大象传媒

Sister Elizabeth told her story to Helen Kemp (CSV Volunteer for Thanet Libraries) at the Summerlands Nursing Home in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent.

I was born in January 1916 in County Cork, Ireland. Unfortunately while I was in school I did not make the most of my education and I know I could have done much more.

I left Ireland in 1938 and went to Brittany in France where I trained to be a nun and finally became one in 1939. I joined the order of the Daughters of Jesus. I spent 9 years in the marvellous convent of Kermaria (which means the house of Mary) in Brittany, including all the war years. I was very happy there but because I had not made the most of my education and did not wish 鈥渁t the time鈥� to further it, I was given domestic chores like cleaning and ironing etc. The Kermaria鈥檚 ministry was teaching and nursing. During the 9 years I was there I don鈥檛 think I ever went outside the gates because of the war. We had our own hospital in the convent grounds. I learnt French in the convent and can still speak it fluently.

The Germans, when they arrived, commandeered the big house that was in the grounds of the convent and also took what they wanted by way of food. Because we had Irish passports they more or less left us alone.

We used to bake all our own bread and provided all our own meat and vegetables. Our meat was prepared by one of the local butchers. We were each given one small ration of butter per week, which was a lot more than other people had.

February 2nd 1940 was the first time I wore the habit. The habit was made of a very thick black cotton and it came down to the ground. The veil had butter muslin for the border. I learnt how to handle the pins which held on the veil but it took a long time to get dressed every day. The habit was very hot to wear in the summer.

Between 1943 and 1945 we had terrible outbreaks of Colorado beetle causing potato blight. As a consequence, during our recreation time, we used to go up and down the potato furrows and check on the undersides of the leaves for the grubs. If we found them we would pull off the leaves and burn them.

There were some boys in the villages who were members of the Marquie (French resistance). If the Germans found them they would take them to a village about 3 miles away and when they got there they would make them dig their own graves and then they were shot.

We had a number of Servicemen in the community but they were only allowed to use our kitchens. If any of them were caught and were British (having British passports) they would be taken prisoner. After a couple of months in a temporary camp, they were transferred to the other side of France (where there was an enormous camp for women) and detained in the Clarmon prison camp. We were not allowed to visit them.

After the war had finished we were able to get out and about and we used to go to La Shapernny every Thursday.

I came back to England in 1946. When I arrived I didn鈥檛 know what was happening and hadn鈥檛 realised how bad things had been. I found life much more hectic than in France. When I thought about it, I realised just how fortunate I had been in the countryside of France and I thought God had really looked after me. He knew what he was doing when he sent me to Brittany.

One thing I particularly remember was when one of our Sisters, who was very young when she entered the order, contracted TB when she grew up. She was very ill but had decided she wasn鈥檛 going to Heaven and even though she was on the verge of death she said, 鈥淚 am not going to die鈥�. She is still alive today.

In 1990 I celebrated 50 years in the religious order and have been at St. Josephs convent.

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