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This story was submitted to the People's War site by CSV/´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Nottingham on behalf of Eunice Bicknell with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

1941 — I was 13 years old, they built air raid shelters at school and we went back to school, at 14 years old I left school in 1942 and I went to work in a shop form 8am — 6pm then the headmaster from my school decided that was no job for me and I went to work in an office on the Ropewalk and I worked 9am — 5pm. I worked with girls that were getting called up, they went in the WRENS, WRVS, Land Army. When I was 15 years old I joined the Red Cross. We had to pass a first aid exam to get our red cross then we could work at a hospital — because I was only 15 I could only work at the eye hospital.
I worked for 3 hours 6 — 9 with the patients because I was Red Cross I did child nursing and got certificates from, there I got into nursing.
I started nursing in 1944 at a women’s hospital, Peel Street. I did my first night duty after my 17th birthday. I was on night duty when VE Night came. I worked until 12.30am and because it was VE night one lot of nurses was let off at midnight to go to the market square. I went at 12.3am, the first thing we did was to go to the arboretum, all the lights were on around the lake, which was a sight to see as it had been blacked out. Then we went to the Market Square but everyone was making tier way home by then so it wasn’t so interesting, then I went back on duty.
WE lived in the nurse’s home at the hospital. I was in there after doing a days work and I was there at night too — on VJ night. I got collared to go and work with a patient so I worked day and night so I missed the celebrations — I got to bed at 3am.
I went onto be a nurse of 44 years.

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