An Interrupted Evening

In Carleton Place, a ringing telephone interrupted Marion Jamieson’s dinner party. It was a good night so far, and she was excited to have her girlfriends over. When Marion invited them, she told them to all wear their formal dresses. After all, just because their husbands were serving overseas, didn’t mean they couldn’t dress up. Only in her early twenties, and with two small children at home (the youngest being just four months old), it had been an especially difficult year for Marion.

On the Line

Her dress rustled as she walked to the phone and was surprised to hear the voice of Doctor James on the other end of the line. There had been a devastating train wreck in Almonte and they needed medical assistance. He had been trying to reach her girlfriends, three of whom were nurses. The situation was critical and he needed helping hands. “Bring anybody that can hold a basin,” he said, which is how Marion, a secretary, found herself at the site of the accident, holding Lieutenant Douglas Markham in her arms. . .

View this video with a transcript: An Interview with Marion Jamieson