- Contributed by听
- threecountiesaction
- People in story:听
- Freddy Fullerton
- Location of story:听
- London
- Article ID:听
- A7443524
- Contributed on:听
- 01 December 2005
This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War Site by Three Counties Action, on behalf of Freddy Fullerton, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.
During the summer of 1940 when the Germans were doing their level best to flatten the London Docks in the East End, there was always something that would bring a smile to the faces of the most hardened
Londoners.
We had a neighbour by the name of Lillian, affectionately known as our Lil. A tiny little thing with a smile that would light up your day.
I suppose she must have been about sixty plus, but because of her
Personality she somehow always looked a lot younger.
A few of the houses in the street had what was known as Anderson Shelters, which was a six foot by six foot trench, which was about four feet deep. It had a corrugated roof in an arched fashion, and then it
Was covered in soil.
There were often slabs of paving stones all around the base to keep the soil intact. Our Lil had one of these shelters, and one sunny day
She decided to try to make some improvements in the design, and she told my Mother how she went about it.
She took a deep breath, and pulled herself up to her full height of five foot nothing and started to move one of the slabs, which must have been all of fifty pounds, of solid concrete. It was of course far heavier
Than she had imagined, which resulted in her dropping it on her foot.
She was now bleeding profusely from two crushed toes on her left foot. Lil managed to get herself into the house and began banging on the kitchen wall to attract her drinking partner, and best friend Nellie, from next door.
The Cavalry arrived in the shape of one very large Lady, to take charge of the situation, Nellie immediately swung into action with a towel wrapped around the foot, and then called another neighbour
To get an ambulance.
They were taken to the casualty department of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, which was one of the busiest A & E units
In the London area.
The Ladies were told that it would be some time before they could be seen, as they were still working on cases that were brought in after
The previous nights bombing raid.
Lil and Nellie settled down for a long wait, and the very mischievous
Pair started a conversation with another Lady who was quietly sitting there with her arm in a sling.
After a little while the woman offered them a homemade toffee, saying 鈥淭his is the last of my stock until after the war, so enjoy it while you can鈥.
Lil had only just about got started on the toffee, when she let out a scream of utter pain, and started to remove the toffee from her mouth. It had attached itself to her gold filling, leaving it exposed to all that sugar, and she was writhing in agony, not knowing which way to turn.
At this point the nurse called out her name and the two troupers went into the cubicle. 鈥淣ow what seems to be your trouble my dear?鈥 asked the kindly nurse. Both Lil and Nellie burst out laughing while trying to tell the nurse just what was wrong with her. Here she was limping into the cubicle while holding her jaw, looking in great pain.
It was inevitable that the two of them would get the giggles, and were unable to explain why they were there. The nurse was beginning to get the funny side of the situation and joined in the laughter.
Just like a case of measles, laughter is catching, and before long a Doctor came over to see what all the commotion was about, and he too got carried away with the situation.
Lil eventually emerged with her foot in a plaster cast, carrying a walking stick and a fistful of pain-killers for her tooth, so even at the height of the bombing, Londoners could find something to laugh at.
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