Many of our former military hospitals were said to be haunted. Often by grey ladies. Perhaps this wasn’t surprising since this was the colour of nursing uniforms from that period. For example, the now all-but demolished Netley Royal Victoria Military Hospital had a grey lady ghost that was reputed to be an accomplished pianist and many a nervous nurse on night duty heard her piano music drift down dark corridors. Only the chapel exists from this once magnificent building. I haven’t heard if she switched to playing the organ!
My experience of a grey lady was hearing tales about her on night duty during tea breaks at the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot. More experienced and time-served nurses and ward stewardesses, the forerunners to modern health care assistants, would regale me with tales of witnessing her or sensing her presence. This often involved first smelling a heady scent of lavender. Next came bone-chilling sensations and more fortunate ones either glimpsed her out of the corner of their eyes or had a full-on manifestation. In revered tones, these men and women of all ranks would talk about her sitting by a dying patient or, remarkably, appearing to be hands on nursing by turning or cleaning a comatose patient.
I never met the grey lady, though I tried! During night shifts, walking down that long corridor on the way to collect my meal, I would peer into the closed doors which led to units used during the day like physio and the med centre which was formerly the officers’ ward. When collecting supplies from other wards, I would walk along the top corridor, sniffing the air and waiting for a temperature drop. I even worked on two of the wards she was said to haunt. When stagging-on as the Night Orderly Sergeant, I had the perfect excuse to wander the entire hospital on the duty of ensuring the hospital was secure. I still didn’t meet her. Not even when checking the mortuary fridge temperature at midnight. This duty gave me the shivers though! Especially as the light switch was located on the opposite wall and I had to enter through the Chapel of Rest and then the postmortem table before getting to the fridges. Fortunately, the dial was on the outside of these. I’ve had to do this duty in a mortuary in Cyprus where the temperature dial was on the inside of the fridge. To read it, I had to open the door and lean over one of the trollies. Often there would be bodies in situ. I never knew whether it was polite to say hello or not!
I tucked away these ghost stories deep in my mind and promptly forgot all about them as I got busy with my career and raising a family with my wife, Karla, a fellow former QA. However, they came flooding back when Karla and I started going to the cinema regularly with an unlimited pass. We often watched three or four films on a day off. These included horror films which I loved, but Karla didn’t. It was fun watching her jump in her seat and the popcorn go flying. This got me thinking about what would make a scary film. Then I remembered about the grey lady of the CMH. Bingo! I had a long career writing articles and opinion pieces for most of the nursing magazines. But could I write a novel? My experience from the army is that I and my fellow soldiers and nursing/medical staff were capable of most things with planning and commitment. So, I set to writing my first novel, The Grey Lady Ghost of the Cambridge Military Hospital.
After it was published, I was privileged to hear from former matrons, nursing sisters, staff nurses and HCAs/ward stewardesses about their sightings of the grey lady. I also heard from patients who had near-death experiences and had been comforted by a lady in old-fashioned uniform, unlike those worn by the nursing staff who cared for them. This led me to believe in this grey lady who was said to have jumped from the clock tower because she had inadvertently killed a patient by a mistaken drug overdose or after hearing her fiancé had been killed in action in France in the First World War. Though these stories varied, what they had in common was a feeling of peace and that she was there to continue her diligent nursing duties.
Do you believe in ghosts and the afterlife? Was the Cambridge Military Hospital and other army hospitals haunted? Maybe time will tell. The building has been preserved, cleaned and converted into apartments. It looks magnificence and has been a sensitive conversion. Perhaps the spirit of the grey lady resides there and watches over the occupants. Maybe she is waiting for the first resident to become gravely ill and help nurse him or her and take them on their last journey to the otherside…
I’d love to hear of your ghostly experiences or thoughts in the comments box below.
Buy The Grey Lady Ghost of the Cambridge Military Hospital and other books in the Grey and Scarlet series at https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1517284740 or read the first chapter at https://cgbuswell.com/The-Grey-Lady-Ghost-of-the-Cambridge-Military-Hospital-Novel.php
Chris Buswell continues to write under the author's name C.G. Buswell. His tenth book continues a popular military post-apocalyptic series, The Fence. He has also recently released a crime horror, Dancing unto Death, about dancing contestants who have been kidnapped and face fatal dance offs.
Chris lives in Aberdeenshire with Karla and his Bravehound assistance dog, Lynne.
