20) My little bucket and I

We had a plaster room where the senior staff nurse was in charge. And I was her nurse. We had to make our own plaster bandages in those days — you couldn’t go out and buy them. They were kept down in one of the big orthopaedic wards on a shelf, and one night I had to go down there and get my bucket of bandages for making into plaster. Off I went, and we had this slab where the miners could be washed — it was level with the sink; and this shelf was above this slab. I leaned on the slab to reach my bucket and it came away form the wall!

So off I went back to the ward with my little bucket, and I said to the sister “I’m sorry, but the slab's come away from the wall”. She took one look at me, and ran around the corner to the Matron’s office. I was left standing in the middle of the miners ward; and they were all saying “Oh, don’t worry nurse”.

The next thing — she came running back and told me I had to go and see the matron, so off I went. She was very regal our matron and she wore a frilly hat. I went in and I said “I’ve come to tell you that I’ve pulled the slab off the wall in ward one” and she looked at me and said in her very high fluted voice “I really don’t know how someone as small as you could possibly breaks something as large as that!” So I was let off.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the BBC Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Patricia Davies and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Pat's stories:

• 1) I suppose it was inevitable…
• 2) Getting used to being on the wards
• 3) The unchanging rota
• 4) Othopaedic Wards
• 5) The Miners
• 6) Keeping coffee warm in the sterilizer
• 7) Mouth gags and tongue clips
• 8) Dear Flower Girl
• 9) Theatres
• 10) The Nurse’s Home
• 11) The ‘Guinea Pig Club’
• 12) Mice in the washing and other tricks
• 13) Enamel washbowls on your heads
• 14) Extra Work
• 15) Shake and Shake…
• 16) Little Nurse
• 17) A lot of things were introduced during the War
• 18) Only two nights off
• 19) Making and Breaking
• My visit to post-War Germany

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