Annie Groves - Wartime for the District Nurses

A young couple got on and sat a few seats in front of them. The young man wore the uniform of the RAF, and the girl looked as if she had been crying as her eyes were red and puffy. She clung to his arm and looked imploringly up into his face. They were too far away for Gwen to hear what they were saying, but it wasn’t hard to guess.

She caught Miriam’s gaze.

Miriam shifted in her seat. ‘Did I tell you what I have decided to do?’

‘I don’t think so.’

Miriam nodded in determination. ‘I’m joining the WVS.’

‘The Women’s Voluntary Services?’

‘Yes, exactly.’ Miriam’s face was serious. ‘I am tired of hearing the news and feeling I’m doing nothing.’

‘But you’re always so busy,’ Gwen pointed out. ‘You’ve opened your house to families escaping Hitler.’

Miriam shrugged. ‘The families are no trouble – this new couple don’t have children, and they see to themselves most of the time. I have plenty of spare hours and I want to do something worthwhile with them. They need people who are organised and prepared to turn their hand to anything, so I thought I might fit in.’

‘Well, I should think they’d welcome you with open arms,’ Gwen said decisively. ‘You must let me know how you get on. If I can help, I will, but I won’t be able to join full time or anything like that. We’re going to be even busier from now on.’

‘Really?’ Miriam asked. ‘Do you know something I don’t about what’s happening over in France or Germany?’

Gwen realised her friend had misunderstood. ‘No, I meant at the home. We’re taking on two more newly qualified district nurses. These ones are Irish. They start as soon as we can sort out their accommodation.’

Miriam looked surprised. ‘I thought your home was full?’

‘It is,’ said Gwen, ‘but the woman who owns one of the flats next door has told us she’s going to live with her sister, and she’s given us first refusal on renting it from her. Fiona says we’d be silly to turn down the chance. It’s only small but it has two rooms. They don’t need a living room, as they can share our common room and canteen. It’s ideal, even if highly irregular. I don’t say I approve of bending the rules like that but, as long as Fiona’s happy, who am I to say no? She’s in charge.’

Miriam nodded in assent. ‘These aren’t normal times, are they? I could be wrong and I hope I am, but you might need every pair of hands available soon.’

Gwen stared out of the window, as the bus went past Sadler’s Wells. ‘I’d love you to be wrong, I really would,’ she said, ‘but I have a horrible feeling you aren’t.’

‘Look, there’s Billy,’ said Peggy, tugging on Edith’s arm as they rounded the corner to the Duke’s Arms. ‘Doesn’t he walk well now? You’d never think he’d been in that awful accident before Christmas, would you?’

Edith waved as Billy glanced along the street and saw the group of young women. ‘That’s nice, we can go in with him,’ she said. Once she wouldn’t have thought twice about going into a pub on her own, but that was when she had been young and carefree. Meeting Harry had steadied her – that and a year of district nursing. ‘He was lucky, though,’ she went on. ‘His leg has healed properly and he doesn’t have a trace of a limp. If he’d got an infection it would have been a different story.’

Belinda, walking just behind them with Mary, joined in. ‘Why? What happened?’

‘Oh, of course, it was before you came,’ said Edith. ‘Billy saw a car careering out of control down the high road and heading straight for a woman and her baby in a pram, so he threw them all into a doorway and saved their lives. The car hit him and broke his leg. Alice was the first nurse on the scene and she said it could all have been so much worse if he hadn’t been there.’

‘Goodness.’ Belinda looked with respect at the young man now walking towards them. ‘He must be very brave.’

Peggy nodded. ‘He wanted to join up but he’s got flat feet. Just as well, though, or he wouldn’t have been walking along at just the right time, and Kath and little Brian would be dead.’

‘Oh, so you know the woman?’ Belinda asked.

‘Yes, she’s our friend. She was all shook up about it but wasn’t really hurt. A few cuts and bruises, that was that. Now we all think Billy’s a hero. And he went over on one of them little boats to Dunkirk.’

‘Did he?’ said Belinda, her eyes glinting with interest.

Billy tugged at the lapels of his jacket as he strode towards the women. ‘Evening, ladies.’ He grinned broadly. ‘What a lovely evening it is an’ all. How you doing, Peggy?’ he asked his old friend with concern.

‘Not so bad, Billy.’ Peggy smiled gamely, pushing her hand through her light brown hair. ‘Me and Edie thought it was time we showed our faces in public again, and we brought along Mary – you know each other, don’t you? – and this is Belinda.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Billy, offering his hand, which Belinda shook. ‘Are you a nurse too?’

‘I am,’ said Belinda. ‘I’ve been at the same home as Edith and Mary since January, but I’ve never been to the Duke’s Arms before.’

‘Well, you’re in for a treat,’ Billy promised. ‘I arranged to meet a couple of mates from the docks and they’re bringing some others, so we’ll make a proper night of it.’ He waved his arm to usher them forward, then dropped back to speak to Edith in a quiet voice. ‘You all right, Edie? Not too soon to come out after … well, you know?’

Edith took a deep breath. In all honesty she was feeling rather shaky, but she was determined not to show it. She didn’t want to ruin her friends’ evening out. ‘No, I’m doing well, thanks, Billy,’ she said as steadily as she could. ‘I’ll take it easy, and if I feel like going home before the others then I will. But thank you for asking.’

Billy nodded solemnly. ‘I’ll walk you back if you like.’

Edith smiled at him in gratitude. ‘We’ll see how we go.’

Billy’s colleagues were gathered around a wooden table and bench in the beer garden, taking advantage of the warmth of the evening sun. He hurried to make the introductions. ‘This is Ronald, and this is Kenny,’ he said. ‘We were all down the same warehouse this morning and they fancied seeing my neck of the woods.’

‘Didn’t tell us that you had such lovely lady friends, though,’ said Ronald, the taller one, with a kindly face. ‘Kept that under your hat, you did, Billy.’

Peggy stepped forward a little. ‘We didn’t tell him we was coming,’ she said. ‘We kept it as a surprise, though we thought he would be here.’

Edith watched her friend with a hint of amazement. She herself was in no mood for talking pertly to a group of strange men, even if they were Billy’s mates. She couldn’t imagine flirting with anyone ever again. But perhaps this was Peggy’s way of coping.

‘Then we’re lucky twice over,’ smiled Ronald. ‘And this here’s my brother, Alfie. He’s not one of us from the warehouse, as you can see.’ He indicated a man with tightly cropped sandy hair, in Royal Air Force uniform, who turned to acknowledge the newcomers.

‘Hello,’ he said, and his voice was pure East End, just like his brother’s. ‘Yes, got a spot of leave so came to see my kid brother. Brought along my mate Laurence, as he’s so far from home.’

Another man turned to the group, his uniform jacket over his arm. ‘Hello, ladies,’ he said, his accent immediately marking him out. ‘Thanks for brightening our evening.’

Mary perked up. ‘I say, are you Canadian?’

Laurence’s eyes crinkled in appreciation. ‘Got it in one. Must say I’m impressed. Most folks think I’m from the States.’