Chapter 18
‘What do you mean, you’re going to join the Queen Alexandra’s Nursing Corp?’ Fliss asked Tilly. ‘Aren’t we in enough danger here, close to the dockyards, without placing ourselves in more jeopardy? Besides, we’re needed here. What do you want to go flitting off to France for?’
Tilly folded the local newspaper and looked determinedly at Fliss. ‘I told you that I was learning to drive because it would be useful. Well, this is where I can use it. Ronnie has been served his call-up letter and I want to be where he is. I want to use my skills to help our troops.’
‘And what do Dot and Amelia have to say about all this?’ Fliss asked. ‘They won’t be happy.’
‘I haven’t told them yet,’ Tilly replied. ‘There’s a meeting in the canteen this evening to find out about it all. Will you come with me, Fliss?’
‘You won’t catch me volunteering for anything that will take me closer to getting shot at,’ said Fliss. ‘I’ll come with you, but just for moral support.’
There were six nurses gathered, waiting for the representatives of the Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) to arrive and at 7 p.m. a uniformed nurse and a slightly dishevelled-looking young man entered the room.
Matron introduced them as Sister Jean Cummings and Robert McFarlaine.
Sister Cummings began her talk by outlining the duties they would be expected to perform and explained that they would undergo various tests of their skills and a training course before they were accepted as a Queen Alexandra nurse.
She then explained that they should be under no illusions as to the risks.
It would be better if their families supported them in their application as there were pressures enough without the disapproval of family members.
She introduced Robert, who spoke with a strong Scottish accent and Tilly struggled to understand him at times.
‘Now, you ladies will be wondering what a grease monkey like me is doing here talking to a bunch of nurses,’ Robert said.
‘What’s a grease monkey?’ Fliss asked.
‘Ssh,’ Tilly hissed.
‘Well, any of you who don’t like getting your hands dirty had better leave the room right now.’ Robert grinned. He was obviously enjoying holding the attention of a room full of women.
He removed two items from a scruffy holdall that he was carrying and held them up.
‘By the time you have finished your training, you will be as proficient with a spanner and a spark-plug remover as you will be with a thermometer and a roll of bandages. You will receive a basic mechanics training that will make you as familiar with the insides of an engine as with the insides of a human body. All our ambulance drivers must be able to troubleshoot mechanical problems with their ambulances as well as deliver their patients to the field hospital without further trauma or injury. Do you think you can do that? Because now is the time to decide. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and if you’re worried about splitting your nails or smudging your make-up with engine oil, then this isn’t for you. ’
‘Arrogant little twerp,’ Tilly whispered. ‘Just hope that he’s not my training officer. Don’t think we’d see eye to eye. He seems to have a pretty poor opinion of us women. I’d like to see how he copes with a bowl full of vomit or stitching up a wound.’
‘I suppose he’s only being honest about it all,’ Fliss said. ‘He’s put me off already. Dirt under the fingernails doesn’t sound appealing to me and, as for lying underneath an ambulance with a spanner in my hand, I can think of better ways to spend my time.’
By the time the talk had finished and questions had been answered, Tilly was ready to fill in the form there and then.
‘Don’t you think you should discuss it with Dot and Amelia first before committing yourself?’ Fliss asked. ‘And what about Jonathan. What if he asks you to marry him?’
‘Well, if he loves me then he’ll wait. I’m still young. Marriage can wait. I’ve made up my mind,’ Tilly said. ‘No point in hesitating. The sooner I get the ball rolling, the sooner I can start the training.’
Tilly was due a weekend off. She hoped Ronnie would be at home that weekend too. She decided it would be better to break the news to Dot and Amelia while he was around. He would provide the moral support she needed if she encountered any opposition.
She needn’t have worried, for both women were entirely supportive.
‘You will be careful, though, Tilly, won’t you? No heroics. You can tend to act before you think sometimes.’
‘It’s Ronnie who’s the hero in this family,’ Tilly replied. ‘It should be him you’re cautioning. Have you heard where you’re to be stationed yet, Ronnie?’
‘I must say that I thought you might have escaped the call-up,’ Amelia said. ‘Your job at Saunders-Roe is a fairly crucial one, given that the factory will be producing essential parts for seaplanes and ships.’
‘That’s true,’ Ronnie replied, ‘but there’s also a shortage of trained pilots.
We’ll both be leaving at about the same time, Tilly.
I can’t believe that only a few months ago I was making jokes about you not having the skills to become an engineer and here you are now learning how to tinker about under a bonnet. ’
‘Apparently, it’s as important that I pass that part of the training as the nursing part. I shall make sure I pay particular attention. Breaking down close to enemy lines is not an appealing prospect,’ Tilly replied.
‘Well, I hope you’re better at fixing a manifold than you are at replacing a bicycle chain.’ Ronnie grinned. ‘Last time you tried that, I had to bail you out.’
‘I will learn,’ Tilly replied curtly. ‘It’s all only a matter of practice. I’d like to see how you’d manage a first-aid course. How would you be faced with tying a tourniquet?’ she teased.
* * *
When she returned to the hospital after the weekend, Tilly was one of six young women sitting shoulder to shoulder in the training room.
There was an air of anticipation as they waited for their instructor to appear.
Tilly’s heart sank when the door opened and Robert McFarlaine took up his place at the front of the room.
So, he was to be their instructor. Tilly just hoped that her first impression of him was not entirely accurate.
She couldn’t afford to be at loggerheads with him and fail the course.
The first part of the morning was a general introduction to the type of duties they would be asked to carry out.
They were given a set of overalls and a basic tool kit, which McFarlaine said was to become more important than their manicure kit.
Tilly seethed inside. If he thought that nurses spent all their time worrying about their appearance, then he had a thing or two to learn.
She conceded that Fliss spent a good deal of time on her personal grooming, but then Fliss was not a typical nurse.
Sometimes Tilly wondered why she stuck at it at all.
Then she remembered that it was her mother’s idea and she was on a mission to marry Fliss off to a doctor.
After tea break, McFarlaine took them out to the workshop area.
The smell of engine oil filled Tilly’s nostrils and she felt quite intoxicated by it.
An ambulance stood in the entrance to the workshop.
McFarlaine asked the women to gather around, and then raised the bonnet and called for a volunteer.
A young woman called Joan stepped forward.
‘Now, Joan, I’d like you to point out where you think the engine oil should go and where the radiator is that holds the water to cool the engine.
An essential part of an ambulance driver’s job is to ensure that their vehicle is topped up with both.
Without oil and water, the engine will seize and your patient won’t make it to the field hospital. ’
Joan looked bemused. She stared at the parts of the engine and finally took a stab at guessing.
‘Be prepared for your ambulance to break down as soon as you try to drive it down the road, Miss . . . ?’ McFarlaine grinned.
‘Smiley, Joan Smiley,’ Joan replied, her face colouring up.
‘Well, you won’t be so smiley when the ambulance grinds to a halt and your patient dies through loss of blood.
Think of the engine as a human body,’ McFarlaine crowed.
‘If you administer the wrong treatment, you put your patient at risk and their body deteriorates and finally fails to work properly.’
McFarlaine was enjoying making Joan squirm and the sight of his self- righteous grin incensed Tilly.
‘Isn’t that why we’re here?’ Tilly said. ‘To learn about mechanics? If we knew these things already that would put you out of a job, wouldn’t it? So, can we get on with the class and could you get on and teach us? We’re wasting time here,’ she complained.
Over the lunchtime break, Joan thanked Tilly for standing up to McFarlaine.
‘No need to thank me,’ Tilly said. ‘I enjoyed putting him in his place. It’s men like him who are responsible for keeping women down in the workplace.’
The afternoon went quickly. There was a lot to take in and Tilly made as many notes as she had time to take down.
There would be a practical test at the end of the course and she wanted to make sure she passed it.
She was struggling with trying to get a spark plug out and any amount of brute force was not going to get it to budge, when she realised that McFarlaine was leaning over her shoulder.
She could feel his body against hers and she objected to his being that close to her.
‘There’s a trick to it,’ he said, breathing down her neck. ‘Sometimes these things can be temperamental, a bit like a woman, if you see what I mean?’
‘No, I don’t see what you mean,’ Tilly replied.
‘Well, we grease monkeys always give our machines a female name — my Packard Custom Eight is Josephine. Now, you have to treat Josephine delicately. When you’re working on her, you have to have the gentle, persuasive touch. She doesn’t respond to rough treatment. Know what I mean?’
‘No, Mr McFarlaine, I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Well, how am I to know. Anything goes, these days. Isn’t that right? How does the song go, about driving fast cars? Well, do you like driving fast cars, Miss . . . ?’ he asked, moving beside her and leaning on her chair.
‘Truscott, Miss Truscott. And even if I wanted to try driving a fast car, wild horses couldn’t drag me into a seat next to you,’ Tilly snapped, leaving McFarlaine in no doubt as to her feelings about him and his over-familiar behaviour.
‘And I would appreciate it if you removed your hand from my shoulder, Mr McFarlaine, unless you want me to report you to Sister,’ she said, turning to look him straight in the eye.