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This story was submitted to the People's War site by the Barnsley Archives and Local Studies Department on behalf of Miss Leadbeater and has been added to the site with his/her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."
When Sheffield was being bombed we had to go down in the cellars of Becketts hospital. I was a ward maid there. Sisters used to serve meals from a trolley, the meals were made from fresh food in the ward’s own kitchen. A dietician used to go round each patient.

We had to clean the ward, scrubbing the floor backwards on our knees and black lead the fireplace. Uniforms had to be checked, pink uniforms, white cap and aprons and black shoes and stockings like the nurses. Auntie Nellie saved her clothing coupons so that I wouldn’t be shown up by the nurses. If anything was missing we couldn’t go out on Saturday night, we used to live in. We had one weekend off a month.

We had lots of kippers, finnan haddock, rice pudding and semolina. It was always bread and dripping for supper, for the patients as well. ��ѿ��ý Sister served the meals, she always said Grace “What we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful”. A friend said at the end ”Thank the Lord for what we’ve had, He should have given us another spoonful, we would have been glad”.

Patients used to save us their pop bottles to take them across the road to get the deposits back so that we could afford to go to the pictures. We used to go to the pictures to see Clarke Gable; it was the Ritz we went to.

Mr Morton, who owned a fish and chip shop at Barnsley, brought fish and chips in for all the patients and staff. He also took free fish and chips to the soldiers who were stationed at Cawthorne.

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