What do you think?
Rate this book
Train to Nowhere: One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator
Train to Nowhere is a war memoir seen through the sardonic eyes of Anita Leslie, a funny and vivacious young woman who reports on her experiences with a dry humour, finding the absurd alongside the tragic.
Daughter of a Baronet and first cousin once removed of Winston Churchill, she joined the Mechanized Transport Corps as a fully trained mechanic and ambulance driver during WWII, serving in Libya, Syria, Palestine, Italy, France, and Germany. Ahead of her time, Anita bemoans 'first-rate women subordinate to second-rate men,' and, as the English army forbade women from serving at the front, joined the Free French Forces in order to do what she felt was her duty.
Writing letters in Hitler's recently vacated office and marching in the Victory parade contrast with observations of seeing friends murdered and a mother avenging her son by coldly shooting a prisoner of war. Unflinching and unsentimental, Train to Nowhere is a memoir of Anita's war, one that, long after it was written, remains poignant and relevant.
With a new introduction by Penny Perrick.
Daughter of a Baronet and first cousin once removed of Winston Churchill, she joined the Mechanized Transport Corps as a fully trained mechanic and ambulance driver during WWII, serving in Libya, Syria, Palestine, Italy, France, and Germany. Ahead of her time, Anita bemoans 'first-rate women subordinate to second-rate men,' and, as the English army forbade women from serving at the front, joined the Free French Forces in order to do what she felt was her duty.
Writing letters in Hitler's recently vacated office and marching in the Victory parade contrast with observations of seeing friends murdered and a mother avenging her son by coldly shooting a prisoner of war. Unflinching and unsentimental, Train to Nowhere is a memoir of Anita's war, one that, long after it was written, remains poignant and relevant.
With a new introduction by Penny Perrick.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1948
13 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Anita Leslie
31 books5 followersAnita Theodosia Moira (Leslie) Rodzianko King
Daughter of Sir Shane Leslie, Bt. and wife of Commander William Donald Aelian "Bill" King, DSO*, DSC, RN.
Daughter of Sir Shane Leslie, Bt. and wife of Commander William Donald Aelian "Bill" King, DSO*, DSC, RN.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
October 17, 2020
Four or five stars, which will it be? This book spoke to
ME
, so I am giving it five stars!
Train to Nowhere: One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator is split into three parts—the Middle East, Italy, and the last part covering the author’s time spent in France and Germany, signed up with the Free French army as an ambulance driver. Anita Leslie was a trained mechanic and ambulance driver, and had joined the British Army’s Mechanized Transport Corps. The time covered is 1940 – 1945. This is a war memoir; it speaks of what she did during the war.
To grasp fully Leslie's experiences, one must keep in mind her background. She is a first cousin once removed of Winston Churchill. Her grandmother was an aunt to Churchill. They moved in the same social circles, associated with royalty and those of high position. This of course came to influence whom she met and the jobs and positions offered to her. In the Middle East and Italy, with the war in full swing, life was both tinged with excitement and gaiety. This is not to say she failed to take her assignments seriously. The two could be mixed. The situation and the book’s tone shift when she joins the Free French army. The gaiety and partying come to a stop.
After a short sojourn in South Africa, Leslie traveled north to Egypt and then spent three years in the Middle East, working from Beirut at the paper The Eastern Times, later renamed The 9th Army News. It catered to British soldiers. Thereafter, she was off to Italy. In May of 1944, she was posted to Naples and worked with air evacuations. At D-Day landing and the invasion of Normandy, she still remained in Naples but was tugging at the bit! She wanted a post at the front. Perhaps as a war correspondent! Denied a post at the front, by the Brits, she attached herself to an ambulance company with the Free French army. They, contrary to the Brits, welcomed women at the front, and so it was with the Free French army that she drove ambulance rescue missions in France and then later in Germany.
With her we travel to Lyon, Aix- en-Provence, Besançon, Marseilles, Mulhouse and through the towns of Les Vosges. The fight for Alsace and the battle for Colmar are depicted through Leslie’s eyes. With the war nearing its close, her unit continues north into Germany, through the Tyrol. She saw and experienced the horrors of the Nordhausen Extermination Camp. She was involved in the evacuation of prisoners from this camp. She was in Hitler's office at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin and took part in the celebratory Victory Parade there.
Eventually she gets herself home to Britain. The ending is anticlimactic. This isn’t bad; I like this. What it says is that her role, although of value, should not be made too much of; each person, on their own, did what they were motivated to do and could do to help the war effort.
Leslie speaks of her personal experiences; this is a memoir of her war years. She notes the irony in the behavior of some. She observes and forms opinions about the character traits of people with different nationalities. The French she spoke with all agreed that de Gaulle was “not subtle enough to be a statesman, but he is straight” and the French people loved him for this. She noted this, she paid attention to this and she takes the time to tell us. It is this sort of information I am interested in. She observes and came to love and admire the French women she worked alongside. She observes the respect French men give their women.
The American soldiers had an abundance of supplies and did a magnificent job, but they didn’t have their heart in what they did, as the French did. The French fought with elan. There is a good quantity of French expressions left untranslated. I think you get more from the text if you know how these expressions are used by the French.
One gets a feel for how it was to be one of the Resistance—working in secret, no uniforms, no acclaim but with such a will to succeed.
The author is not shy of mixing the gruesome with the sad and the comic. This I like too. It gives a person relief.
For me, the book is more about the people Leslie met and what meeting them taught her than an account of historical war events. It had me alternately thinking, smiling, laughing and shivering with alarm. It serves up a full gamut of emotions along with interesting facts. I don’t want history served up in dry boring lectures. I want to be moved. I want to be shown why I should care. This is achieved here. I do believe that the extent to which a reader will appreciate a book, any book, will depend on their own knowledge and life experiences. The European cities Leslie speaks of I have visited. Perhaps my own memories and experiences make what is delivered here more interesting to me than to others, but this book fit me to a T.
Deryn Edwards does a fantastic job with the audio narration. She has all the accents right. Hearing the difference between the American and English is amusing. The French is well done too. The speed is perfect. I have given the narration five stars.
Train to Nowhere: One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator is split into three parts—the Middle East, Italy, and the last part covering the author’s time spent in France and Germany, signed up with the Free French army as an ambulance driver. Anita Leslie was a trained mechanic and ambulance driver, and had joined the British Army’s Mechanized Transport Corps. The time covered is 1940 – 1945. This is a war memoir; it speaks of what she did during the war.
To grasp fully Leslie's experiences, one must keep in mind her background. She is a first cousin once removed of Winston Churchill. Her grandmother was an aunt to Churchill. They moved in the same social circles, associated with royalty and those of high position. This of course came to influence whom she met and the jobs and positions offered to her. In the Middle East and Italy, with the war in full swing, life was both tinged with excitement and gaiety. This is not to say she failed to take her assignments seriously. The two could be mixed. The situation and the book’s tone shift when she joins the Free French army. The gaiety and partying come to a stop.
After a short sojourn in South Africa, Leslie traveled north to Egypt and then spent three years in the Middle East, working from Beirut at the paper The Eastern Times, later renamed The 9th Army News. It catered to British soldiers. Thereafter, she was off to Italy. In May of 1944, she was posted to Naples and worked with air evacuations. At D-Day landing and the invasion of Normandy, she still remained in Naples but was tugging at the bit! She wanted a post at the front. Perhaps as a war correspondent! Denied a post at the front, by the Brits, she attached herself to an ambulance company with the Free French army. They, contrary to the Brits, welcomed women at the front, and so it was with the Free French army that she drove ambulance rescue missions in France and then later in Germany.
With her we travel to Lyon, Aix- en-Provence, Besançon, Marseilles, Mulhouse and through the towns of Les Vosges. The fight for Alsace and the battle for Colmar are depicted through Leslie’s eyes. With the war nearing its close, her unit continues north into Germany, through the Tyrol. She saw and experienced the horrors of the Nordhausen Extermination Camp. She was involved in the evacuation of prisoners from this camp. She was in Hitler's office at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin and took part in the celebratory Victory Parade there.
Eventually she gets herself home to Britain. The ending is anticlimactic. This isn’t bad; I like this. What it says is that her role, although of value, should not be made too much of; each person, on their own, did what they were motivated to do and could do to help the war effort.
Leslie speaks of her personal experiences; this is a memoir of her war years. She notes the irony in the behavior of some. She observes and forms opinions about the character traits of people with different nationalities. The French she spoke with all agreed that de Gaulle was “not subtle enough to be a statesman, but he is straight” and the French people loved him for this. She noted this, she paid attention to this and she takes the time to tell us. It is this sort of information I am interested in. She observes and came to love and admire the French women she worked alongside. She observes the respect French men give their women.
The American soldiers had an abundance of supplies and did a magnificent job, but they didn’t have their heart in what they did, as the French did. The French fought with elan. There is a good quantity of French expressions left untranslated. I think you get more from the text if you know how these expressions are used by the French.
One gets a feel for how it was to be one of the Resistance—working in secret, no uniforms, no acclaim but with such a will to succeed.
The author is not shy of mixing the gruesome with the sad and the comic. This I like too. It gives a person relief.
For me, the book is more about the people Leslie met and what meeting them taught her than an account of historical war events. It had me alternately thinking, smiling, laughing and shivering with alarm. It serves up a full gamut of emotions along with interesting facts. I don’t want history served up in dry boring lectures. I want to be moved. I want to be shown why I should care. This is achieved here. I do believe that the extent to which a reader will appreciate a book, any book, will depend on their own knowledge and life experiences. The European cities Leslie speaks of I have visited. Perhaps my own memories and experiences make what is delivered here more interesting to me than to others, but this book fit me to a T.
Deryn Edwards does a fantastic job with the audio narration. She has all the accents right. Hearing the difference between the American and English is amusing. The French is well done too. The speed is perfect. I have given the narration five stars.
September 6, 2017
This book was first published in 1948. Anita Theodosia Moira Leslie (Nov 21, 1914-Nov 5, 1985) was born in Ireland and was the daughter of a baronet and a cousin of Winston Churchill via his mother. Jennie Churchill was Anita’s great aunt. Anita followed many of her peers in volunteering for active service in World War II. She served in the mechanized Transport Corp as a mechanic and ambulance driver. (Princess Elizabeth also served as mechanic and ambulance driver but had to stay in England). Anita served in the Middle East and Egypt and then in Italy, Northern France and Germany. She was award the Croix de Guerre, the French Military Award given to foreign military personnel who served in France during WWII. Her family was friends with General Alexander so whenever they were in the same area she always had either lunch or dinner with him. Because of her family status, she moved in the upper circles in the Middle Eastern countries where she was stationed. I found her discussion of Palmyra, Syria interesting as the archeologist gave her a tour. I thought her descriptions of Aleppo, Homs and Damascus were most interesting considering what has happened to these cities today. I found her discussion about meeting with Churchill at Checkers when she was returning to France after visiting her ill mother most fascinating.
The memoir is well written in the style of writing typical of the era and displays the typical “stiff upper lip” of the British. As an ambulance driver, she saw many of the horrors of war. She said the worst was Nordhausen Concentration Camp. She was assigned to evacuate the surviving prisoners. Some of the desensitization from war comes through in the writing. This is a common factor to anyone who has seen and lived through the horrors of war. Leslie spoke several languages and was fluent in French.
Anita Leslie went on after the war to become a prolific author and biographer. She wrote over seventeen books several of them about the Churchills. She wrote “Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill” and “The Marlborough House”.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book was nine and a half hours long. Deryn Edwards does a good job narrating the book. Edwards studied at the Guildhall school of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. She is a singer and audiobook narrator.
The memoir is well written in the style of writing typical of the era and displays the typical “stiff upper lip” of the British. As an ambulance driver, she saw many of the horrors of war. She said the worst was Nordhausen Concentration Camp. She was assigned to evacuate the surviving prisoners. Some of the desensitization from war comes through in the writing. This is a common factor to anyone who has seen and lived through the horrors of war. Leslie spoke several languages and was fluent in French.
Anita Leslie went on after the war to become a prolific author and biographer. She wrote over seventeen books several of them about the Churchills. She wrote “Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill” and “The Marlborough House”.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book was nine and a half hours long. Deryn Edwards does a good job narrating the book. Edwards studied at the Guildhall school of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. She is a singer and audiobook narrator.
July 23, 2017
First published in 1948, this is a memoir of a woman’s role in World War II. Anita Leslie came from a privileged, and well connected, background. Winston Churchill’s mother was her ‘Great Aunt Jennie,’ and the Prime Minister invited her for lunch, both at Chequers and in France, during this book. Having grown up wearing his cast off baby clothes, she thought him a ‘mixture of a cherub and a bulldog,’ and mused on how little Hitler and Mussolini understood, ‘the mettle of England,’ as she enjoyed his company.
The book begins in August 1940, when Anita came across a newspaper advertisement for women drivers to go to Africa. She immediately volunteered; taking part in desultory training, which included putting up tents while bombers roared overhead and attending a lecture on ‘Virtue in Tropical Lands,’ before being blessed by the Bishop of St Alban’s and finally, after some more training (which took place in London, during the blitz) boarding a ship for South Africa. Warned not to get unbecomingly sunburnt, Anita Leslie is a young woman full of life. She takes her work seriously, but – all the way through this book – there is room for music, parties and dancing, throughout the war.
We follow her through Middle East with the Mechanised Transport Corps. She found that women were not welcomed in war zones, but the women’s ambulances were needed and the men happy to receive their aid. She works in Cairo, Damascus and Beirut, before heading for Europe. As she reaches Italy, the war feels much closer. Through France and Germany, Anita Leslie seems involved in so many major events. She is there during the Liberation of Paris, she sits in Hitler’s abandoned office and writes movingly of visiting an extermination camp. At no point is the horror of war forgotten and the author of this memoir certainly saw terrible things, but she writes with both humour and humanity.
This was a great success when it was first published and sadly went out of print. I feel really honoured to have read this memoir. It is touching, deeply moving and yet also uplifting. If you would like to read a memoir of the war from a different perspective – that of a woman who was alongside the troops, rather than on the Home Front (although I do enjoy such memoirs too), then this really does offer a unique point of view and an author with a wonderful ‘voice.’ I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review and recommend it highly.
The book begins in August 1940, when Anita came across a newspaper advertisement for women drivers to go to Africa. She immediately volunteered; taking part in desultory training, which included putting up tents while bombers roared overhead and attending a lecture on ‘Virtue in Tropical Lands,’ before being blessed by the Bishop of St Alban’s and finally, after some more training (which took place in London, during the blitz) boarding a ship for South Africa. Warned not to get unbecomingly sunburnt, Anita Leslie is a young woman full of life. She takes her work seriously, but – all the way through this book – there is room for music, parties and dancing, throughout the war.
We follow her through Middle East with the Mechanised Transport Corps. She found that women were not welcomed in war zones, but the women’s ambulances were needed and the men happy to receive their aid. She works in Cairo, Damascus and Beirut, before heading for Europe. As she reaches Italy, the war feels much closer. Through France and Germany, Anita Leslie seems involved in so many major events. She is there during the Liberation of Paris, she sits in Hitler’s abandoned office and writes movingly of visiting an extermination camp. At no point is the horror of war forgotten and the author of this memoir certainly saw terrible things, but she writes with both humour and humanity.
This was a great success when it was first published and sadly went out of print. I feel really honoured to have read this memoir. It is touching, deeply moving and yet also uplifting. If you would like to read a memoir of the war from a different perspective – that of a woman who was alongside the troops, rather than on the Home Front (although I do enjoy such memoirs too), then this really does offer a unique point of view and an author with a wonderful ‘voice.’ I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review and recommend it highly.
August 11, 2017
(3.5 out of 5 stars) A no nonsense telling of a young British lady's time spent as an ambulance driver during WWII driving for different companies but finally ending up with the French in France and then in Germany as the war ended. A real life relative of Winston Churchill. This was an interesting read with lots of crazy encounters and experiences as one would expect. My thanks to NetGalley, Bloomsbury Caravel, and the author, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my review.
August 29, 2022
I enjoy historical literature, especially of the WWII era. I hoped to enjoy this memoir of an upper class young woman who volunteered as an ambulance driver during WWII. Her interesting experiences, however, are muddled: she prattles on about this or that with no cohesiveness of thought. It read like a “stream of consciousness” which became extremely difficult to decipher and comprehend because of poor transitioning of context and ‘bouncing’ around. Furthermore, the experiences are told as factoids,without personal interactions or reflections of the events described. This informative ‘telling’ is dry and boring.
The author had many experiences, but regretfully, they are a hodgepodge in this memoir. The experiences are detailed and numerous, but it read like a list of events, devoid of emotion. The author is verbose and her wordiness distracting. Additionally, the prose is very English and some phrases are typical of England. Editing would have been helpful to readers unfamiliar with the colloquialisms. The tone of the author was off putting to me. Her tone is flippant and giddy. She describes her involvement in the war effort as a grand adventure to escape boredom.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The author had many experiences, but regretfully, they are a hodgepodge in this memoir. The experiences are detailed and numerous, but it read like a list of events, devoid of emotion. The author is verbose and her wordiness distracting. Additionally, the prose is very English and some phrases are typical of England. Editing would have been helpful to readers unfamiliar with the colloquialisms. The tone of the author was off putting to me. Her tone is flippant and giddy. She describes her involvement in the war effort as a grand adventure to escape boredom.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 24, 2017
GNab I received a free electronic copy of this memoir from Netgalley, Bloomsbury Caravel Publishers, and the heirs of Anita Leslie in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. This personal history was originally published in 1948.
This is a very different account of the major battles of WWII. Anita Leslie takes us with her as she travels through all of the major the battles of World War II on four fronts from autumn of 1940 through the end of 1945. Because the British did not allow their ladies to serve at the front, Anita bounced around between publishing broadsheets for the English speaking allied soldiers and driving ambulances for the French army. Her memories and experiences of various battles and the occupation of Germany show us a much more personal experience than we were able to extract from history books. I am grateful for this view point. It gives me a much better understanding of the costs of war and also of the camaraderie and lifelong friendships that are a result of those shared experiences.
Thank you, Bloomsbury Caravel, for reprinting this gem.
pub date August 24, 2017
Originally written in 1948
Bloomsbury Caravel Publishers
This is a very different account of the major battles of WWII. Anita Leslie takes us with her as she travels through all of the major the battles of World War II on four fronts from autumn of 1940 through the end of 1945. Because the British did not allow their ladies to serve at the front, Anita bounced around between publishing broadsheets for the English speaking allied soldiers and driving ambulances for the French army. Her memories and experiences of various battles and the occupation of Germany show us a much more personal experience than we were able to extract from history books. I am grateful for this view point. It gives me a much better understanding of the costs of war and also of the camaraderie and lifelong friendships that are a result of those shared experiences.
Thank you, Bloomsbury Caravel, for reprinting this gem.
pub date August 24, 2017
Originally written in 1948
Bloomsbury Caravel Publishers
February 19, 2018
This book sounds amazing. Everything about it it right up my alley... written by a woman, her true story about working during the war. Traveling, helping, surviving, interacting with all different people. I wanted to be intrigued and inspired. Expected to be wowed and enthralled...
None of that happened. This leaves me feeling cheated, empty, confused, and conflicted. How could a book that everything about it even down to the cover seems to call to me leave me so flat? There is SO much here! Her details are impeccable, her journeys far flung, but I was utterly bored almost from the get-go. This has to be the hardest review I’ve ever left. I feel like I’m slighting the author, somehow denigrating everything she’s done and shared.... but I just can’t deny how terribly uninterested in this I was. I think it was her writing style, overly verbose to too descriptive about the little things.
If it seems interesting to you give it a chance. Please do. Perhaps what didn’t appeal to me will appeal to you. She truly has a lot to share.
None of that happened. This leaves me feeling cheated, empty, confused, and conflicted. How could a book that everything about it even down to the cover seems to call to me leave me so flat? There is SO much here! Her details are impeccable, her journeys far flung, but I was utterly bored almost from the get-go. This has to be the hardest review I’ve ever left. I feel like I’m slighting the author, somehow denigrating everything she’s done and shared.... but I just can’t deny how terribly uninterested in this I was. I think it was her writing style, overly verbose to too descriptive about the little things.
If it seems interesting to you give it a chance. Please do. Perhaps what didn’t appeal to me will appeal to you. She truly has a lot to share.
August 9, 2017
Having read so many books based on either personal experiences or as a story based on some facts, Anita Leslie's memoirs came as a bit of a shock. It seems slightly sardonic, slightly sarcastic view of life on four war fronts which by itself is remarkable. She served as an ambulance driver and obviously saved hundreds of lives, braving a lot of horror but the story is told like as if its from a distance and there is no personal involvement. A job has to be done, its done well and thats it. In this case however the job was not a clear cut one and for most people war does take it out of you. Anita Leslie seemed to have bounced back very nicely. Good for her but it left me feeling slightly let down!
October 16, 2019
Anita Leslie was the daughter of a baronet and a cousin of Churchill's, who volunteered as an ambulance driver during World War II (in the front!).
Sounds extremely interesting, but, well, I didn't like this book as much as I hoped. It's written almost as a stream of consciousness log and it can get very muddled sometimes, as she goes from one thing to another in the same breath.
I basically skipped over all that stuff in the Middle East. It really gets much more dynamic when she makes it to the European front (Italy and France). There are a lot of interesting little stories in there, about soldiers, civilians, enemies and other women volunteers like herself, but she never really develops them, all that they really are are vignettes. This is a typical example:
The peasants of the Vosges whose relations had been indiscriminately shot kept asking our soldiers to bring them back German prisoners. A soldier told me how he had marched a couple of Germans to a frantic woman who had seen her sick boy dragged out to be shot a few days before. She asked for a revolver and he gave it to her. The Germans were too tired even to lift their hands. Whatever they saw in her face they were beyond caring and she also was expressionless as she shot them. 'The curious thing,' said this solemn little man, 'is the way women shoot. She looked away when she pulled the trigger. Then she gave me back the revolver and went back to her house without saying a word and closed the door.'
Anita presents these little stories basically without comment and moves on. The tragic, mad, senseless becomes just another anecdote in a series of them. But perhaps that is an unfair criticism. Leslie is obviously trying to keep her own spirits up throughout the telling (I don't know if the book was originally a diary or letters to her family), and she really did see and hear of so many atrocities that I can see how it would have been self-preservation not to dwell too much on the details, in order to get through the war.
One chapter that really stuck with me was the one where she went to an extermination camp (Nordhausen) to take some of the liberated prisoners to a proper hospital. She was initially extremely scornful of the stories that were being circulated about the Holocaust ("I had grown bored with the outcry about concentration camps horrors"), but once she actually steps foot in the camp you can see it really gets to her. To her credit, she abandons her usually flippant style and properly records the details of what she witnessed and what she was told there from doctors, soldiers and former prisoners, and even how the experience made her feel. It's one of the only moments of introspection in the book.
As the sun set with unusual beauty and the rich fields glowed in golden light, such a nausea came over me I could hardly drive, and looking at God's lovely earth I felt it would have been better if life had never crept out of the sea, better if the whole earth remained desolate as the moon if this is all mankind can make of it.
On the whole, I would recommend this book if you're interested in the topic of women in war or in WWII in general, but more as a curiosity and not so much as a cracking read.
Sounds extremely interesting, but, well, I didn't like this book as much as I hoped. It's written almost as a stream of consciousness log and it can get very muddled sometimes, as she goes from one thing to another in the same breath.
I basically skipped over all that stuff in the Middle East. It really gets much more dynamic when she makes it to the European front (Italy and France). There are a lot of interesting little stories in there, about soldiers, civilians, enemies and other women volunteers like herself, but she never really develops them, all that they really are are vignettes. This is a typical example:
The peasants of the Vosges whose relations had been indiscriminately shot kept asking our soldiers to bring them back German prisoners. A soldier told me how he had marched a couple of Germans to a frantic woman who had seen her sick boy dragged out to be shot a few days before. She asked for a revolver and he gave it to her. The Germans were too tired even to lift their hands. Whatever they saw in her face they were beyond caring and she also was expressionless as she shot them. 'The curious thing,' said this solemn little man, 'is the way women shoot. She looked away when she pulled the trigger. Then she gave me back the revolver and went back to her house without saying a word and closed the door.'
Anita presents these little stories basically without comment and moves on. The tragic, mad, senseless becomes just another anecdote in a series of them. But perhaps that is an unfair criticism. Leslie is obviously trying to keep her own spirits up throughout the telling (I don't know if the book was originally a diary or letters to her family), and she really did see and hear of so many atrocities that I can see how it would have been self-preservation not to dwell too much on the details, in order to get through the war.
One chapter that really stuck with me was the one where she went to an extermination camp (Nordhausen) to take some of the liberated prisoners to a proper hospital. She was initially extremely scornful of the stories that were being circulated about the Holocaust ("I had grown bored with the outcry about concentration camps horrors"), but once she actually steps foot in the camp you can see it really gets to her. To her credit, she abandons her usually flippant style and properly records the details of what she witnessed and what she was told there from doctors, soldiers and former prisoners, and even how the experience made her feel. It's one of the only moments of introspection in the book.
As the sun set with unusual beauty and the rich fields glowed in golden light, such a nausea came over me I could hardly drive, and looking at God's lovely earth I felt it would have been better if life had never crept out of the sea, better if the whole earth remained desolate as the moon if this is all mankind can make of it.
On the whole, I would recommend this book if you're interested in the topic of women in war or in WWII in general, but more as a curiosity and not so much as a cracking read.
February 26, 2018
5 stars
Synopsis: Anita Leslie was a "society girl" who joined the Mechanized Transport Corps as a driver and mechanic during WWII. As part of the MTC, she was stationed in Libya, Syria, and Palestine. When the MTC was disbanded, Leslie decided not to join the British version of ambulance drivers, because the women didn't work on the front. Instead, she joined the Free French Forces, and saw action in Italy, France, and Germany.
What I liked: this seemed to be a very honest and surprisingly impartial account of Leslie's time during the war. There wasn't any hatred of the Germans, and Leslie didn't try to make herself look like the hero of her story, although she was at the Front, and drove the sick and wounded in very extreme circumstances, so she could definitely be considered heroic. Leslie had friends and people she was friendly with killed, accidentally got ahead of the tanks advancing several times, and had to live in conditions that, although she became inured to them, were not what she was used to growing up.
I enjoyed seeing the respect that Leslie had for a lot of the people that she met, no matter their race or origin, and her recounts of things that had obviously hurt when they happened were treated with a matter of fact tone that made everything that much more real. I also enjoyed the fact that she felt that the French men were much more realistic about gender equality than the British at that time, since British women were not allowed to serve on the Front, and French women had done so in WWI as well.
This told the story of something that I had never read about in history books, and I feel that it is a story that needs to be heard.
*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Synopsis: Anita Leslie was a "society girl" who joined the Mechanized Transport Corps as a driver and mechanic during WWII. As part of the MTC, she was stationed in Libya, Syria, and Palestine. When the MTC was disbanded, Leslie decided not to join the British version of ambulance drivers, because the women didn't work on the front. Instead, she joined the Free French Forces, and saw action in Italy, France, and Germany.
What I liked: this seemed to be a very honest and surprisingly impartial account of Leslie's time during the war. There wasn't any hatred of the Germans, and Leslie didn't try to make herself look like the hero of her story, although she was at the Front, and drove the sick and wounded in very extreme circumstances, so she could definitely be considered heroic. Leslie had friends and people she was friendly with killed, accidentally got ahead of the tanks advancing several times, and had to live in conditions that, although she became inured to them, were not what she was used to growing up.
I enjoyed seeing the respect that Leslie had for a lot of the people that she met, no matter their race or origin, and her recounts of things that had obviously hurt when they happened were treated with a matter of fact tone that made everything that much more real. I also enjoyed the fact that she felt that the French men were much more realistic about gender equality than the British at that time, since British women were not allowed to serve on the Front, and French women had done so in WWI as well.
This told the story of something that I had never read about in history books, and I feel that it is a story that needs to be heard.
*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
July 4, 2017
This is an amazing book. It was written during WWII by a fearless woman who wouldn't normally have been allowed in war zones, and she goes through different countries and war zones as an ambulance driver with an adventurous attitude and a keen eye.
As she goes from North Africa to the European theater, the battles get closer and the encounters more dangerous. She's with the Free French Army as they liberate Paris, watches the Berlin liberation parade from the grandstand, visits Hitler's office, and is horrified when she sees Nordhausen concentration camp after it has been liberated. The description of the camp is chilling.
Her stories of the battle of Colmar in France are harrowing. She goes back to Ireland and England after the battle, and ends up having lunch with her cousin Winston Churchill, who is busy making "phone calls to Eden and 'Ike' and Roosevelt". She tries to tell him about France, "the hungry broken country we had left behind us".
Anita Leslie is funny and irreverent. She makes her war experience sound like a "lark" at times, which contrasts with the stark reality of the thousands of deaths she witnesses. It can make for a jarring read at times, especially when she goes from discussing death to fashion in France in the same paragraph. She meets many mothers of soldiers, both Allies and enemies, and sympathizes with them all.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the ending, and readers of historical fiction will appreciate it.
Thanks to Bloomsbury Caravel and NetGalley for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.
As she goes from North Africa to the European theater, the battles get closer and the encounters more dangerous. She's with the Free French Army as they liberate Paris, watches the Berlin liberation parade from the grandstand, visits Hitler's office, and is horrified when she sees Nordhausen concentration camp after it has been liberated. The description of the camp is chilling.
Her stories of the battle of Colmar in France are harrowing. She goes back to Ireland and England after the battle, and ends up having lunch with her cousin Winston Churchill, who is busy making "phone calls to Eden and 'Ike' and Roosevelt". She tries to tell him about France, "the hungry broken country we had left behind us".
Anita Leslie is funny and irreverent. She makes her war experience sound like a "lark" at times, which contrasts with the stark reality of the thousands of deaths she witnesses. It can make for a jarring read at times, especially when she goes from discussing death to fashion in France in the same paragraph. She meets many mothers of soldiers, both Allies and enemies, and sympathizes with them all.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the ending, and readers of historical fiction will appreciate it.
Thanks to Bloomsbury Caravel and NetGalley for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.
May 28, 2019
Initially I felt a little annoyed with her frivolous/'Flapper' attitude to enlisting. She seemed to take on the war effort as a bit of a joke and a different form of daring fun. As far as a third of the way into the book, at no stage does one feel she was in a real war. She appeared to take everything so lightly and socially - so superficial. Even wrote about 'servants in Beirut' ??
When she abandoned reporting for the 'Eastern Times', she helped distribute medical comforts in military hospitals in Syria - General Wavell's daughter had requested "someone strong and not particularly intelligent to help her drive and carry boxes - someone just like Anita"!
After distributing newspapers in the Middle East, she went to Italy to distribute lemonade. After this she joined the French Army (Free French Forces) as an ambulance driver. The British Army did not allow women to serve on the frontline. This, I think, is when life and the war became real to her and she matured greatly.
The book covers all the rest of her time as a driver and recounts the very harsh environment and life in the war. Too many names and places to fully comprehend the extent of her work.
The latter part of the book is a testament to a brave, bold lady and her colleagues. At times it is written in a detached, 'stiff upper lip', style and at other times it present compassion and moving descriptions.
When she abandoned reporting for the 'Eastern Times', she helped distribute medical comforts in military hospitals in Syria - General Wavell's daughter had requested "someone strong and not particularly intelligent to help her drive and carry boxes - someone just like Anita"!
After distributing newspapers in the Middle East, she went to Italy to distribute lemonade. After this she joined the French Army (Free French Forces) as an ambulance driver. The British Army did not allow women to serve on the frontline. This, I think, is when life and the war became real to her and she matured greatly.
The book covers all the rest of her time as a driver and recounts the very harsh environment and life in the war. Too many names and places to fully comprehend the extent of her work.
The latter part of the book is a testament to a brave, bold lady and her colleagues. At times it is written in a detached, 'stiff upper lip', style and at other times it present compassion and moving descriptions.
July 13, 2017
Train to Nowhere is a WWII memoir by Anita Leslie, a first cousin once removed of Winston Churchill.
Anita joined the Mechanized Transport Corps, an organization favored by upper class women, as a fully trained mechanic and ambulance driver, and sailed for Pretoria. Working their way northward, they tended wounded in stifling heat and hot winds in Cairo when the MTC was incorporated into the Auxiliary Territorial Service. Not wanting to be stuck in Egypt when the war moved elsewhere, she got the job of editing the Eastern Times.
After three years in the Middle East, she requested a transfer to Italy to be in the fight for Europe. While her work in Naples was rewarding, she wanted to be on the front line. The British didn’t allow women at the front, so she joined the French Forces to be a front-line ambulance driver. She took part in the liberation of France, and moved across Germany to Austria, then spent time in Berlin.
I know little of what transpired in the Middle East during World War II. Anita doesn’t make it sound appealing. She described it as boisterous gaiety, unlike the depressing circumstances she later in France. She worked in Beirut for the English Times with a staff of eight quarrelsome Syrians; a proprietor/lawyer with a queue of legal clients crowding his office; pages hand-set by fifteen Arab boys who didn’t read English—if a line got dropped, they reset it by guesswork; proofs corrected by an 82-year-old American missionary who came down from the mountains to apply for war work.
Bemoaning that the British keep “first-rate women subordinate to second-rate men,” she joined the French army and almost immediately hears of the mistaken messages on the BBC for the French underground, which was wiped out by the Gestapo. Throughout the rest of the war, she is in danger driving her ambulance so close to the enemy line, sometimes driving ahead of the French tanks. Other women among her colleagues were wounded and killed.
Her upper crust haughtiness comes out in her descriptions of others: the lazy Indo-Chinese soldiers; the dirty, thieving, undisciplined Arab element of their medical company; the bovine German fraus and their little tow-headed brats; the Moroccans’ limited intelligence and unlimited dishonesty.
Her description of Berlin is interesting—the devastation was revolting and so was the smell. Desolate streets with hordes of shabby Russians, well-dressed Americans swapping cigarettes at the black markets, British Desert Rats in search of a cup of tea and a bun, bleak-faced German women in the Russian zone doing forced labor of clearing away rubble in buckets.
The section in the Middle East got tiresome; her story picked up, for me, when she arrived in France. She is to be commended for voluntarily putting herself in what were frequently very disagreeable circumstances. I received a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
July 30, 2017
Excellent book, especially if you want to know what it was REALLY like during the push into France and then Germany after D-day. Anita Leslie, cousin of Winston Churchill, originally joined up with MTC as a trained mechanic and ambulance driver. Initially posted to Egypt, then Syria and Lebanon, she writes about the people she encounters there , which I found particularly interesting when considering the current conflict in Syria. Anita is keen to be where the action is, and when the war starts to progress into Europe she applies for a transfer to Italy. In Naples, she looks after casualties of Anzio and Cassino. When the MTC is incorporated into the ATS, meaning that British women will be kept well away from the front, she volunteers as an ambulance driver to the French forces following closely behind tanks as they make their way through Europe. This is a first hand account of her experiences during this very tumultuous period in history, and is an enthralling read. The day to day difficulties faced by troops, finding food, somewhere to sleep, indiscriminate death and injury, concentration camps, Berlin and the German people are all described in a very accessible and interesting way. This is not a book about the glory of war, but more the facts of daily life; and in its telling you gain a remarkably clear picture of how it was. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and learnt some surprising facts that I was previously unaware of. An excellent read for anyone interested in WW2.
I was fortunate to receive a review copy from the publisher via netgalley and am pleased to be able to highly recommend this book.
I was fortunate to receive a review copy from the publisher via netgalley and am pleased to be able to highly recommend this book.
August 21, 2017
Train to Nowhere is a great first person account of World War II but only in the singular view of Ms Leslie without external context making it somewhat hard to place in the greater story of the way. Additionally, I felt Ms. Leslie represented a limited and pampered view as she spent most of her service away from the front lines and included comments about the lack of proper maids and "How sick I grew of these tales - how could one want to live in such a world?" and ".........the occupation seemed exceedingly dull" when describing France after Germany's occupation. It felt insulting to the people who were apparently boring her. Later she becomes "bored with the outcry about concentration camp horrors." Thankfully she continues with what was one of the few spots where she seemed to really grasp a true picture of the war: "but neither film nor pen could describe the sinister atmosphere." I somehow didn't see the humor in her comments. Overall, I was left with the feeling I had read a travelogue of a kid on a European gap year instead of someone who had been actively involved in a war.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Place in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Place in exchange for an honest review.
August 22, 2017
What a marvellous war Anita Leslie had!! Daughter of a Baronet and related to Winston Churchill,she had a privileged life and sought excitement in her life despite there being a war raging throughout the world.
Down to earth and scatty in equal parts,this book is a thoughtful and playful account of a well bred female ,who trained as an ambulance mechanic and driver and ended up being posted to Cairo,Syria and the Lebanon and eventually ended up in the European theatre of War. These young women were practically minded and just got on with life, finding time for parties and adventure that involved tales of daring and a can do attitude.
I found this book to be full of surprising facts about the role of women on the front line,who knew the French to be more liberal in their attitudes about women than the British? Anita saw the war as an adventure,yet had spells of levity when complaining about missing her maids and her attitudes about people of different races do make for uncomfortable reading with our modern eyes.
These woman were capable and determined to do as good a job as the men in the war effort. I found this an enjoyable read and would be invaluable to History teachers as they seek to tip the scales a little more fairly towards the gentler sex.
Down to earth and scatty in equal parts,this book is a thoughtful and playful account of a well bred female ,who trained as an ambulance mechanic and driver and ended up being posted to Cairo,Syria and the Lebanon and eventually ended up in the European theatre of War. These young women were practically minded and just got on with life, finding time for parties and adventure that involved tales of daring and a can do attitude.
I found this book to be full of surprising facts about the role of women on the front line,who knew the French to be more liberal in their attitudes about women than the British? Anita saw the war as an adventure,yet had spells of levity when complaining about missing her maids and her attitudes about people of different races do make for uncomfortable reading with our modern eyes.
These woman were capable and determined to do as good a job as the men in the war effort. I found this an enjoyable read and would be invaluable to History teachers as they seek to tip the scales a little more fairly towards the gentler sex.
August 22, 2017
Train to Nowhere
One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator
by Anita Leslie
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (World)
Bloomsbury Caravel
Biographies & Memoirs , Travel
Pub Date 24 Aug 2017
I am reviewing a copy of Train to Nowhere through Bloomsbury Caravel and Netgalley:
Anita Leslie wasn't a likely person to find on the battlefield during World War Two. In 1940 England Anita reads an advertisement searching for Women drivers ready to go to Africa.
From November 1940 to February 1941 they lived in the Barracks in Robert Heights Camp Near Pretoria, in February orders came for them to proceed to Creet or Egypt. In a may heatwave they dealt with temperatures that soared to 119 degrees.
She went from Egypt to Transjordan and in the Autumn of 1942 she had to leave Transjordan and head for Beirut where she would resume working with the Eastern Times!
In May of 1944 Anita is sent to Italy where she worked as an ambulance driver transporting the injured.
In this book we learn just what Anita Leslie went through, and her efforts to help in World War 2.
I give it five out of five stars.
Happy Reading!
September 16, 2017
This book was a real surprise, at the beginning I found it a little rambling, but as I got into it, I understood this book could not be written any other way. It would just have been heartbreaking, and just s0 difficult to read as it would have been to write. This way it told the story, many stories in the form of reminiscing and telling the tremendous jobs done n the war behind the scenes with factual play within. I loved the book, even to the point in shedding a few tears in one particular part.
I recommend everyone to read this, it is extremely well written and tells a "story" in a very easy way, with big impact.
I recommend everyone to read this, it is extremely well written and tells a "story" in a very easy way, with big impact.
September 13, 2017
A thoroughly enjoyable read, this book was first published many years ago - and I'm glad it's been republished. Anita is what I would term a redoubtable woman - able to look back with a dispassionate (and sometimes humorous) eye on her experiences in World War II, where she encountered some horrific situations and events. The book provides an insight into how women were viewed at the time - undeterred, Anita carved herself a niche.
It was a privilege to read this book, and I am filled with admiration for the writer's clear and descriptive memoir.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in return for my honest review.
It was a privilege to read this book, and I am filled with admiration for the writer's clear and descriptive memoir.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in return for my honest review.
January 24, 2018
Reluctantly I gave up and was unable to wade through any more of this.
The narrator was born in 1914 and the area she describes is a regular news item today so it should be a really interesting read. But I didn't find it so.
She writes as a 1920s flapper rather than the generation after that and despite whatever bravery is undoubtedly involved it tends to focus on wealthy friends whom she dined with.
To be fair, as someone from Churchill's family, who would otherwise have been cubbing - that is, killing young animals too young to be chased by the "legitimate" hunt I am unlikely to find much common ground.
The narrator was born in 1914 and the area she describes is a regular news item today so it should be a really interesting read. But I didn't find it so.
She writes as a 1920s flapper rather than the generation after that and despite whatever bravery is undoubtedly involved it tends to focus on wealthy friends whom she dined with.
To be fair, as someone from Churchill's family, who would otherwise have been cubbing - that is, killing young animals too young to be chased by the "legitimate" hunt I am unlikely to find much common ground.
March 1, 2021
2021 bk 31: Perhaps if I were more tuned into the British social scene of the 1930's I might have enjoyed this read more - but all of the books I've read on World War II I came away thinking 'what brass... she had" and initially was appalled by what I was ready. I had to pull back and remember other times, different mores for her class to get through the book. She did do an amazing amount of things - the reason you see so many things is that she would get bored/or tired of flies/etc. and skip away into another job. An okay read, but not one that I would read again.
July 15, 2017
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
A brilliant read showing the bravery and friendships of women during WWII on the front line.
It also shows the horrific side of war.
A brilliant read showing the bravery and friendships of women during WWII on the front line.
It also shows the horrific side of war.
February 11, 2023
DNF
I enjoyed the first quarter or so of the book but it seemed to drag on and on, and with references to this and that general or lieutenant she know from back home, she became less relatable
I enjoyed the first quarter or so of the book but it seemed to drag on and on, and with references to this and that general or lieutenant she know from back home, she became less relatable
March 14, 2021
Anita Leslie is a distant relation to Winston Churchill and an ambulance driver during the war. This tells us that she was also born to privilege so the deprivations of war torn and active war would have been an astonishing education. Anita was posted in the Middle East, Italy and France and Germany from 1940 - 1945.
Written from the heart, Anita's experiences tell us of the humanity and the inhumanity of war from her perspective, this is not a history book, rather the remembrances of a woman who was there, in the thick of it, transporting wounded through mortar blasts and survived.
A brave and quite delightful woman. I wish I'd known her.
Written from the heart, Anita's experiences tell us of the humanity and the inhumanity of war from her perspective, this is not a history book, rather the remembrances of a woman who was there, in the thick of it, transporting wounded through mortar blasts and survived.
A brave and quite delightful woman. I wish I'd known her.
February 20, 2018
This book was a real surprise, at the beginning I found it a little rambling, but as I got into it, I understood this book could not be written any other way. It would just have been heartbreaking, and just s0 difficult to read as it would have been to write. This way it told the story, many stories in the form of reminiscing and telling the tremendous jobs done n the war behind the scenes with factual play within. I loved the book, even to the point in shedding a few tears in one particular part.
I recommend everyone to read this, it is extremely well written and tells a "story" in a very easy way, with big impact.
I recommend everyone to read this, it is extremely well written and tells a "story" in a very easy way, with big impact.
January 9, 2018
Fabulous account of how Anita Leslie' got into the war effort in WWII. She was a cousin of Winston Churchill and set off to work as an ambulance driver in France, North Africa, the Middle East. The style is typical of the time and her class and she does give some references to some politicians who played a prominent role in the war.
These are tales now from a long ago war which still resonates today, and books such as this allow us to keep the personal connection to the past.
These are tales now from a long ago war which still resonates today, and books such as this allow us to keep the personal connection to the past.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews