Witness to a century
Doctor served in war in India, where she met her husband
AT 101 years old and still going strong as the most senior resident in the Settlers Park Retirement Village, is Dr Jessie Berry. Her long and interesting life began way back in 1916 when she was born in Manchester, England.
After completing her schooling in the city, she attended Manchester University to study medicine and qualified as a medical practitioner in 1942.
World War 2 had in the meantime broken out and Manchester was badly bombed during this time.
“We as a family did not make use of the shelters and took our chances at home. We were fortunate that our home was never struck during these raids, but I remember well the devastation caused by the bombs throughout the city,” Berry said.
After completing her housemanship at a hospital in North Staffordshire, she was conscripted into the Royal Army Medical Corps for the rest of the war.
Wanting to do her bit in the war effort, she chose to be posted to India and arrived there when the Burma Campaign was on.
“I was commissioned with the rank of captain and women were treated the same as men. I loved India and we were treated very well as officers while we were there until the Japanese war ended in August 1945,” Berry said.
It was during this time that she met a man from then Rhodesia, whose unit had been seconded to the famous Black Watch Regiment.
He too was a captain and after a whirlwind romance, the two decided to marry. However, the Black Watch minister did not have a licence to marry couples and could only bury people.
After a frantic search, they found an American padre some distance away in the bush.
Arrangements were hastily made for the wedding, and the couple remained married for 47 years.
“I was still very young and knew little of the rest of the world; I had not even heard of Rhodesia.
“I wrote to my parents to tell them of my plans, but knew that I would already be married by the time they received my letter.”
After the war ended, the Rhodesian forces were put on standby for six months until suitable transport could be arranged to take them home.
Once back in Rhodesia there was another major obstacle. Having joined the army in England, Berry had to return there to be discharged.
Undeterred, she took herself off to Cape Town, where she boarded the wrong ship by mistake. But she got there and was eventually discharged, but it meant she was separated from her newlywed husband for six months.
The couple then bought a farm near Marandellas in 1948. Berry concentrated on doing anaesthetics at the local hospital for a few years until she opened her own clinic in 1958. She ran this successfully for 23 years.
The couple farmed on 2 000 acres and developed one of the top Friesland studs in Rhodesia. But with the advent of artificial insemination, they moved into tobacco and maize farming.
They had three children, who moved to South Africa once they had grown up. Wanting to be nearer their children, the Berrys sold their farm, with a heavy heart, and moved south in 1981.
They settled in Fort Beaufort, where their daughter Jean Atkinson lived.
Berry immediately opened a clinic in the town, providing a much-needed service until she decided to finally retire at the age of 79.
The family moved to Port Alfred three years ago and live next door to each other in Settlers Park.