大象传媒

"This story was submitted to the peoples war site by Wendy Edwards from Horsham Library and has been added to the website on behalf of Kathleen Riches with her permission and she fully understands the site's terms and conditions."
In 1941 at the age of 19 I was evacuated with LLoyds of London to the Thames Valley and whilst there I volunteered to train as a VAD. So I was working as an insurance clerk during the day and then doing First Aid training at night at the hospital. The aircraft factory of De Havilland was situated a few miles outside the village and I vividly remember the Welsh miners who were serving with the Pioneer Corps and in order to protect the factory they would light oil drums at every corner so that the smoke obscured the whole area! They were also wonderful singers and took every opportunity to strike up an impromptu concert.
While at the hospital we were required to work a certain number of hours on the wards and I recall seeing casualties from the Royal Air Force before they were transferred to the burns unit at East Grinstead. These images really bought home to me the reality of the war that was being fought.

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