Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Emergency Services
Joyce Williams
Joyce Williams was a student nurse who worked at Meanwood Park Emergency Hospital, treating those who were wounded during the Leeds raid. She lived at 120 Belle Vue Road, not far from site of a fatal incident on the night of 14 March.
Although nurses carried out their work away from the ‘front line’, their role in aiding casualties was nevertheless crucial.
The Emergency Hospital provided longer-term care for those injured in the bombing and Williams aided the recovery of wounded civilians, whilst acknowledging the wellbeing of those permanently stationed at the hospital.
A recruitment poster asking for women to volunteer to drive ambulances.
Alongside nurses, ambulance crews were influential in responding to air raids. A shortage of suitable staff led to urgent calls for women ambulance drivers from autumn 1940 onwards (Mavroudi, 2020).
The role of women during the Second World War was shaped by expectations around their social role and gender. However, women ambulance drivers and nurses like Joyce Williams challenged stereotypes and main an active contribution to civil defence (Mavroudi, 2020).
During the raid on Leeds, 77 ambulances conveyed 117 casualties to hospitals and the efforts of all involved were deemed ‘extremely satisfactory’ by the town’s emergency planners (Civil Defence Emergency Committee, 1941).
