Description
Object description
British civilian member of Peace Pledge Union in Croydon, GB, 1936-1938; civilian in London and Croydon, GB, 1939-1945; volunteer with Friends Relief Service in Germany, 1945-1946; volunteer with British Red Cross in Recklinghausen, Germany, 1946-1948
Content description
REEL 1 Background in London and Croydon, GB, 1915-1939: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; membership of Peace Pledge Union; contact with Dick Sheppard. Aspects of period as civilian in Croydon, GB, 1939-1945: German Air Force attacks on Croydon area and public morale; first experiences of V1 Flying Bombs during weekend in Seale, 1944; deprivation in Bethnal Green; question of level of crime during war. Recollections of period as volunteer with Friend Relief Service in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 5/1945: background to enrolling in Quaker discussion group; move to former German barracks at Belsen; ceremony of burning last hut in camp, 21/5/1945; her own relief work in camp; three male inmates who dressed as women to jump queue for evacuation from camp; level of functioning of team in camp; effect of experiences on her attitude.
REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as volunteer with Friends Relief Service in Germany, 1945-1946: removal of team to Sulingen Displaced Persons Transit Camp; salvaging blankets from mass burnings for benefit of former camp inmates; work in other Displaced Person camps; ingenuity of Polish Displaced Persons with scrap materials; how Lehre Displaced Persons Camp received nickname 'Gipsy Camp'; use by ex-concentration camp survivors of their striped pyjamas as status symbol; her limited medical experience prior to going to Germany; cause of unwanted pregnancies in Lehre Displaced Persons Camp; illicit stills in Lehre Displaced Persons Camp; improvising knitting needles and other items by Polish Displaced Persons; German doctor working in Lehre Displaced Persons Camp.
REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of period as worker with British Red Cross in Recklinghausen, Germany, 1946-1948: transfer to British Red Cross; her sensitivity about changing into khaki uniform; nature of work; erratic nature of German rationing system and growth of black market; friction between female Red Cross workers and male ex-conscientious objectors; personal responsibilities; contrast between German and British welfare organisation; arrangements for feeding children; persuading father to send supplies from GB; link she organised between Methodist boy's home in Penarth and Roman Catholic home at Recklinghausen; turning men's pyjamas into baby clothes; amusing story about not using Vaseline as food; problem of duplication of Roman Catholic and Protestant relief efforts; use of discussion groups to attempt to bridge cultural gaps; invitation to spend Christmas with German family, 12/1946.
REEL 4 Continues: Christmas celebrations with German family, 12/1946; lack of contact between denominational social workers until brought together by Red Cross meetings; attempts by German women with illegitimate children to find fathers in British military; attempts by Germans to acquire medical drugs; how work came to an end, 1948; prior recollection of reaction to result of General Election in GB, 7/1945; activities on return to GB, 1948.
