his way to us at the end of the performance. He hiccupped at me 'I'm half Scotch myself', to which I tartly replied 'Yes, - and the other half soda!' which had the desired effect of making him vanish."

Wearing their original uniforms of scarlet jackets, dark blue skirts, white belts and First Aid kits, and scarlet caps with shiny black brims, they made a huge impression on the crowds who had flocked to watch. Good, stirring British Empire stuff, naively unaware of the shocking reality that they were to face three short years ahead.