大象传媒

I was just 17 years old when World War 2 was declared. Living in Ilford we were only a short distance from East End of London. Every night was spent in the Anderson Shelter in the garden. Early one morning the air raid warden called and everyone had to leave and go as far away as possible as a parachute bomb was hanging from a porch nearby. When we arrived at a relatives house my mother said "I can't go to Church without my hat." Unbeknown to my parents, I cycled back home, ducking under the barrier, whilst the watchman wasn't looking and I went and fetched the hat. Returning the poor watchman shouted "how did you get through" - I peddled faster ducked under and shouted back "like this". I really was stupid as it was so dangerous, but have laughed many times since about it.
After my 18th birthday, I was nursing at a hospital in Barkingside. The patients were mainly sick and injured national service men and women, also civilian air raid casualities.
I have many sad and many happy memories. The happy times we had to make for ourselves, like when they were off duty, flirting with the young and handsome doctors and patients. We had to meet then secretely as that was much against the matron's rules.
Sometimes when we were on night duty, some of the doctors would come back from the pub very late, this was also against the rules. So we would let them in the back door, if we heard the night sister doing her rounds and her footsteps were getting closer, we'd push the doctors in the linnen cupboard and hope they wouldn't sing until she was well away.
I was nursing on a male Surgical Ward, but every Friday I relieved Nurse Parker on the isolation ward. One week I was asked to change that day and go on Thursday. I was back on the Surgical Ward, and on that Friday a Doodle Bug fell on the Isolation Ward, and Nurse Parker was killed. This is a very sad memory as four staff and nine patients were killed, and many patients on other wards were seriously injured with flying debris and the blast. It is impossible to explain what this experience did to us. The shock, grief and fear, when the siren sounded is indiscribable.
Six months later I was on a bus returning for duty, when I was a casualty myself. Rockets were fired over and there was no warning and one fell yards from the bus - the glass cut my ear and face very badly. A road workman saved my life giving my wounds excellent first aid treatment, easing the blood flow from an artery, which not treated promptly - I would have died. I asked to be taken to my own hospital and was operated on straight away without any preperation - even knowing I had only just had my dinner, it was a life or death situation.
Now for the happy ending, all ended well for me. My brother was in the 8th army and his pal, Geroge, was my pen friend we wrote to each other for 2 and half years. After V.E. day George had a months leave and he came to my home, which was the first time we met. Before he went back to Austria we realized our feelings were more than friendship, so we were engaged. We married in 1947 and had 50 very happy years together. Unfortunately I am a widow now, but I would not have met my dear husband if it hadn't been for the war. He was a Market Harborough lad, so we came to Leicestershire when we retired, thats how an Essex girl came to live in Houghton-on-the-Hill.

'This story was submitted to the People's War site by Sara-Jane Higginbottom of the CSV Action Desk Leicester on behalf of Winifred Buswell and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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