A SPECIAL CELEBRATION was held to mark the 100th birthday of a great-grandmother who took care of the walking wounded from the second world war.

The family of Barbara Gardiner marked the occasion with a party at the All Saints Centre in Uplands last month.

Her granddaughter Corina told the SNJ of Barbara’s ‘rich, varied and colourful career’ which included attending to the walking wounded from World War Two.

After leaving school in 1939, Barbara worked at two law firms before training as a nurse at Townleys Hospital in Bolton during the Second World War.

She took midwifery training at various stages during her career. British Soldiers, Prisoners of War and the walking wounded alike were those among the patients under the professional and tender nursing care at Townleys.

In 1941 Barbara’s diary entry for 5th December read - “Airman arrives”.

The Airman being Clifford Hugh Gardiner, sent for training in Bolton, who would marry Barbara in 1950.

In 1945 at Townleys a midnight call came through announcing that the War had ended.

Barbara, in her excitement, ran into the Maternity Block to declare the great news: “The War’s over!”.

In 1949 she nursed at Liverpool hospital and later worked at Stroud General Hospital A&E for 12 months in 1950.

In 1954 she started a family of her own when she gave birth to a son Tristan Gardiner.

Babara went on to have three more children, all girls.