Home Front Girls

by Rosie Goodwin

  Dotty had come away thinking what a truly nice gentleman Mr Jenkins was and Robert had agreed with her.

  Friday morning found Lucy and Annabelle standing on the platform of Coventry station with Dotty and Robert to say their goodbyes. Thankfully the train lines were now back in use although the raids had continued. As fast as the railmen repaired the tracks, the Jerries blew them up again.

  Each of the three friends was aware that they were all on the verge of a new life, and none of them quite knew what to say to each other. But in that moment they all realised how much they would miss the others, and how much their friendship meant to them.

  ‘Well – this is it then, for now at least.’ It was Lucy who broke the silence as Robert walked a discreet distance away to allow them to say their goodbyes in private.

  ‘Good old Owen Owen, eh?’ Dotty blinked to hold back the tears. ‘If it wasn’t for working there, we might never have met.’

  ‘True, and poor old Mrs Broadstairs and Mr Bradley,’ Annabelle said quietly. She hadn’t always seen eye to eye with the woman or the manager, but the girls had all been saddened when they learned that the couple had not survived the night of the Blitz.

  ‘We’ll write to each other regularly and we must meet up at least once a year.’ Dotty held her good hand out and the others placed theirs on it and gave their word. After seeing each other almost daily for so long it felt strange to think of them all being apart and leading separate lives.

  ‘Good luck at Haslar,’ Dotty told Annabelle. Her posting had arrived only that morning and in just a few short days she would be on her way. ‘And good luck in your new job too, Lucy. Give Harry a kiss from me, and that handsome brother of yours when you get to see him.’

  ‘I will,’ Lucy promised chokily and then they all hugged as Robert came and took Dotty’s elbow.

  ‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to get aboard now,’ he apologised as the platform-master began to walk along, slamming the carriage doors.

  They gave each other one last kiss then Robert lifted their cases aboard as Lucy and Annabelle waved furiously.

  ‘Goodbye, goodbye, take care,’ Dotty shouted as she waved from the carriage window and the two girls stood and watched as the train carried Dotty away to her new life.

  Chapter Thirty

  Annabelle stared from the window of the train as it pulled into the Portsmouth Harbour station. It certainly didn’t look like any station she had seen before, as it appeared to be built on stilts – and when she climbed down from the train clutching her small suitcase, she could see the waves beneath the decking she was standing on. There were lots of people in Navy uniform hurrying to and fro, so after taking a deep breath she approached a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform and asked, ‘Could you tell me the way to Haslar Hospital, please?’

  ‘Oh, yes of course. You’ll need to get the pinnace across to it.’

  ‘Pinnace?’ Annabelle looked bewildered and the nurse grinned.

  ‘It’s a small naval launch. It’s over there – look – and if you hurry, you might just catch it.’ She pointed towards a small boat, and Annabelle smiled her thanks and hurried towards it.

  The boat was almost full of other young women in civilian clothes carrying suitcases, and Annabelle wondered if they were going to be VADs too. It certainly looked that way. The smell of seaweed was heavy in the air and she could taste the salt from the sea. It was a far cry from the smoky streets of Coventry and she looked around with interest. Boats of all shapes and sizes were rocking on the choppy waves in the harbour and Annabelle felt a little tingle of excitement. She had not had a good day up to now, since the parting from her mother had been painful, but now she knew she must concentrate on the job she had come to do. She looked down from the quay into the pinnace with trepidation. It looked an awfully long way down if she should fall, but then the other girls had managed it so she had no doubt she would.

  ‘Give us your hand, miss,’ a cheerful sailor said as he helped her into the boat, and in no time at all she was seated next to a plump girl with lovely green eyes and a friendly smile.

  ‘Goin’ to be a VAD, are you?’ the girl asked conversationally.

  Annabelle nodded. ‘Yes, are you?’

  ‘Yes, I am, an’ I have to admit I’m a bit nervous.’

  The boat engine clicked into life and the boat began its short journey across the frothy waves to Haslar.

  ‘I didn’t realise we’d have to get a blooming boat across to the horspital,’ the girl muttered, then holding out one hand while she clutched the side of the boat with the other, she told Annabelle, ‘I’m Hilary, by the way. Hilary Slater. But me mates call me Hils. What’s your name?’

  ‘Annabelle Smythe.’

  ‘Cor blimey, that’s a bit posh, innit?’ The girl had a broad Cockney accent, but then they had no time to say more, for as the boat picked up speed they were too intent on clinging onto their hats and staying in their seats.

  As the pinnace bounced across the waves, Annabelle stared around the big harbour. There seemed to be everything there, from huge steel-grey battleships to small sailing dinghies, and there wasn’t a square foot of water that didn’t have a vessel anchored on it. She began to feel a little queasy but thankfully the journey took no more than a matter of minutes and almost before they knew it they had passed through the main harbour and turned into a creek with another small quay ahead of them.

  The seaman expertly drew the boat alongside of it and told them, ‘This is it then, ladies. Good luck.’

  Another sailor up on the quay helped them all to disembark before telling them, ‘The hospital is straight ahead. You can’t miss it.’

  The girls began to walk in a straggly line until they came to an enormous gateway.

  ‘Do you reckon this is it?’ the girl called Hilary asked nervously. ‘It looks more like some sort of stately bloody home.’

  ‘I suppose it must be,’ Annabelle replied as she marched on towards the enormous iron gates where two sailors holding rifles stood.

  ‘We’re VADs,’ Annabelle told them imperiously and with a nod they moved aside as the row of girls scooted past them. They were then confronted by a massive red-brick building with an arched colonnade.

  Hilary whistled through her teeth. ‘Phew, it’s bloody massive, ain’t it? How are we ever supposed to find our way about that place?’

  ‘I dare say we’ll manage,’ Annabelle responded. Hilary seemed to have latched onto her and she wasn’t sure that she liked it. She’d come to get away from everyone and to lick her wounds in peace.

  Once inside the building the new intakes were directed towards an office where a stern-faced woman in uniform was waiting for them. Annabelle felt as if she were back at school and being sent to the headmistress.

  ‘I am Miss Dewhurst,’ the woman introduced herself. She was standing behind an enormous desk and the girls formed a circle around it. ‘I am the Red Cross Commandant and during your time at Haslar you will all be answerable to me. You will address me as Madam at all times and should you have any concerns, I will always be available to listen to you and help wherever I can. However, you must all remember that you are here to work, you are not on holiday, and I shall expect the best of each of you. Initially, you will all be assistant nurses to the Queen Alexandra Royal Naval Nurses or the QUARNNS as we tend to call them. But of course if we have a sudden influx of patients, you will be doing real nursing. We shall provide you with proper training for this and as part of that training you will attend lectures given by naval doctors, QUARNNS and myself. You will all be addressed by your surnames whilst you are here. Are there any questions you would like to ask?’

  Miss Dewhurst looked along the line of girls and when all of them remained silent she told them, ‘Right, I’m sure you must all be tired and hungry after your journey and I still have another intake to greet yet. So I will get someone to take you over to the mess where you can have something to eat and then you’ll be shown to your dormitories and you
can settle in.’

  When the woman stood up to dismiss them, Annabelle saw that apart from her stern expression she was quite attractive, with a slim figure and fair hair drawn back into an elegant chignon beneath her nurse’s cap. Madam summoned a QUARNN who then led them to the mess hall where they were served with a surprisingly tasty meal of beef stew followed by rhubarb and custard.

  ‘Blimey, I could get used to this,’ Hilary remarked with a grin, wolfing hers down. ‘At least we know we ain’t goin’ to starve.’

  Once the meal was over they were shown to a dormitory that at first glance appeared to house between twenty and thirty black iron beds spaced down either side of the room. On each of them was a white blanket with a blue anchor embroidered in the centre of it and a pillow. Between each bed was a comfortable chair and a locker where the girls quickly placed the few possessions they had brought with them. They had been advised that they would be issued with their uniforms the following morning.

  In the centre of the room was a large iron stove and Hilary held her hands out to it appreciatively. ‘We ain’t goin’ to freeze either,’ she remarked with a grin. ‘I reckon I’m gonna like it ’ere.’

  In no time at all the room began to look more homely as pictures of loved ones appeared on the lockers, and once they were unpacked some of the girls settled down to write letters home. There were three large windows across the end of the room but as it was dark now the blackout blinds were firmly in place and Annabelle wondered if they would have a sea view. She would have to wait until the morning to find out.

  Once Miss Dewhurst had spoken to the girls again after supper that evening, they all trooped off back to their dormitory and Annabelle curled up in the chair at the side of her bed and pretended to read a book. She didn’t feel much like socialising and felt curiously homesick. Hilary had enough to say for both of them, however, and Annabelle listened to her chatting away to the other girls gathered around the stove as they all got to know each other.

  One girl who lived in Portsmouth was giving them all a history lesson about Haslar. ‘It was opened in 1750,’ she informed them, enjoying their attention, ‘and thousands of men have been buried here over the years.’

  ‘How come you know so much about the place?’ Hilary asked curiously, and the girl, who had introduced herself as Janet, smiled.

  ‘Because I live close by, of course. We did all about Haslar in history lessons at school.’

  Annabelle listened with half an ear. She was tired by now after the long journey and more than ready to settle down, although she wondered how she was ever going to sleep surrounded by so many other girls. She had never had to share a room before. She did sleep, however, the second her head hit the pillow – and didn’t wake until a bell sounded early the next morning. The girls all hastily washed and dressed then made their way to the mess room for breakfast. Once they had eaten they were told that they had half an hour until they had to report to Miss Dewhurst again, so Annabelle decided to do a little exploring. Seeing her leave the room, Hilary hurried after her.

  Once outside they turned their coat collars up against the biting wind that was blowing in from the sea and headed for the gate that was set in the wall surrounding the hospital. They opened it – and there before them was the sea. A protective sea wall sloped down from the road, and they saw that they were outside the harbour, with Portsmouth to one side of them and the Isle of Wight on the other.

  ‘Cor, we could swim from here!’ Hilary announced with delight and Annabelle shuddered.

  ‘Not in this weather we couldn’t. And from what Miss Dewhurst has told us, I don’t think we’ll get much time for swimming anyway.’

  ‘Well, we’ve got to have some free time,’ Hilary pointed out. ‘They can’t work us twenty-four ’ours a bleedin’ day, can they?’

  ‘I suppose not,’ Annabelle conceded. ‘But come on now. We don’t want to be late the first morning, do we?’

  ‘Nah, you’re right,’ Hilary agreed, with one last glance at the choppy grey waves.

  Soon after returning to the hospital the girls were taken to the clothing store where they were issued with their uniforms. Plain grey dresses, a navy petersham belt, white aprons, flat black shoes, a red cape, thick lisle stockings and white caps. They were then allowed back to their dormitory to get changed.

  ‘Cor, I feel like a proper nurse now, though I don’t know why we ain’t never goin’ to be allowed to wear our own clobber any more,’ Hilary declared, twirling in the only mirror the room boasted. ‘But can somebody help me wiv this blasted cap? It don’t wanna sit right for some reason.’

  Annabelle adjusted it on the girl’s thick fair hair for her and then twiddled with her own. Fixing it on wasn’t as straightforward as it looked, but she eventually managed it with the help of a few Kirby grips. They all then set off for the next lecture.

  ‘It’s like bein’ back at flippin’ school,’ Hilary grumbled beneath her breath. ‘I wonder when we’ll get to do some proper nursin’?’

  After the lecture a senior VAD was elected to give the girls a tour of the hospital, and half an hour later, most of them were beginning to panic.

  ‘It’s ruddy enormous! We’ll never find our way round ’ere,’ Hilary whispered to Annabelle. The wards were full of men with injuries ranging from broken limbs to burns and bullet wounds.

  ‘Poor bugger,’ Hilary muttered to no one in particular as they passed a bed where a man lay with his face covered in severe burns. A QUARNN was dressing them for him with the curtains partially open around his bed so they couldn’t help but see. ‘I hope he ain’t got a wife or a sweetheart waitin’ at home for him, else she’s in for a shock.’

  After a tour of the wards they were shown down into the cellars.

  ‘When the sirens sound we bring the patients who are able to be moved down here for safety,’ the nurse explained to them. ‘Unfortunately, some of the patients are too ill to be moved so they have to stay on the wards and take their chance. We also have operating theatres down here and part of your job will be keeping them as spic and span as the ones upstairs. Cleanliness is of major importance. If the patient should pick up an infection through lack of hygiene during an operation it could be fatal.’

  The girls all nodded solemnly, suddenly understanding that although they weren’t fully qualified nurses, they still had an important part to play in the welfare of the patients.

  Once the tour was over the QUARNN regarded them all seriously as she advised, ‘I suggest you spend the rest of the day getting to know your way around the place. It’s vitally important to know where you are going, as you will probably be somewhere different every day to start with, especially if we have an emergency and there’s an influx of patients. Madam won’t be thrilled if she has to waste valuable time sending out search parties for you. But don’t look so worried.’ She smiled at their expressions. ‘You’ll find your way about a lot quicker than you think. It always feels a bit daunting when you first start. Now I advise you all get over to the mess first for something to eat, and be sure to get a good night’s sleep. You’ll all be on the wards tomorrow.’

  Annabelle felt a bit shaky at that thought. It had been fine practising resuscitation and bandaging up people who weren’t really injured during her training, but it would be different doing it on real patients. Still, it was too late to back out now so she would just have to get used to it. And after all, what was there back at home for her now? She didn’t even have a real mother and father; it seemed as if her whole life had been a lie. Feeling very sorry for herself, she followed the other girls to the mess.

  The next morning after breakfast in the mess the girls were shown to their wards, and from then on Annabelle didn’t know if she was on her head or her heels. One of the QUARNNS showed her the sluice room and where the bedpans were kept, and her first job was to ensure that all the patients that needed one got one. She found herself blushing furiously for the first half of the morning as she helped the men to clamber on and
off them, but by lunchtime she had gone past caring. One male bottom was much the same as another after a time. Then she was shown where the cleaning utensils were kept and soon she was busily mopping and dusting every surface in sight. The Ward Sister’s standards of hygiene were high and Annabelle soon learned that for now at least it was up to her to maintain them.

  Mid-morning wasn’t so bad when she was asked to go around the ward with the tea trolley and some of the men teased her.

  ‘New are you, love?’ one chap asked her with a cheeky wink. He had both his legs in casts suspended from an evil-looking device at the end of the bed.

  Annabelle nodded. ‘Yes, it’s my first day.’

  ‘And where are you from?’

  ‘Coventry.’

  ‘Oh, I hear they took a right blast not so long ago, poor sods,’ he said sympathetically. Now for the first time Annabelle was seeing the real results of war, and it was humbling. Here was she, feeling sorry for herself, when half the men in this ward would probably never be able to lead normal lives again. Many of them had had amputations, others were horrifically scarred and burned, and yet they still tried to be cheerful; it was really quite amazing. And then there were the ones whose injuries were not quite so bad. They would recover and return to fight again, and she wondered how they could face it.

  ‘Phew, I don’t know if I’m on me arse or me soddin’ elbow,’ Hilary complained at lunchtime after making a beeline for Annabelle in the mess. ‘They’ve had me cleanin’ out bedpans for most o’ the mornin’, ugh!’ She wrinkled her nose in disgust and Annabelle couldn’t help but grin.