Page 28 - QARANC Vol 14 No 12 2016

26 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Margaret Conolly (Peg) celebrating her 100th Birthday
Peg Conolly was born Margaret Hayward on 21 January 1916, in South Shields, the youngest of three, she had a brother and sister. The family moved to Northallerton in 1926 and Peg trained as a nurse in Halifax.
She enlisted in the Queen Alexandra Nursing Corps at the outbreak of World War 2 and by the end 1940 [aged 24] was serving at The Shaftesbury Military Hospital as a theatre sister.
She was then posted overseas - embarking on the Viceroy of India troop ship (later torpedoed and sunk) - she had the military tailor make her a smart grey divided skirt but the Captain QA followed her up the stairway one day and she was given a right telling off for wearing it – she thought it was just the thing for a windy deck!! The QA’s ran the sick bay and they were the only women on board, but had very few patients. She drank Black Velvet for the first time and had a splendid birthday party. Disembarking in Durban to a warm welcome the QA’s were well entertained - Peg however was badly bitten by cane bugs so spent an easy week as a patient herself! After Durban it was on to Madagascar where she met Frank (Dr Francis Conolly, who had joined the East African Rifles, whilst working in Kenya) for the first time, who was later to become her husband.
Peg with the card received from The Queen, together with Association card
but found the altitude too much and so gave up sport!! Later she was moved on to an American Hospital and during this time managed to meet up with Frank in Calcutta for some leave, before returning to her unit at the transit camp at Deolali (the term doolally came from here as the camp was known to World War 1 soldiers as “Doolally Tap”) All this was during the Japanese Campaign in Burma, and in fact some of the worse fighting of the campaign was in North East India.
As the end of the war neared Peg was posted from Deolali back to the UK and served at Catterick on theatre surgical duties until demob. She was released from active service Feb 1946 - and in her own words “no more uniform, no more first class travel, no-one to do my washing or carry my bags”!!! She returned home to Northallerton and Frank was demobbed from Pirbright Barracks and came up to visit - Peg’s father had to take him shopping as all his civvies were still in East Africa!!!
Frank and Peg married on June 16 1946 at Northallerton Registry Office, honeymooned in Liverpool staying at The Adelphi Hotel, they then took the Irish ferry to the Frank’s family home in Coachford County Cork. Frank was to be general manager of his uncle’s estate - this worked for a while but Peg did find it difficult to be the perfect Irish wife – the cooking of the potatoes correctly was sore trial!!! But there were good times -
Her Officer Commander was Col
Hood who always called her Belinda –
after a cartoon strip girl ‘always up to
something or other’. In Madagascar she was stationed in Diego-Suarez and one night whilst asleep she was attacked by an intruder, only being saved by the other QA’s hearing her screams. She underwent surgery in her own theatre to repair her badly cut leg and thigh. After this event she was flown out of Madagascar in a Sunderland Flying Boat for some well earned R&R.
Her next posting was to Lady Moore Military Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, (it was probably here that she learnt to swear in Swahili). Here there were many Polish and Italian patients - one of whom painted the cartoon picture of Nurse Hayward, that hangs in her room to this day. From the Lady Moore Peg embarked at Mombassa for India and the Burma Campaign - Frank having already left Madagascar for Burma, the troop ship that left before hers was torpedoed and at least 20 QA’s died including several of Peg’s friends. En route the ship docked at Columbo [Ceylon] but smallpox was found onboard so everyone was placed in quarantine! She enjoyed her time in Columbo but eventually it was on to Calcutta by ferry and then train to Comilla (now in Bangladesh). Here she was seconded to AnIndian Unit as Relief Theatre sister at a ‘Basha’ Hospital (tented military hospital) at the foot of Naga Hills - but here there was little work, so she took up hockey
Peg reading the QA book
sailing in Cork Harbour etc.
Peter was born in Cork Hospital and the family were by
then living in Leades House, Coachford but things were not easy, Frank decided to take a GP partnership in Droylsden Manchester and so the family moved to Audenshaw - this was a very happy time for Peg despite the foggy weather, a second son, Tim, was born in June 1951. However, the family ties in Ireland pulled them back so they returned to Coachford where they lived and worked until retirement in 1972, moving to a cottage by the sea at Toormoor Skibbereen.
In 1982 Frank and Peg moved to Defford, Pershore and thence to Eye to be closer to Peter and his family. Peg moved to Buckfield Road after Frank died in 1992. She enjoyed several continental holidays with some of her local friends, was an active WI member and a very keen gardener, she has been a BUPA resident for the last 6 years, and has a grandson Simon, who lives in Australia and a grand daughter Rachael who lives in Bromyard. Rachael has a son and daughter Louis and Mia.
Jane Conolly