大象传媒

I was aged sixteen when war broke out in 1939. After having left school at fourteen years of age I worked for a few years in London. At eighteen I returned to Sundedrland and was employed as a ward maid at Ryhope Hospital in Sunderland. I covered fifteen wards which were mainly used for elderly patients. Sister Baron was my Supervisor under Matron Sutherland who was in charge of all the wards in Cherry Knowle Hospital. (Matron Sutherland lived to one hundred and one years of age). I got the bus from Seaham, where I lived, every morning but more or less had to walk home due to lack of buses or petrol. We worked very hard and the days were very long, starting at seven thirty in the morning until six in the evening, then the prospect of a long walk home. During 1941 the winter was particularly severe and it would take me up to four hours to walk home, due to the unreliability of public transport. It was also very difficult for members of staff to get to work on time; all during the day they would arrive. Along with my regular work I also, once a month or so, carried out duties as a fire warden for which I was paid twelve shillings. Food was heavily rationed, which included one egg a week and jam once a month, which may sound frugal but was more than the people on the Continent were receiving at that time. Many of the elderly residents from Ryhope Hospital were moved to Easington in order to make way for the incoming wounded soldiers. I often wondered to myself if any of the elderly patients ever returned to their own homes. Around this time Sister Baron was replaced in overall charge of the wards by Sister Douglas who was strict but very fair. We occasionally had concerts at the Hospital. As a family we all contributed to the war effort: my father was in the Army; my mother was a home help; my brother was a coal miner as well as being a member of the Home Guard. He was seventeen at this time and I also had a younger sister. In our garden we had an air raid shelter. For entertainment we would go dancing at Ryhope Co op hall, or we鈥檇 catch the bus from Ryhope to Newcastle and visit the Oxford Galleries.
It was around this time that I met my future husband. He was among many wounded soldiers who were patients at Ryhope Hospital. Gradually the war progressed in our favour, and by 1944
German prisoners were also treated at the Hospital. Many of the shops in Sunderland were gone due to the heavy bombing. Dawdon pit pulley wheels, located on the cliff edge, were a landmark target for the German bombers. Clothes could only be had with the appropriate vouchers. Women would queue outside the Butcher鈥檚 for hour for half a rabbit. My Father was still abroad on duty but we received our mail quite regularly. It was only after several years of the war ending that things eventually got back normal.

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