Page 53 - QARANC Vol 18 No 2 2020

The Gazette QARANC Association 51
Donald and Moira Montgomery in 1949
overhead towards Normandy, she was sent by troop train to Greenock on the River Clyde to join HMS Arundel Castle sailing to Algiers, North Africa. Here, she was posted to 94 BGH where she said ‘nursed more illnesses than injuries’. On 6 May 1945, with other members of the unit, she sailed on an American hospital ship to Marseille, France and then travelled overland to Hamburg to join 94 BGH again. She was detached to a military medical facility in Minden, Germany for three weeks and it was here that she met her husband, Captain Donald Scott Montgomery RAMC from Glasgow.
On her release from the Army in September 1946, Moira was employed as a Sister at the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children, Hull (closed). On her engagement to Donald, she became a
Sister at the ENT Hospital in Glasgow (also closed) until her marriage in 1949. At the end of World War 2, Donald was appointed as a junior partner in a large GP practice in Govan, Glasgow, where the main employment at that time was shipbuilding. Many of the workers and their families lived in overcrowded tenement blocks, often one family to a room and no mod cons. Toilets were outdoors, shared with other families and there were no bathrooms. Women did their weekly washing at the ‘steamie’, a Scottish public wash house. They could also have a bath here.
Known for her great sense of humour, Moira ran the family home like a military ward and with much laughter. She employed a maid for a number of years because in those days Moira answered all the telephone calls from her husband’s patients, day and night; a fulltime and unpaid job. She very quickly developed the Montgomery system of triage with these calls. Moira liked to complete the household shopping herself and the maid was therefore trained to answer the telephone in the correct manner during her absence. Amongst Moira’s personal belongings, the family found lists of monthly, weekly and daily tasks for the maid; an early form of job description! Up to the early 1970’s, Donald had only one day off a month. Annual family holidays were taken on the Channel Islands till the mid 1960’s, thereafter they were spent on their beloved Majorca.
Moira’s fierce independence continued long after her husband
passed away in October 1984. She enjoyed her weekly coffee morning with friends and attended an evening sewing bee. A prolific reader of all types of literature, she also read the Daily Herald (Glasgow) newspaper from cover to cover and completed the crossword. As her eyesight began to fail, she did the crossword in The Guardian via an iPad, assisted by her daughter. She was often seen either driving her car or out walking well into her 90’s. A great raconteur, her grandchildren adored her stories. She taught them to recite Robert Burns’ poem ‘Ode to a Mouse’ complete with broad Scottish accent. No mean feat, considering she was a Geordie and very proud of her roots. She also had a very strong faith and was a regular supporter of events at her local church.
In 2015, she was invited to record her living history by the senior archivist at the University of Strathclyde. It is a fascinating insight to her life, including her military service which she often talked of fondly. She was extremely proud to have served in the QAIMNS(R) and of the three lifelong friends she made during active service. All were staunch members of the Scottish Branch of the QA Association for a number of years.
Moira’s funeral service was held at St Luke’s Church, Glasgow and, testament to her engaging personality, was very well attended by family and friends. She is survived by two children, five grandchildren and a great grandson.
Sheila Jones Branch Secretary
Betty Taylor in more recent times wearing her World War 2 medals
Betty Patricia Taylor
Betty was born on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1918. She commenced her general nurse training in 1936, and on completion she specialised in fevers. She subsequently went on to train as a midwife.
In 1941 Betty joined the QAIMNS. She served in the UK for a few months, but was very soon posted to South Africa where she served in Durban, at Oribi Camp, and Pietermaritzburg. After South Africa, Betty was sent to India where she worked in hospitals in Bombay, Deolali, Secunderabad and
Madras. Here she cared for soldiers from Burma and the prisoner of war camps. She would always put fresh flowers in the wards to welcome new patients.
After the war Betty trained as a health visitor and spent a year working in Leicester. From 1948 to 1950 she worked as a public health nurse in Banff, Canada, which she very much enjoyed. Betty came back to Cardiff in 1950 and spent the next 12 years working as a health visitor in the Splott clinic, where she made some lifelong