She woke refreshed, but still not happy. Bitterly disappointed that the French had been unable to change the minds of their British counterparts; and furious with the British for the stand they had taken, she reluctantly adjusted to the situation. So often there were these minor spats between the Allies as she knew only too well. She had to return to Calais.

At least Unit 6 was still up and running albeit on a reduced scale at Villers Cotteret. Grace determined that she would return as soon as possible to put pressure on the French locally and get things sorted out. This she was good at, and knew it.

In Calais she wasted no time in clearing the paperwork that had built up in her absence. Topping up with money, she noted in her Diary on an optimistic note: "Got petrol etc, ready to start."

It wasn't to be. As so often in the past, the war intervened, this time uncomfortably close! The Germans launched a major air offensive on the Channel Ports.

Next day her Diary records: "Awful bomb raid started - fell all around our Mess, before we could move." The bombs rained down hour after hour, falling on The Citadel, the French Barracks, the Railway Station.

Telephone lines were down all over, and a messenger on a bicycle struggled through the rubbled streets to ask the FANY to turn out. They responded immediately, already expecting the summons to duty. It was all hands to the pumps as their battered old vehicles drove into town. In the smoke and destruction, all thoughts of Unit 6 faded.

At the Place de L'Arme – "Lots of dead & wounded" Grace wrote. She recognized that the immediate need lay here, - now – in Calais. She revelled in the excitement of it all. What she didn't know then was that the air assault would continue day after day, night after night. Brief, but graphic details appear in her Diary at the time.

"Rue d'Havre, 2 cellars smashed - 19 people inside, one woman saw husband & both ch. killed one a baby."

Again, "Woman dug out at 3.30 a.m. gave her our Sal Volatile!"

Even when the raids temporarily died away, there was much work to be done. Casualties to be transferred between hospitals; medical staff & supplies to be moved around; the dead transported to morgues. All this through streets often blocked with bomb debris.

After one all night session with their ambulances, Grace and her teams got back to their Mess, bone weary and looking for sleep. "5 a.m. got home" she records, then "early evac. (all cars but 2) at 5.45!" Which meant rushing out to transfer wounded from an incoming hospital train to various hospitals in Calais. Once again they answered the call, "finally getting to bed around 8 o/c, slept till 12." And so it went on. Grace set out to try to obtain sandbags to help protect their quarters against the bombs. She had no success. "Tried place after place, all red tape. Another alarm at night.

It was a testing time for all of them. The following night: "Raids began at 8.30 went on till 1 a.m. Lay down drest (sic) and slept till 7." Then more air raids at 12.30. "Fire alarms, shrapnel everywhere."

There was more to come, even as October arrived and the raids were easing off. Sadly she recalls for that night: "Raiders. One woman – 2 children killed by shell at 1.30 in Rue Gambetta. Night alarm."

Then began the grim task of burying the dead. It was war, and the FANY had to turn their hands to anything. Hearses were in such short supply that Grace was approached by the authorities, asking if they would help out by lending their ambulances. She readily agreed, and 3 Panhard ambulances were allocated, each carrying three coffins. Once again the FANY drivers won admiration for their skill in handling their makeshift hearses at a walking speed, keeping pace with the mourners, no mean feat with the cars of that time.

More than 40 people were buried that day. Everyone hoped that the bad weather had brought an end to the raids, but that evening the skies cleared and the bombers returned. "Awful noise at night. Heavy firing. Bombs on gunners."

It really was the last throw for the time being. Winter weather closed in, and Grace recorded on October 3^rd: "Rain & wind. Everybody hopes to sleep tonight."

They did, thankfully.

Next morning, a FANY driver, Faulder, attached to UNIT 6 at Villers Cotteret, arrived with an urgent message from Bowles. The unit had had a nightmarish journey from Amiens to Villers Cotteret, relieved only by the unstinting assistance given them by the locally based Scottish Womens' Advance Hospital Unit (SWAHU) who looked after them for the few days before they were found a billet by the French.

This turned out to be a disused Pork Butchers shop, filthy, cramped, smelly, and utterly unsuitable. Not only was there a total lack of furniture, but by all accounts there was also a ghost which groaned frequently, and played the cello as well! The local French authority, it seemed, were not prepared to do anything about it. A billet was a billet. Voila!

The girls were also upset that the amount of work they were being given was nothing like what they were used to.

Once again, on getting the news from Faulder, Grace was furious with the French. Where her girls were concerned she was fiercely protective. During her campaign in Paris against the French giving way to British demands so easily, she understood she might lose the battle, and so got an undertaking from the French that if they had to move, her girls would be properly looked after, fed and housed. This was like a red rag to a bull. The following day she swept into action. She headed for Villers Cotteret

Just before leaving, she received a phone call from the British Consul-General in Calais, to tell her he was recommending her for the OBE (Order of the British Empire). Thanking him, she pointed out she was on the verge of leaving to sort out an urgent problem, and would get back to him sometime. Whether she did is not recorded, but the recommendation was apparently not implemented.

Things didn't go smoothly. Grace herself had a hellish journey, having decided to go via Amiens to have yet another discussion – for want of a better word – with the French Medical Authorities based there. This, she felt, went well. She left them in no doubt that her girls must be properly housed, and given more work to do. She was told they were being transferred to Chateau Thierry, a bigger and busier centre, where there was a large clearing hospital.

In a happier frame of mind she set off for Villers Cotteret and Unit 6 only to have her car break down at Compiegne. There 3 French mechanics worked on it continuously, but even so it wasn't ready until midnight. It was an example of Grace's single-mindedness that she set out immediately. Unfortunately she took the wrong road and got stuck in deep mud. Walking to the nearest town, Pierrefond, and arriving around 2.30 a.m., weary and very fed up, she telephoned one of her many contacts, a Capt Duherne – one can only imagine his feelings at being woken at that time of the morning – and was directed to a large Military Transport Centre in the town.

Duhern, Transport Admin. Officer at French Area HQ, must have phoned the depot. Grace was immediately looked after, a truck drove her out to her vehicle, towed it out of the mud, and all the way to Villers Cotteret, by early morning, worn out. To her initial dismay she found that Unit 6 had already left for Chateau Thierry. She was able to snatch a few hours sleep, before meeting up with Duhern. They had a long discussion in the afternoon, in which Grace rammed home the message that a lot of things had to change, fast, not least the accommodation. Duhern assured her it was all in hand. Unit 6 was already settled in Chateau Thierry, and a good billet had been found for them there.

With her mind set at rest, Grace called on the Scottish Womens' Hospital section to have tea with them and thank them for their recent help to her girls. Looking forward to a good night's sleep, before heading for Chateau Thierry, she was to be horribly disappointed. Her Diary records: "awful night, no blankets slept in clothes & leather coat froze awake at 4 a.m. awful billet." She doesn't reveal where she was billeted!

Later in the morning Capt. Duhern drove her to Chateau Thierry where she inspected the quarters allocated to Unit 6, and was disgusted. According to her Diary, they were: "Awful! Bare rooms big enough for 3, with straw! Went with him (Duhern) to Place (local French HQ) got furnished house – Fixed lunch at Hotel for all the others & got installed in house in afternoon." When she was in fighting mood, and where her girls were concerned, Grace took no prisoners. She was desperately sorry they had had to put up with the butchers shop at Villers Cotteret, while she was held up by the air raids on Calais. It wouldn't happen again if she could help it.

Now she was happy, getting this large furnished house and garden for them. Not only that, but the French came across with additional perks. Each girl would not only get rations, but an allowance for washing and Messing.

It was not all good news. The vehicles supplied by the French were decrepit, badly maintained and liable to fall apart at any time. Some would not even start. However, it wasn't the first time the FANY had been lumbered with this sort of car, and most were by now expert in coaxing the brutes to perform miracles.

With accommodation, allowances and vehicles agreed and provided by the French, Unit 6 started work promptly at 9 a.m. on October 8th in their new base, and were soon almost back to the frenetic regime they went through in those brief weeks at Amiens. Grace was there and watched with pride to see them get started again.

Basing herself temporarily at Chateau Thierry, she shuttled up and down the Marne Valley dealing with local French Medical Authorities. Whenever she felt she was getting bogged down by the locals, she would race up to Paris to the Rue Pinet HQ, or the Anglo French Red Cross, to get things sorted out.

Even with all the pressure she was under, she was never one to miss a bit of fun. While introducing Bowles to the Unit Books, she was told of a Fancy Dress Dinner to be held at Binson. She went along disguised as a French officer, and according to her Diary: "Nobody knew me!" This was so typical of Grace who loved parties and dressing up.

Once Grace was satisfied that Unit 6 had settled in well at Chateau Thierry, and all was running smoothly, she began searching for further outlets in that French zone. Travelling down to Chalons sur Marne to meet with a Staff Captain responsible for transport in that area, she was delighted to be told by him that the FANY cars he inspected at Binson "were the best kept of his Group." Never one to miss an opportunity she immediately came straight back with "that was said everywhere of the FANYs!"

A couple of days later a Staff Captain, le Lorrain, from the French HQ at Chalons, came down to Chateau Thierry to ask Grace why she had engaged 20 more drivers. She immediately told him of her plans for expansion, the need for far greater coverage along the Marne Valley, around 200 km. Such was her enthusiasm and powers of persuasion that they agreed there and then to the idea of a new unit to be based at Epernay, with sections at Chalons sur Marne, and Bar le Duc further along the valley.

That same afternoon she drove down to Chalons, meeting again with Capt le Lorrain and one of his colleagues, Capt. Mythereon. "Measured huts," she noted "Huts for Eps (Epernay) fixed also – 10 cubicles & Messroom, new Mors cars. Waiting drivers now."

Although some weeks would pass before the new Unit 7 moved in to Epernay, Grace and the 2 Staff Captains had laid the foundations for the project, all was ready for them. Her efforts had paid off. She had yet another convoy for the French.

It was November by the time Unit 7 was operational, having been welcomed with open arms by the staff of the major Clearing Hospital at Epernay, and plied with flowers, cakes and champagne.

Between them, Units 6 & 7 had a very large stretch of territory to cover, heavily militarised, and for that reason subject to constant air raids. Their task was made still more difficult by one of the worst winters on record, bitter cold, continual snow and ice, the most appalling driving conditions.

Living conditions were no better. The cubicles were not insulated, heaters didn't work properly, fuel was scarce.

Grace visited these widely-spaced units of hers as best she could, despite the weather, doing what she could to get the French to respond to the situation. They did try, but were in much the same predicament themselves, at the mercy of the elements.

Back in Calais for a flying visit in November she was once again involved in the air raids. "Bombardment!" she writes, "17 wounded 6 killed we got them all – Moses & I were there first of anyone & had to tie them up and sort them out." Some gruesome details. "I had to help the Military Policemen lift a woman's body onto the stretcher & carry the stretcher because her head was off and all the men round Eng. & Fr. were afraid to touch her, poor soul. Awful night 1 Eng.Tommy killed & 1 wounded."

The long winter dragged on, Grace shuttling back and forth between her HQ in Calais, the large Hospital at Binson, and along the Marne Valley keeping a special eye on her teams in Chateau Thierry, Chalons, Epernay and Bar le Duc. It was taxing for her, but even more tiring and dangerous for the FANYs out driving constantly in dreadful conditions.

It wasn't just the danger under their wheels they had to contend with, but the frequent and increasing air raids as German aircraft were improving all the time. There was little respite. Calais and Boulogne were prime targets, and had been for a long time. So much so that Grace and her girls were coming almost blasé about them. There was a dugout close to Grace's office in Calais, and during air raids she and Marples would sit on the top step in the open listening for the phone to ring. One or other would then run across and answer it, triggering a call-out.

This was considered dangerous, and the Governor kindly offered to have a phone installed for them inside the dugout. Unfortunately this fell through, as the British Administration decided that the Belgian quota of phones in the area was complete!

The Belgian Area Commandant, General Clooten, an old comrade of Grace's from the early days in Ghent, then begged them to let him put men on duty instead "so that they could stay under cover." This was refused because the FANY decided "we did a better job looking after casualties than men."

Shortly after, the British Base Commander wrote to the Belgian Commandant to say that British women drivers were not allowed out in air raids, and asking him to forbid it. This was forwarded to Grace marked "SEEN AND APPROVED". She gave it short shrift. Scribbling across it "SEEN AND NOT APPROVED", she sent it back. No more was said.

The 3^rd Battle of Ypres was in progress, and casualties were pouring in. Belgian Unit 5 was handling 6000 casualties a month. Similar numbers were flowing through Franklin's British Unit 3; Units 6 & 7 along the Marne were inundated with French wounded.

Pressures were enormous, and a small tragedy was waiting to happen. Shortly before Christmas, Baxter-Ellis ran into two men in a street, killing one. It was the first time anything like this had happened, and everyone felt it. Grace wrote "(Ellis) is in dreadful state of nerves, poor kid. Everyone upset." The Court of Enquiry was held on Christmas Eve, Ellis cleared of blame, but it must have had an effect on the Christmas celebrations.

They did their best. It was the last Christmas of the war, had they but known. All were war weary and saddened one way or another. Grace spent it in Calais. She wrote: "Got 2 big turkeys from Boulogne. Big Mess dinner. Great success. Mess looked very pretty. Played games afterwards." A brief, bald statement covering the sadness they all felt within themselves; recent events; separation from their families. But each of them, from veterans like Grace and Franklin to the rawest recruit to arrive, knew they were there by their own choice, and understood why they were giving up so much.

As yet another year of war drew to a close, there was a sense that the FANY had proved itself, virtually in the heat of battle; and among the girls a tremendous sense of comradeship and belonging, which they would never have experienced back home.

For Grace, and her old friend Cole-Hamilton who had supervised and run L'Hopital Binson so successfully , 1918 was to bring an unpleasant shock with a bitter aftertaste.

But before that, Grace was to experience great personal sadness as an old comrade and staunch ally moved out of her life.