Grace's Friends

 From time to time Grace mentions her colleagues in her letters to Stan, so who are these people?

On the wards, all the staff refer to each other by their surnames only, and some of these become shortened into nicknames.  "Goodie" and "Bunny" both trained with Grace at the King Eward VII Hospital for Sick Children in Rivelin Valley, north of Sheffield.  It would seem that the three of them then came to train in Nottingham together.

"Goodie" is Jean Gooderson, who came from Thorne near Doncaster.  "Bunny" is another Jean - Jean Warren.  'Laughton' is also mentioned, but so far I have not found a first name for her.

Grace's closest friend at Nottingham, constantly mentioned in the letters, is Kit.  It seems that Kit did not train at Rivelin, as in the 1939 Register (a 'census' taken at the beginning of the war for the purpose of producing ID and ration cards) Kit, listed by her full name Kathleen Gwillym, is at home with her family, including her older brother, Robert, in Sutton, near Askern, Doncaster.  Kit was working as a shop assistant in a drapery shop.  She was born in February, 1922, so is one year younger than Grace.

This photograph was taken at Rivelin and shows Grace (right) with a friend (possibly one of the 'Jeans', but we don't know, as no names are written on the back of the photo) and three of their young patients.  The children all had 'TB Limb' - tuberculosis in their bones, usually caught from drinking unpasturised milk.  There was little treatment except good food, cleanliness and fresh air.  You will see in the background that the beds were wheeled outdoors during the day.  The children were encouraged to play naked in the sun, which is why none of the children has any clothes on.  You will see the little boy on Grace's left has his arm fixed in a frame to support it and to encourage it it heal.