Page 14 - QARANC Vol 14 No 7 2013

12 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Mary Gardiner’s War Marjorie Bandy’s interview with Mrs Mary Gardiner
Mary Gardiner aged 102 is a member of the Jurassic Coast Branch of QARANC Association having served in QAIMS [R] from 1940 - 44. Mary trained at the Middlesex Hospital qualifying as an SRN and SCM in 1934 [State Registered Nurse and State Certified Midwife]
Q Mary tell me about the war for you...
A At the beginning of the war I was doing Private Nursing through the Middlesex’s Private Nurse Bank but after the war started there were very few jobs.
When the decision was made to evacuate children the organisation was outstanding. My father lived in the Ascot area and some families had as many as 17 children billeted with them. It didn’t always work out and of course children get sick. On a visit home I was “press ganged” by the Vicar’s wife and the widow of a Colonel into running a private nursing home for evacuated sick children. This was in a former hotel called The Forest. I had no help at all and my first patient as a 17yr old from St Paul’s [moved out from London to Ascot] he had jaundice. There were just the two of us in this huge former hotel.
Gradually I got more patients some of whom had been thrown out of the places where they had been billeted as their elderly carers could not cope with these boisterous children many of whom had head lice impetigo and scabies. When the numbers increased, we sometimes had 37 with an age range of 7/8 to 16 yrs old I was given a VAD to help me. We did everything including the washing which was a real chore as many of the children, upset at leaving home wet the bed every night. Two local “ladies” came over on horse-back every day to cook lunch and then rode off again.
We then had a fully staffed and equipped Ambulance train parked in a railway siding with very little to do. The nurses came to help daily helping with bed making and the laundry. They were wonderful. So too was the lovely Jewish Doctor who came daily to treat the sick children.
The local school could not cope with this influx of children so the evacuees had school in the morning and the local children in the afternoon.
Q So how did you come to join the QA’s?
AIwantedtogotoawedding.Ihadhadnotimeoffandnot been paid from September until November. I went to see the local council clerk who told me that I could go providing that I found my own relief nurse. I got in touch with the Middlesex’ Private Nurse branch and someone I knew came to relieve me. When I came back from the wedding she asked me how I could stand it and said that I should do what she had done, apply to the QA’s. So in the November I sent for the papers and got them back by return of post. My father’s permission was required and I was sent to Aldershot for interview. I was interviewed by a very nice plump lady at the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital. She asked if I was willing to go abroad. Yes but not India [my father was already widowed]
At the beginning of December I had a letter of acceptance and told to report to Millbank in January for service in India.
Q So how did you get uniform and basic training?
A We didn’t have any special uniform when we arrived, there were 17 of us with a regular in charge. We had a medical inspection and then we were given an allowance and sent
to Harrods to get measured for our uniforms. We were also given a list of all the other things which we needed to buy, lead lined trunk, bedding roll, sheets etc. We had to report to Millbank every day at 10.00am then spent the day getting our kit together. We were not allowed to tell anyone including parents where we were going. We went for 2 fitting s at Harrods whilst we were waiting to go. I shared a room with 3 others and we stayed together until we got to India.
We were given embarkation leave but not told an exact date for going then in the last week in January we were told “You’re leaving on Saturday but don’t tell anyone.” At this point all of our uniform hadn’t arrived but our luggage was collected and taken away. By now we had everything except a white Toupee and we were instructed to buy this in Port Said. Of course we didn’t sleep much the night before and we were a funny looking bunch wearing uniform and carrying a tin hat, gas mask and overnight bag. I remember there was snow on the ground and the taxi sent to take us to Waterloo got stuck. We had to ask passers- by to help push.
Waterloo when we got there was teeming with troops of all nations. Not telling anyone where we were going seemed irrelevant as all of the soldiers had toupees on top of their kit bags. Having been unable to tell anyone of our departure there was no one to wave us off. It was very sad. We left from platform 13 for Southampton. The train took until mid- afternoon to get to there and of course we hadn’t thought to bring any food or a drink.
At 4.00 pm we were pushed onto a ferry and our same 4 were allocated a cabin. We had boat drill and were given something to eat. Although we were allowed to sleep we were not allowed to undress.
On Sunday 1 February 1940 I woke up in Brittany just 3 weeks after arriving at Millbank. All of our heavy luggage was there all correctly labelled. How did they do it? We spent that Sunday in France having lunch before boarding a train at 4.00 pm The troop train was full of regiments and Naval personnel going not only to India but The Middle East and Malta. We had the South Staffords who were coming all the way to India with us. Someone said “there is Prince Phillip” “Who the hell is Prince Phillip?” I said. I think that he had just left Dartmouth Naval College.
Our train took until Tuesday to get to Marseille as every time a normal train wanted to pass we had to pull into a siding. The on-board troops fed us on stew and tinned peaches and a very small water allowance. We arrived in Marseille in glorious sunshine, flowers everywhere and a white troop ship, not camouflaged. We thought it looked wonderful. We had a fantastic journey, just like a cruise. We all had to do a bit of work dealing with sea sickness and minor injuries. What a wonderful trip. We stopped at Malta but only those disembarking were allowed off, no shore leave for the rest. At Port Said we got off for shopping and of course to buy the toupee. We were also allowed ashore in Aden.
In the last part of our journey Matron received notification of the Indian vacancies. She and the Captain used their hats, in one, the names of us 17 and in the other the 17 posting vacancies. Of we 4, two friends went to Rawalpindi and Brenda Todd and I were posted to Nowshera. It took 3 weeks to the day to arrive in Bombay. We had one night in port where we had dinner and danced at the Taj Hotel.
The next day the very efficient RTO’s [Regimental transport