My War: As a Nurse

On this date, 11th November 2003, I give great thank fullness to all who saved this country, but sadness for all who gave their young lives.

I was a country girl from Wiltshire aged 19 with a love of children, so started training at Great Ormond Street Hospital. How life changed when war was declared. We were sent to nurse adults and in those days we did not know what a man looked like! The sirens sounded on the first day and we were so apprehensive but thankfully there was the period of the Cold War to give us time to get used to things before the bombs fell.

We were "billeted out" to some hosts and houses that were nice, others the reverse. Most of the beds were never cold, as the day staff got out, the night staff got in! We worked 10 hours by day and 12 at night for three long horrid months, especially having to eat stew etc. in the morning, when we would have preferred breakast food. In those days we did not question, just obeyed! But a mystrey was why we kept on being moved to different hospitals in Surrey, two in Hertfordshire then Sussex. We slept in huts here and it was very cold. We had to take turns stoking the "Tortoise" stoves even at night and were only allowed a bath a week. With three wonderful friends (they still are to-day and we had a party and a cake for over 60 years of friendship) when one's turn came, we got in the bath one after oather (yes it got cold and dirty) but one became four!

In between, we returned to our London hospitals to work and have lectures. These were always on our off duties days. luckily we did know the word "stress", although we were exhausted and often frightened when the bombs fell and especially when the "Doodle Bugs" and "V2s" came.

At the Sussex hospital, we somehow found the energy to put on a show to entertain the wounded recovery forces. We used what we had and did the "Can-Can" in operation socks and our red cloaks as short skirts. Somehow I was brave or stupid enough, now I look back, to be well-padded and to wear someone's satin nightie to try to be an opera star and sing to msic from Carmen with the names of all the hospital staff and the happenings there.

D-Day was next. We went by bus from London to an "unknown destination" where we were told "it might be dangerous". Of course we were not told it would be D-Day but when we arrived at Cosham, on the hill above Portsmouth and saw the sea full of ships with barrage balloons above, we knew it must be near and it was the next day. Soon the wounded came, brought back on the landing crafts. The serious ones we kept for sometime, but others once treated had to be moved in one or two days to hospitals in the Midlands to make way for the many field hospitals being set up for France.

One day I heard the marching of "walking wounded" and what a fright as they were Germans, soon to be our patients.

Vivid memories of much sadness but great bravery, especially of the surgeons and matrons who did so well in the organization.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.