大象传媒

鈥淨uite Unforgettable鈥�

This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Sarah Harding of Kirklees Libraries on behalf of Mrs Hewittand has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

The railway station was damp, cold and extremely dark as we stood at the end of the platform waiting for the train to arrive. It was midnight. The dampness and the cold were due to the fog which had settled over the town as darkness fell. It was November. The extreme darkness was everywhere because of the blackout regulations. The year was 1944.

We were a group of nurses from Pinderfields Hospital known at the time as Pinderfields Emergency Hospital. The majority of the patients were servicemen who had been wounded whilst on active service.

We had been on duty as usual during the day when we received instructions to be ready for convoy duty and transportation to Wakefield station at 11pm. The words 鈥榟ospital train鈥� were never used. It was five months after D-Day. Until the convoy arrived we would have no idea how far our new patients had travelled. They could be from northern Europe, North Africa or the Far East.

As we waited on the platform there was work to be done preparing the stretchers. Each one had three army blankets, one for the patient to lie on, one folded to form a pillow and one folded ready to cover the patient. We were informed of the number of stretchers required but there would also be many 鈥榳alking wounded鈥�. Camouflaged transport was assembled for them in the station car park.

No one knew what time the train would arrive for in spite of priority being given to troop movements there were many possible reasons for delays. An air raid causing damage to the track was always a possibility. However these convoys always arrived during the hours of darkness.

It was 2am when the railway track began to vibrate and we knew then that our waiting was almost over, no other train would be allowed to use this track until daylight. The station platform began to come to life, faint glimmers of life could be seen moving about, these were the shaded oil lamps used by the railway staff. The shadowy figures of the orderlies could also be seen as they prepared for the tasks ahead.

The noisy train arrived shattering the quiet ghostlike atmosphere, steaming and hissing until it finally ground to a halt. For a while all was quiet again except for the remnants of the steam which gradually began to mingle with the fog. The windows of the carriages were blacked out and the now motionless train showed no sign of life except for the driver and his fireman. Then suddenly the doors of the first carriage were flung open, they were double doors to allow room for the stretchers. We were standing quite near and could see the dimly lit interior, the patients on two tier bunks and the Red Cross nurses in attendance. They were very busy checking everything to ensure their patients would be comfortable for the last short stage of their long and in some cases very difficult journey.

The 鈥榳alking wounded鈥� were the first to be escorted to the waiting transport. The stretcher patients were then transferred to the stretchers on the platform. We accompanied them to the transport and finally to the hospital where the night staff had been waiting to receive and care for them.

In the hospital kitchen Cook and her staff had also been waiting. They had been preparing a meal and now they could complete it. Cook was always adamant that whatever the time, when these new patients arrived at the hospital, their first meal must be fish and chips.

To see the reaction of these tired men when the meal was served was quite unforgettable.

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