Victoria Alexandrina Drummond MBE (14 October 1894 – 25 December 1978), was the first woman marine engineer in the UK and the first woman member of Institute of Marine Engineers. In World War II she served at sea as an engineering officer in the British Merchant Navy and received awards for bravery under enemy fire. Childhood Victoria Drummond was born on 14 October 1894 at Errol, Perthshire, Scotland. Her father was Captain Malcolm Drummond of Megginch, Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria and Deputy Lieutenant of Perthshire. Her mother, Geraldine Margaret Tyssen-Amherst was the daughter of William Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney. She had two sisters, Jean and Frances, and a younger brother, John Drummond, 15th Baron Strange. She was named Victoria for Queen Victoria, who was one of her godmothers. Drummond and her siblings were brought up in both the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church. All four worked as children: growing vegetables and flowers to sell and keeping poultry. Drummond's speciality was hand-churning butter. Their privileged upbringing was straitened after one pair of grandparents lost a fortune in investments in 1906. One of Drummond's grandmothers turned wood and ivory and belonged to the Worshipful Company of Turners. Drummond herself became a prizewinning model maker, making her own toys that were shown in exhibitions and won prizes in competitions. Drummond used to visit the engineering works of Robert Morton and Sons in Errol, which built steam-powered and petrol-engined lorries and buses. As a young girl she asked Mr Morton how she could learn to be a marine engineer and go to sea. Morton may or may not have taken the young girl seriously, but he told her to serve an apprenticeship, find a shop with a vacancy and start at the beginning, serve her time and then find a ship that would give her a berth as an engineer. In February 1913, she was presented at court to King George V and Queen Mary as a debutante. Apprenticeship In 1915 Drummond turned 21 and her father encouraged her to choose her own career. She repeated her ambition to be a marine engineer. From 18 October 1916 she was apprenticed at the Northern Garage, South Street, Perth. Her wage as a first year apprentice was three shillings a week, from which sixpence was deducted for National Insurance so her net wage was half a crown. In her