Author(s): Evelyn Prentis

Biography

" We were quickly learning to live with war. At night the searchlights gave more light than we had seen since the blackout began. We used it to light our way to the shelters with the patients who could walk there. We became very proficient at moving them quickly when the sirens went. We were equally proficient at talking those who couldn t walk into believing that they would be safe where they were. Some believed us, others didn t. fter her long years as a probationer, Evelyn Prentis managed to pass her Finals and become a staff-nurse. Filled with new courage, she took the brave leap from Nottingham to London brave not least because war was about to break. uddenly nurses found themselves coping with stray bombs, or a sudden influx of patients from places as far away Dunkirk, which would throw the hospital into disruption. In addition, there were RAF men stationed nearby, and suddenly there are hasty marriages and marriages delayed by lack of leave one of which also involves Evelyn. ut amongst it all, the life of a nurse in action still revolved around the comforting discomfort of porridge, rissoles, bandages and bedpans."