Читать книгу Remembering D-day: Personal Histories of Everyday Heroes - Martin Bowman - Страница 36

student nurse.

‘As our nurses’ home next to the Royal South Hampshire Hospital had been bombed, we had been billeted out in a large house in Highfield, Southampton. For weeks before, we had become used to the movement of troops and the droning of aircraft which had disturbed our sleep. On 6 June someone dashed into our room and gave us the shock news. A reliable source on the wireless had broadcast that we had made a landing on the Normandy coast. We dressed hurriedly and in small groups made our way to catch our tram. The streets were filled with people as we tried to get to work and the tram services were in chaos. Breakfast roll call at the hospital was at 7:30 a.m. We could not be late so we decided to walk, or, as it happened, run! But to no avail. We were 20 minutes late. Home Sister was already doling out the porridge. She said, “What time do you call this?” We tried to explain we had walked because the landings had disrupted public transport. She just said, “You should have made allowances for that”, as if we young nurses should have known one of the biggest secrets of the war! Then she sent us on duty without any breakfast! That evening, we walked up The Avenue instead of getting our hospital bus and saw the convoys going down to the docks. Southampton had almost become an American town!’