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Famille de mas amis
**wright

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This is a private photo printed in France. The French on the back says "family friends" and a name, which is difficult to read. It could possibly be Arkwright, but the shakey writing is obviously by someone who is very old or ill.

The Catholic Women's League first started its battlefield canteens in WW1. When WW2 started, they regrouped and asked for permission to go offer their services in France. At the beginning of 1939 there was 11 units total, of which 3 were in France.

By 1941 the League members were in uniform and worked under the auspices of the Council for Voluntary War Workers (CVWW), and their efforts were appreciated where in the world UK soldiers fought. They were with the Eighth Army in North Africa, Italy, Jerusalem and were in Vienna, Athens, Iceland, Malaya and Singapore.

An excerpt from the site www.forces-war-records.co.uk says "A branch of canteen work which was an immediate success was the mobile canteen. This was in service in the war stricken areas, and was on the road from 7am to 7pm with only a short break. It was manned by a team of eight. Besides tea, of which 160 cups could be served at a time, all piping hot, the mobile canteen provided cakes, pies, doughnuts, chocolate and Woodbines. The mobile had other uses, too, on occasion, as on the day when the staff gave a lift to hospital to a young Australian, who had broken his kneecap in a bad road smash. Mobile canteens were costly but were the first objectives and assigned where Troop Centres were concentrated."

This photo was most likely taken in France and is of one of the early canteens. Since there weren't many overseas (most operated in the UK outside of military airfields and barracks), this group might be identifiable.