大象传媒

My schoolfriend Peg and I began nurse training in 1941 at a small and very busy hospital in North-East England surrounded by docks, steelworks and a chemical complex. The Nurses' Home was situated in a pleasant area of town about 20 minutes' walk from the hospital. It was a large, comfortable house set in a big garden next door to a similar building which was the local Maternity Home. We nurses shared a large room on the second floor and we all went to bed early, as we had to be up and ready for a hard day's work at 6 a.m. every day.

During one night the air raid sirens went off. It was a particularly noisy raid with anti-aircraft fire and bombs. We heard a very loud wailing, getting louder all the time. Peg flew out of her bed into mine and we clutched each other. Something was on the way. Three deafening bangs came that made the house tremble. Then silence. Minutes later the Assistant Home Sister rushed into the room and told us to take our mattresses and a blanket and go down to the ballroom.

Two huge bombs had landed in the garden of the Maternity Home and a third huge bomb lay just a few yeards away in our garden. All three were unexploded. We spent the next 3 nights sleeping in the ballroom, while working hard as usual during the day, until the bombs were made safe and the water and electricity restored.

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