"My War" 1939-1945

While waiting to be called up I worked for my Mother who was the local ARP Officer. My job was to drive any of the cars which had been handed over to ARP. During the night we had to get up every 2 hours and start the engines with the starting handle!One of the cars was a 'gate-change' Austin.

Just before my 21st. Birthday, in May 1940
a phone call from the War Office invited me, as a Mobile VAD, to report to Bartrum Gables in Broadstairs four days later.
I duly reported to what had previously been the school attended by my best friend.
When we arrived the patients were being discharged and we took down and stored the beds. We were only allowed out for short spells and told not to talk to anyone.
All was confusion and no one could tell us why we were there.However we were shortly moved to the Military Hospital at Shorncliffe and I volunteered for night duty.
With no experience of real nursing, I then found myself treating the very worst cases from Dunkirk, those too badly injured to go any furtherinland. New treatments were being tried on the most seriously burned sailors and the operating theatre worked day and night treating horrific injuries. We had French and German patients as well as British and those from the Empire. Speaking French I was quite in demand to interpret.
The Hospital was very old, and there were always rats running around.
I can remember the sound of army ambulances continually arriving with new patients.

After Dunkirk we were sent to Hellingly Hospital and then with a short spell at Leeds Castle on to Chartham, a new (unfinished) wing of the mental hospital which was now a Military Hospital.
We were now attached to the RAMC and treated a wide variety of patients, including some Germans,
Here we went through the Battle of Britain and when on night duty we knew when we woke and counted the number of parachutes coming down, how busy we would be.

We were kept very busy and I remember giving 'blanket baths' to the men while wearing tin hats and gas marks (Army issue!)

The matron and sisters were QAs. and the Commandant in charge of VADs was the sister of Admiral Ramsey.

I was on my way home from Leave on the night of the fire bombing of London and had to spend most of the night underground. When I finally got back to Chartham in the early hours, the fire weas still visible from the Hospital.

While there we joined with some of the Army Personel to put on concerts. We did these in the main Mental Hospital in aid of the Spitfire Fund. In return for the loan of the main hall and stage we let all the mental patients watch the dress rehearsal.
It was strange to have an audience with men and women sitting on different sides.

My next posting was to an anti-aircraft medical post (AAMP) at Faversham where I was in charge of 5 other VADs. We also had a Medical Officer, an army orderly and a driver to support us and as well as general nursing we took daily Sick Parades and gave new recruits their injections.

From there I was moved to Kearsney Court, just outside Dover, and had experience of bombing, shelling and doodle bugs! Again I was in charge and part of my duties were to accompany the Medical Officer on his visits to inspect the nearby gun sites.

My final move was to the Royal Herbert Hospital at Woolwich to do a Theatre Training.This was a most interesting time as many new drugs and treatments were being tried, and as the trained staff was small, the surgeons taught us a great deal so that we could assist them with operations and prove our worth. A trick job was dealing, in the basement, with a very large, old and unpredictable steriliser which tended to "blow up" let off steam frequently!
Here I thoroughly enjoyed my time and gained my Theatre Assistant Certificate.

In 1945 I was discharged from the Army.
During the past 6 years I had worked hard and learned a great deal. In between we had fun and made friendships. The local Regimental Officers gave dances for us and there were always good films to see.
However, the injuries and illnesses we treated were something we could not have imagined, and there were no modern ways of dealing with them although what we did seemed to be successful in most cases.Certainly without today's drugs and treatments, good nursing went a long way to patients' recovery.

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