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This story was submitted to the People's War Site by Lisa Barker on behalf of Mary Barker, with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Birmingham was bombed regularly. In fact, the sirens would sound almost every night. The city was a prime target, as it was home to a number of factories which were key to the war effort, including ICI Kynoch ammunitions, Lucas’ engineering, and Longbridge, where the engines were manufactured.

I was working at the skin hospital at this time. We didn’t get any war wounded. Nevertheless, once we’d completed our regular duties, we had to go and make up the beds at the field hospital down by the West End Cinema, just in case a convoy of wounded arrived.

When the alarm was raised, we would go back to the hospital, take any patients out of the bed, and put them under it. The bed acted as a guard, protecting the patients from any falling debris. Fortunately, we didn’t get any direct hits. However, the hospital was right next to the canal, so we used to hate moonlit nights, when the light would reflect in the water, illuminating the path to the hospital. As a result, there would be bombs all along the canal.

We saw some horrible sights. Once, my friend and I were coming up Bath Row, and passing a hairdressers’ shop in Spring Hill, where the accident hospital was. People were getting their hair done when the shop received a direct hit. I don't think I'll ever forget that gruesome image.

Another time, we were walking down Broad Street, on our way back to the hospital. The air-raid siren was blasting, and the warden was trying to get us to go down into the shelter, but we needed to get back to the hospital. He was very insistent that we must take shelter, as the bombs were flying everywhere. It was the worst I’d seen it, but we still did not want to go into the shelter, and proceeded straight to the hospital. Everybody in the shelter was killed that night.

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