大象传媒

The Previous 5 yrs of my Life before I went into Nursing. (written in 1944 for the period 1939 -1944)

If the hand of time was to be reversed five years, it would be to find me preparing for the new Autumn term at school- War had been declared a few days previously, and as an addition to our already overloaded sachels, we had to carry our gas masks. A great many changes took place at school which sometimes made it necessary to alter the usual routine. Anti-blast netting appeared on all the numerous windows, trenches were dug in the sandhills, later to be superceded by concrete air raid shelters.

An evacuated girl's school shared the building with us for a short time. Gas masks were practised frequently, and as time went by the 'Savings' movement was augmented.

As the war continued my school adopted the crew of a minesweeper, and I helped to knit socks, scarves, pullovers, sea boot stockings and other comforts. At Christmas, quantities of cigarettes, playing cards and plum puddings were collected by each form and dispatched to the minesweeper- To raise money for the now established wool-fund, the forms again co-operated to organise concerts, plays, pet shows, sports days and jumble sales, all of which was very wonderful. Our form was involved in bunches of flannels and sold them with excellent results.

At the age of fourteen, I decided to become a member of the St John's Ambulance Brigade Cadets. This proved to be very interesting, and I was taught such subjects as Preliminary First Aid, Home Nursing, Hygiene, Public Service, Child Welfare, and History of the Order, in all of which I acquired a certificate.

It was from the cadets that I went to a war time nursery school and gave my services. I assisted the regular staff with the feeding and bathing of the children and attending to their many wants. All of this was very useful experience for me as I was interested in child nursing.

Then came the great day for we cadets, we had been informed that Lady Louis Edwina Mountbatten, deputy Lady Superintendent in Chief of St. John's Ambulance Brigade was coming to inspect the Lytham St. Annes division at the Town Hall. In preparation for the occasion, caps, cuffs, collars, and gloves were starched, dresses cleaned, and shoes brushed. It was the first inspection the Brigade had experienced since the war and it was determined to live up to its name.

Thus with regular attendance at school, my time was fully occupied, especially so at the end of each term when the usual examinations were held, I enjoyed my holidays which however compensated for my hard work during term.

At the time of the summer vacation of 1942, the local hospitals informed the Head Mistress that they, like so many others, were short staffed and required help badly, whereupon a rota was made of all those willing to aid them. I personally jumped at the opportunity of Hospital Work, which was the kind of thing I had always wanted to do. Most of the help was needed in the kitchen, but I was fortunate enough in being able to assist in the Maternity Ward regularly at the request of the Matron, making swabs, ironing and quite often giving bottle fed babies their feed, and carrying them out of the wards at night. This resulted in my going, practically every day through the summer vacation.

For the past two years, along with many of my friends from school, I have delivered letters and parcels for the GPO at Christmas time. I always wondered what kind of news they contained, especially ir-graphs, and those franked with foreign stamps- Each year an extensive Savings Campaign was organised in aid of war weapons, warships, wings for victory and salute the Soldier weeks respectively. This involved the use of our school as an exhibition halt for the week during which the drive lasted. Our school along with King Edwards, our neighbouring boys school, and all the other schools, fixed a high target at which to aim, needless to say, the figure was always obtained and often surpassed.

At school, work was progressing whilst the war continued in its devastating course. We were sometimes dramatically reminded of this conflict, when for example, a plane crashed in the school's grounds, whilst we were working at the aforementioned end of term examinations.

There was always some work connected with the war waiting to be done. In the summer holiday of 1943, after returning for the second successive year from pea-picking camp which lasted a fortnight and was organised by the school, I spent the remaining 4 weeks working at the War grants. Civil Service Offices department, which was evacuated from London at the beginning of the war. Although the work was inclined to be monotonous at times, it proved to be well worth the while.

By this time I had attained the age of 16, and as this was the maximum age for the St. John's Ambulance Brigade Cadets, I decided to join the WJAC (the Women's Junior Air Corps) which took up one evening each week. We were trained in marching, and drilling to the height of proficiency. Having
acquired this art, we advanced into signalling and aircraft recognition. Then I became interested in the unit's band, in which I soon enrolled as a bugler. My interests in the various activities have lasted up to the present day, and I am continuing to partake of the opportunities afforded by my membership.

And so I entered upon my final phase of my school days, which, as I was told, was the most important and critical of my life. As a result, I worked hard, and with the increased amount of preparation, was unable to enjoy my past pleasures and entertainments, in the course of the term, lecturers came to give us talks about many interesting topics with the aid of lantern slides and films, being of great educational value to us.

It is the custom of my old school to give a Speech Day each year at which, for Higher and School Certificates, good work, good 'carriage', games cups, prizes are awarded- This is a milestone in the history of the school when all the individual forms sing various groups of songs to an eager audience of parents and friends, and where the headmistress reads her report of the progress made by the school during the last year- There is always an unknown personality acting as prize giver and chairman who nearly always succeeds in presenting an amusing and helpful address (1 didn't win any prizes).

Again, at Christmas time, when term examinations were over we again gave our services to the GPO, and delivered letters and parcels, whilst the remainder of our holiday was spent doing set-school work.
The term following was more or less a repetition of the previous term, but with more serious work attached to it.
During the Easter holidays, much more of our now valuable time was devoted to studying for the forthcoming examination foremost in our minds. Despite this, I managed to fit in a little pleasure in the form of a'hike'in the Lake District with the advantage of admirable weather. However the last and most important days of my school career lay ahead. Accordingly on the first day of the next term, a Mock School Certificate began so with it we should become acquainted with the type of standard of education we were to take. Consequently, when the day arrived, we were all prepared, though the sight of the examination room, with it's neat rows of desks, each with its meticulously clean writing and blotting paper seemed rather frightening and mysterious, but we soon became accustomed to this feature. At the end of each individual test paper we naturally exchanged our various opinions on it- Our anxiety increased daily through the fortnight's trial up to the day when the burden of suspense was lifted from us.

After this we could enjoy our games of tennis and other evening entertainments with a light heart, happy in the knowledge that our exertions had not been in vain.
Had it not been for the favourable School Certificate results I could never have enjoyed the summer holidays to follow, as I did. Once again I joined the pea picking party for the third year in succession, though it was not until my return from the camp that I was informed of my success, so by way of a celebration and relaxation I went with the other members of the family for an extremely beneficial vacation.
I couldn't refrain from feeling regret when I saw my friends returning to school although many of them had now left. It seemed strange not to be accompanying them, but I haven't forgotten that one has to break away from one aspect of life to another in some junction in one's existence, and I fully realised that my capabilities were required in many more spheres than school.

As 1 look back on these last five years, I hold them to be the best in my life so far, in which much serious knowledge has been acquired in spite of the many usual difficulties which have to be overcome in work, and as I have only realised since 1 left school that school days are the best of one's life. I consider them to be well spent when success is very often yours at the end.
Signed:-( Dorothy Elizabeth Edwina Meredith )

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