AT HELL'S CORNER

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 308, 28 December 1940, Page 8

AT HELL'S CORNER

NEW ZEALAND NURSE. 92 BOMBS ROUND HOSPITAL (0.C.) NAPIER, this day. "Hell's Corner," that small bulge of the Kentish coast which has been the scone of furious action almost throughout the war. is the address at the bead of a letter received by a Napier resident from his sister in England. It describes in moving terms the experience of the people living in the locality which is perhaps nearer to enemy territory than any other part of England, and relates also personal experiences which the writer has encountered in her work as a Red Cross nurse. The presence of a large number of Xew Zealanders in the district is mentioned by the writer. "They arc fine fellows," she says, "but I should hate to get into an argument with them." Of new experiences of Kent and its people she speaks in moving terms. "I am proud to have been in Kent," she says. •'Hell's Corner our little spot is called, and the bravery, pluck and sheer goodness I have seen here is incredible."' How high is the standing of the Kentish people in the estimation of other English peoples she illustrates by quoting her experiences on a recent visit to Wales. "They seemed to want to treat me as a heroine just because mr Red Cross badges had "Kent' written oa them," she said. The writer describes vividly the effects of a direct hit by a bomb on the hospital in which she was working. "All the windows were blown out, doors we» torn off, ceilings crashed to the ground, the lighting system was ruined and the kitchens were thrown into complete disorder," she said. "We got the patients evacuated somehow. In these raids it is the terrible noise which seems to appal one so. soo Planes in Fight. "One day we had about 500 planes overhead at one time, fighting, firing and bombing. The anti-aircraft guns an terrific, but what a cheering sound they give. In one day we had 82 bombs close round the hospital. We have, of course, seen dozens of machines broujfe down. The Weald of Kent is fnHof them. "We have also had many Xazj pilots in hospital. Mostly they are frightened of us, but some are horrible. One actually spat at Sister." London is described by the writer as a source of immense pride to all Enslwhmen. "When I passed through it ot the way to Wales it simply thrilled me The people are so calm, so «ertain and so proud of their London; co saraae that it should be touched. Whoever bombed Buckingham Palace made the biggest mistake of the war. It represents all Britain, and that an attempt should be made to kill the King and Queen made the people simply furious," • .J 0 ?* 6tory of the Kin ? » «'*> told in the letter, which relates the bebavionr £1 a^L oki i C^ ne - v *°«n«> who, when bombed out of her home, was evacuated to Windsor. The Queen went to visit her, and the old woman shoated in greeting, "Gawd help Hitler if he tenches you and your old man." The writer mentioned the growinc consciousness on the part of English people of the evil of war. "To all sorts of people these days there has come a ledged to be evil of itself and in no war » %*P o, v" Ycs we haTe ?° ne * I«W way and when one sees humanity as m see it now one thinks deeply" of many