Fever Nursing 1940-1943

When a friend and myself decided to choose nursing for our war service, we answered a newspaper advertisement, were accepted by South Middlesex Fever Hospital and duly presented ourselves in September 1940. I was 19 years old.

The hospital turned out to be a pleasant modern building, apparently set in a huge vegetable garden, obviously digging for victory on a large scale. The buildings consisted of a large Nurses’ Home with Matron’s House a short distance away; six, one storey units which housed two fever wards each, and a larger ward fitted out to receive air-raid casualties. There was also a small, but adequately equipped operating theatre. The casualty ward for air-raid victims was empty at this time, as the expected influx of patients had not yet materialised. But it was cleaned and prepared for instant use daily by a skeleton staff.

Our arrival must have set off one of the first air-raids, because as we were preparing for bed, the siren sounded and everyone was ordered down to the ground floor corridor, where we spent the rest of the night. When the raids began in earnest, we were moved to ground floor rooms, and some to the Maids’ House (though where the maids went we never knew). Also air-raid shelters were available, though not used much. After a time we all drifted back to our own rooms.

The wards consisted of one or two bed cubicle rooms. There were six of these rooms each side of the duty room. They opened from a corridor on one side and windows, which could be opened up completely, took up the whole wall the other side. Each room had its own washbasin, and besides wearing a gown, we washed our hands thoroughly before leaving. When the patient was discharged everything was scrubbed with the disinfectant, Lysol — walls, beds, windows. I never saw a case of cross-infection and we had a great assortment of infectious diseases. We even had to sluice typhoid linen by hand, after tipping it into huge containers containing disinfectant. Remember, no rubber gloves then! Visitors were not allowed, and the nurses fetched patients from their own homes by ambulance. Whatever the reason, considering the amount of infection we were subject to, we were surprisingly fit. Malingering was not encouraged, and we were told in no uncertain terms “You are here to nurse, nurse, not to be nursed,” if daring to feel in any way under the weather.

Night duty was not usually as hectic as day, although it was a long night — 8pm to 8am. There was a senior and junior nurse on each ward, and a night sister on overall charge. But nights could be rather noisy, as an anti-aircraft unit was situated nearby — said to be guarding the nearby sewage works. It sent up a continual bombardment when enemy planes flew overhead. We soon learned to distinguish these from our own British bombers. Luckily the hospital itself was unscathed. However the next door market garden (consisting largely of greenhouses) received a direct hit. At the time I was on the other side of the hedge walking home from a day off! The next day all that remained was a field of broken glass. We were young and never saw the danger. Later, as raids increased in Central London, a number of nurses from Westminster Hospital were evacuated to us. Also Chelsea Pensioners. Our little theatre became very busy dealing with major surgery, usually reserved for general hospitals . We fever nurses were required to help with staffing and I gained a lot of theatre experience which stood me in good stead in general training later. Our equipment was antique by modern standards! The sterilizer spat steam when opened, and the large sink where we washed instruments often produced bits of innards such as kidney or intestine.

Although it was war-time, we were fed on plain but nourishing food, though sometimes it was difficult to recognise the identity of the animal supplying the meat. Horse and whale was often suggested. In fact in time whale meat became quite common! As rationing got tighter, we were required to provide small containers into which were doled out our weekly rations of tea and sugar. Milk was included initially, but as it quickly went sour, was soon discontinued. One thing that particularly stands out in my memory, is that each night we were given one large raw potato in a dish to do with what we wished. We cooked it during a quiet period and most nurses had their own notions on potato recipes. The Irish girls were much in favour as they had the brightest ideas. However, we soon learned to add ingredients from the ward pantry, such as dried egg; or a cabbage pilfered from the outside vegetable patch. Then for pudding we filled up with porridge or bread and milk.

We didn’t go out socially a lot. If we did venture into the city and came home in the dark, the sky would be criss-crossed with search-lights and sometimes enemy planes caught in them. Though I never saw one crash. I did however see several Battle of Britain ‘dogfights’. We did have a large recreation room where we put on occasional dances and concerts and generally relaxed.

Our salary was £25 per annum. Not as bad as it sounds, as uniform and board were included. Paid monthly, we usually went off on the razzle and spent most on the first day off after payday!

I have always looked back on my two and a half years at the South Middlesex Fever Hospital as happy days.

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