Doodlebug by Ray Doyle
Six am on the morning of 13th June 1944, a V1 flying bomb (aka Doodlebug), hit the Free Cottage Hospital in Bradenham, Kent, killing fourteen patients and five staff.
The Head of Surgery, Doctor Pius Hammerman, a German by birth, coordinated the response, saving many more lives.
King George VI, in person, invested him with the George Medal at Buckingham Palace.
A statue of Doctor Hammerman wearing his honour stands outside the rebuilt hospital’s entrance.
At six each morning, a siren sounds. Staff and patients remember that terrible day.
At six in the evening it sounds again, to honour Doctor Hammerman.
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