大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by CSV/大象传媒 Radio Nottingham on behalf of Joan Thomas with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

At the beginning of the war I joined the Red Cross and took courses in Gas, First Aid and Home Nursing and passed the exams. During the day I worked at John Players and at the weekends. I worked in the hospitals to help out the nursing staff, and became a CNR until I was called up. We became part of the emergency services in Notts so had to man a gas casualty clearing station which was situated on the corner of the old bonded warehouse on Churchfield Lane, Radford. One night we had a mock air-raid, so we had casualties in and had to decontaminate them ready to go to hospital, so we had to work in oil-skins for about 2hours.

One day the sirens went at dinner time. I was on duty at night time, so had to get ready, as I worked over Bobbersmill Bridge there wasnt another person to be seen, I heard a plane, looked up and flying over me was a German plane which turned to go back over Nottingham and ended up gunning Arkwright Street.

When I was called up and joined the WRNS stationed in Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton as a cook, we went on 4 or 5 'salute the soldiers parades' and marched to different towns and villages in Somerset and Wiltshire. The night before D Day we were awakened in the early hours by the roar of flames. We got up and went outside and the sky was black with the flames and gliders which went on for hours. We didnt get anymore sleep as by the time the planes finished it was time to go on duty.

When Nottingham was bombed I was fire watching at home on Western Blu, the planes dropped the first bombs and then came over as they turned to go back and I saw the dark shape of them, as the bombs dropped the flames flared up and lit all the sky up.

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