Taplow Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital 1956

A Memory of Taplow.

I was born in the Taplow Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital in 1956. My mother told me when I was about 11 years old how I got my first name; at that time Wycombe General Hospital, Wycombe Shrubbery, and Amersham General Hospital were fully booked so it was the Taplow Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital that had some spare beds. It was a hot arid summer that year in July 1956, the air was heavy. As the day passed by the weather turned and there was a mighty thunderstorm with thunder and lighting and the heavens opened up. My mother had no idea what to name me so the nurse told my mother that it was 'gale' force winds outside now after a heavy sticky hot day, so why don't you call your daughter Gail, so she did. My father had french somewhere in his ancestry, he mentioned to my mum we will call her Jacqueline. Today I ask people to call me Jack, Jackie or Jacqueline as I have always hated my first name. I was raised in Taplow with my parents until we had to move to High Wycombe. In 1957 my brother was born at High Wycombe Shrubbery. I was hoping to give birth to my son at this hospital in 1979 but the building had come down in 1978, really they should of kept it going it is a big shame. It was so nice of the Americans and the Canadians to help us win the wars and build this marvellous hospital to help the men to recover. The goverment says it's a bad National Health we have, of course it is they who are knocking down british heritage. I am sure this hospital would of helped the patients waiting lists. One day I hope they will put another hospital in Taplow and have a similar design to the old Canadian hospital, because I think if we keep on letting the English goverment knock down hospitals etc.. there will not be any english heritage to visit, they will end up in books.