大象传媒

I was born in 1904 and I drove an ambulance for the Red Cross in the war. I was living in Cheshire, in Wallasey, the other side of Liverpool, and I went through the Blitz there. When I was in the Red Cross, we had our headquarters in a school in Church Street. There were lots of big houses there as well as a school.

I remember the first day the war broke out. We were in the school, in a little room, and there were some doctors lecturing us. We were talking about different things, and we heard the declaration of war. One of the girls burst into tears and one of the doctors said 鈥淟eave the room鈥�. When she came back again, the doctor said 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to cry at the least little thing, you鈥檙e not fit to be a nurse鈥�.

We used to go out and come back for a few minutes rest. There were white beds for us, in a mortuary, to sleep in. I remember the planes coming over the Mersey, and one was shot down 鈥� just missed the Mersey Tunnel. I could see it sticking out of the water. I don鈥檛 know what happened to the pilot, but we never gave it any thought, what with all the bombs coming down, and Church Street and all the rows being bombed, as well as Liverpool.

Well, I can鈥檛 tell you about the actual bombing, because we were on the promenade so to speak. But we used to watch the planes coming over and once I saw this land mine coming down, just near the road where the lamppost was. So I had to get behind the lamppost and all the people by the shops were screaming and crying 鈥� it was awful. There was one place in Wallasey called Lancaster Avenue, where I always remember this young couple put their baby in a drawer to save it, the rest of their house was flattened, but the baby was found safe in this drawer.

I always remember the ferries used to close down, and the Ferry Hotel on the Wallasey side and the landlord would shout 鈥淟ast orders! Last orders!鈥� Well, you could hardly get any beer, and if you did you had to take your own glass. If somebody took one from another pub, they would get arrested right away, be charged and everything 鈥� just to get a drop of beer. I recall crossing the Mersey one night 鈥� I鈥檇 been to Liverpool and was coming back. This German plane was circling around and I was thinking 鈥淗ow much more can we take? I鈥檒l swim if the boat goes down鈥�.

I was moved to London and I worked in a hospital there. My husband was in the Navy; he came home one weekend 鈥� his ship had been torpedoed three times. He came home and we got married in Wandsworth registry office - unfortunately we didn鈥檛 have time to notify anyone beforehand. We had no witnesses, and there was a soldier and his girl walking down the road, and my husband to be says 鈥淓xcuse me, are you doing anything?鈥� and they said 鈥淣o鈥�, so he said 鈥淲ould you come and be witnesses for our wedding?鈥�, so they said 鈥淵es鈥�. So they came over the road with us and we just got inside when we saw the Doodlebugs coming over. So the Registrar said, 鈥淒id you need to bring that with you?鈥� Anyway, when we came out there was a pub opposite and we offered to take this couple for a meal, but none of them drank 鈥� something to do with the church, so they left. I always remember that day, February 7th. It was snowing.

I had my own office, my own staff. I lived in Wimbledon then. I used to get a train to Hyde Park Corner by 7 am. I then had to go around the wards to see if they鈥檇 brought any contagious people in the night. I organised my staff to give me what they call barrier nursing. Then we moved any contagious patients, but before we moved them, we had a seminar of surgeons about tropical diseases at a medical school.

I had to go around the wards and borrow a couple of patients to use as dummies. After this was over, I got a letter from the dean of the Royal College of Services, thanking me for my help, and they asked me if I鈥檇 like a tour of the medical school, which I did and it was wonderful.

The way I organised all the linen, to the Eye Infirmary as well and the children, meant that they had to build a bigger department for me. The Duchess of Kent, Princess Marina came and I was introduced to her. I was told 鈥淲hen she speaks to you, just say 鈥榊es Madam鈥�, but you mustn鈥檛 have any conversation with her, just curtsy鈥�. I took her around and showed her how I work, and she said to me 鈥淵ou鈥檙e doing a very good job here鈥� and I said Yes, I know鈥�.

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