大象传媒

It was a freezing cold, moonlit winter鈥檚 night in 1940-1941 when my Rescue Unit, based at a Smethwick Ambulance Station, was alerted to evacuate sick and disabled children from the Firs Clinic and also elderly people from nearby roads. An air raid was in progress, and a large land-mine had been dropped 鈥� fortunately its parachute had tangled with the overhead tram wires. It was suspended literally a few feet from the ground in front of the Smethwick Council House. Had it exploded, the clinic and houses in the surrounding five roads would have been decimated, with enormous loss of life. It was about the diameter of a pillar-box and was around 10 feet high!

I drove the ambulance for the evacuation of the children and had as my First-aid attendant a gorgeous, charming lass with the most beautiful 鈥榖eaten-copper鈥� coloured hair 鈥� half covered by her 鈥榯in-hat鈥�. The clinic was only some 200 yards away from the land-mine, and the only allowable approach was by my attendant moving the Police barrier and me driving slowly right past the mine! This was the start of our romance! We saw quite a lot of each other after this incident, and still do as we were married in 1945! It took 10 trips to empty the clinic and we hardly dared to breathe during that time!

We transported the children to a small hospital about two miles away, and I must relate the saga of this. As I was carrying out one small child who was wrapped in a blanket and cuddling close to me, the Charge-Sister called out, 鈥淒o keep that child away from the others, it has scabies鈥�. On arrival at the hospital, we finally got all the kids to bed in a 鈥榮tand-by鈥� ward. I was just about to leave, having said 鈥榞ood-night鈥� to the children, when one little chap called out that he wanted a 鈥榳ee鈥�. A nurse told me where the loo was and handed me a dim hurricane lamp. I took the little bloke along and, standing discreetly behind the partly-open door, held up the lamp whilst he attended to his needs. As I turned to go I found a long queue of children waiting in line 鈥�. and there was I 鈥�. 鈥榯he man with the lamp!鈥� A human lamp-post until all were relieved! No wonder they called me 鈥楩lorence鈥� when I returned to the Station and signed off!

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