Shotley Bridge Military Hospital 1944

A Memory of Shotley Bridge.

My late father, Rowland Leslie Williams, served with the Royal Artillery as a driver during the second world war. He served, in particular, with a Scottish Commando Regiment, although he was Welsh not Scottish, and at 40+ years of age, what now would be considered a bit 'long in the tooth' for a commando. He took part in the Normandy D-Day landings but quickly suffered gunshot wounds and mortar shrapnel wounds. One of the hospitals he was sent to was Shotley Bridge Military Hospital where in 1944 as a 12 year old, I accompanied my mother to visit him and stayed at a nearby farmhouse. Whilst I could not describe the visit as pleasant, for a 12 year old it was an exciting rail journey by steam locomotion, of course I was not really aware of the serious reasons which prompted it. What normally would have been just a place name on a map of the Durham area; Shotley Bridge became significant in our family history and experiences during that stressful time for my mother. Like so many events which feature in our lives, be it school, college, workplace or military service, our brain creates special memory compartments that are jogged for no particular reason. It was while viewing a TV antiques series filmed in north Yorkshire during which the team visited a town whose name ended in Bridge, that my memory was jogged of my brief association with Shotley Bridge. The Internet did the rest for me and as a result, I now regard myself as being part of 'Friends of Shotley Bridge'. May I wish that society well, if it exists, and I send warmest greetings especially to the older long term residents and any others who may have had an association with the former hospital. With sincere regards, Gordon Rhys Williams
Royal Air Force 1953 - 1955

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