大象传媒

This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People's War site by CSV Storygatherer Liz Norbury on behalf of Margaret Greenhalgh. They fully understand the terms and conditions of the site.

I was nursing at East Suffolk Hospital in Lowestoft when the war broke out. I had started training in 1937 when I was 17. It was all settled for me - I was to be a nurse. My grandmother had been a matron in the First World War. It was a good thing that I liked it!
One day, there was a naval engagement out at sea. They brought the casualties into the hospital. The Germans also bombed a restaurant in Lowestoft. There were a lot of naval personnel in there - Wrens and matelots. There were many casualties, and the Odeon cinema was turned into a casualty centre. Blood was everywhere - it was really horrible. I was on the ambulances getting them to the hospital. It was like a conveyor belt.
Life was never dull. You never knew when the bombs were going to drop. One day, my friend Olive and I went cycling, and an aeroplane came along and decided to shoot us with a machine gun. We were hit on our backs and shoulders. Nothing too bad - but my shoulder is still a nuisance even now.
We sorted ourselves out, being nurses, and went back to the hospital. Then it was back to work. You couldn't go off-duty. It was a coastal town, and apart from the civilians, we had all the boys who were stationed there. My mother invited some of the boys in for Christmas in 1940, and so the first time I met my husband, William, was on Christmas Day. We got engaged on February 1, and married on September 25. He was in the 8th Army, and was sent to Africa. I saw him again four years later. Until then, I didn't know if he was alive or dead.
When France capitulated, it was thought there would be an invasion along the coast. We were sent inland, to a hospital in Shrewsbury, and then to Oswestry. We were on night duty there, and the porter always did the boiler up during the day when we were supposed to be sleeping.
I was in an ambulance coming from Bromsgrove to Coventry one day, and that was the day Coventry was bombed. The ambulance driver saw a hole in the road and stopped. It was an incendiary bomb. If he hadn't stopped, I wouldn't be here now.
I was back in Lowestoft at the end of the war. There must have been celebrations, but I don't remember any. You don't when you're working.
I loved nursing. I would go back now if I could.

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