Sister Spitfire' Reigns Supreme

Margaret, 93, needed every ounce of her spirit to cope with the carnage of Northern France 70 years ago. But amid the horror of a military field hospital she also found love when she met her husband to be, Geoffrey.

She is proud of the medals she was awarded for her unstinting and brave service and proud of being nicknamed Sister Spitfire by a group of German prisoners she looked after.

It was always her ambition to be a nurse because she wanted to be like her  Nain who was a midwife in Pentre Broughton. So in 1939 she went to Northern France and was based in a field hospital with 1,200 beds.

She said “We tended to the men and gave them the best care we could provide. We saw some terrible things.”

But there was romance amid the horror when Margaret met Geoffrey Ellis who came to the field hospital as a patient.

After being evacuated back to Britain, Mrs Ellis worked at a military hospital on the outskirts of London where German prisoners of war were also patients.

She said: “We didn’t treat them as prisoners. We accepted them as patients, as human beings. I’m not very big and I was very young but I was quite strict and they called me Sister Spitfire. When I left to get married they wrote me a lovely letter.”

For Cindy Clutton, the manager of Gwern Alyn, it is a privilege to be given the opportunity to look after a “latter-day Florence Nightingale”.

She said: “Mrs Ellis was, and remains, a remarkable lady to whom we all owe a great debt."

The indomitable spirit is still in evidence and it’s not difficult to imagine why she became known as Sister Spitfire. At Pendine Park, we employ many nurses and having a real-life heroine in our midst is a great inspiration to us all.”