CWGC - Probationer Nurse. Daughter of William and
Catherine Moffatt, of 296 Reginald Road, Sutton
Oak, St. Helens. Died at Salford Royal Hospital.

After leaving school Rose Moffatt and Margaret
Lowery joined Littlewoods in Liverpool whilst
Helen Sheridan became a clerk. However, early in
1940 Rose and Margaret decided that nursing was
their true vocation and they took up probationary
positions at Salford Royal Hospital and Helen was
easily persuaded to join them.

On Saturday May 31st, 1941 Helen Sheridan was back
at home in Sutton enjoying a weekend off.   An
hour after returning to the hospital late on the
Sunday night, an air raid siren sounded and the
second-heaviest attack on Manchester during the
Second World War was about to begin.   The three
Sutton girls were amongst a group of nurses who
evacuated 150 patients from the Salford Royal to a
nearby building.   Just after midnight on Whit
Monday a sustained ninety minute blitz saw high
explosive and incendiary bombs dropped on
Manchester, Salford and Stretford. 

One bomb tore its way through the building where
the evacuated patients and staff where sheltering
and was deflected into the roadway. Its explosion
caused part of the building to collapse, trapping
the nurses. On Monday afternoon the parents of
Rose, Margaret and Helen back in Sutton were
informed that their children were missing. Twenty
workers clawed at the debris for two days until
late on Tuesday evening, the bodies of 14 nurses
were recovered.

As the remains of Helen Sheridan, Rose Moffatt and
Margaret Lowery were laid to rest in the cemetery
at St. Anne's Church, many of the hundreds of
mourners were unable to contain their grief. The
St. Helens Newspaper of June 10th, 1941 reported
that "pathetic scenes were witnessed at the
graveside" as the three 19-year-olds' coffins were
lowered into a single grave. The trio of best pals
had gone to school together before becoming nurses
at the same Manchester hospital where they lost
their lives together. So it was felt appropriate
that they should be buried together. 

M.I. - "Who after nobly doing their duty as nurses
tending the sick and helpless were killed by enemy
action on 2nd June 1941 - R.I.P."

See a full report on Stephen Wainwright's
excellent local history website - "Sutton Beauty &
Heritage"

http://www.suttonbeauty.org.uk/documents/sutton_nurses.pdf