My mum was saved from deadly flu by bravery of enemy soldier

AS the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War nears, we are telling stories of ordinary people who made extraordinary sacrifices. Here Barbara Weatherill, 93, of Selby, North Yorks, pays tribute to mum Rosa Crorken, right, who was in the Women’s Army Auxiliary

Corps – and the enemy who saved her life.

IN 1918 my mother was taken ill after Spanish flu broke out, killing thousands. She was in Rugeley, Staffs, in charge of the officers’ mess, not a glamorous job but she enjoyed it. One day mum was alone in a hut and was delirious, making all kinds of peculiar noises. A group of German prisoners of war were doing odd jobs around the camp. One was working under the hut and heard my mother. It could’ve cost him dearly to venture into the hut but he plucked up the courage.

He found my mum unconscious and he ran to get help. She was taken to hospital straight away – that PoW saved her life.

But we have no idea who he was – mother never said – but it goes to show that they were all just ordinary human beings.

My mum and dad didn’t really talk about the war, except for funnier stories, like how they met. Dad John was in the Northumberland Fusiliers and was among a group told to clean some windows. That day mum was cleaning the inside of the same window. They saw each other through the pane and it was love at first sight. They were happily married until he died in 1969. My mother died in 1983.

■ Thank those who served at rbl.org.uk.