Kathleen Barker Grayson

The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, Friday 25 April 1941 (page 6)

Woman's Heroism is Sheffield Raid

For heroism in a raid on Sheffield. Mrs. Kathleen B. Grayson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs Frederick Swales of Chapel Allerton, Leeds, has earned the commendation of the King. Mrs. Grayson is a volunteer ambulance driver at Sheffield, and when the raid started her period on duty had just finished. She immediately returned to her post and drove her ambulance throughout the raid, while incendiaries and high explosives showered down. Finally, her ambulance broke down and Mrs. Grayson was wounded in the eye by glass. Although half-blinded. Mrs Grayson dragged her patient from the ambulance and, with the assistance of another girl, carried him the rest of the way to the hospital. Then her own wound was attended to, and the splinters removed. General Sir William Bartholomew, North-East Regional Commissioner, reported Mrs. Grayson's courage to Mr. Herbert Morrison, the Home Secretary, who brought it to the notice of the King. Mr. Frederick Swales is a director of Beck and Inchbold. Ltd., Leeds. 

In late 1940 she and a friend living in Dore had also hatched a plan to raise funds, intending to provide ‘comforts’ to a group of naval men serving on the minesweepers patrolling the North Sea. Kathleen and her friend, Hilda Duffy, pulled a group of ladies around them and created The Dore and Totley Minesweeping Trawlers Comforts Fund. Despite the title its committee and members were drawn from across many of Sheffield’s suburbs and as the group outgrew their sitting rooms they began to meet in the town centre. 

Having raised a large sum of money by 1941 they were able to honour a list of requests from the servicemen: books, games, records, cigarettes, dart boards etc. The other important aim of the group then turned to knitting essential clothing for the men at the naval base in Gateshead, working in the cold and hostile environment of the North Sea. Knitters were recruited from across the city so that by the end of the war the Fund had been able to contribute the largest number of items (7,000+) sent by any group in the country. A magnificent achievement that had given housewives, tied to the home by age or young families, the satisfaction that they too had contributed to Hitler’s downfall. 

As a registered charity, every aspect of its management had come under scrutiny…its fundraising and use of the money, the acquisition and distribution of wool and the safe dispatch of finished items to the naval base. As honorary secretary Kathleen recorded Minutes of meetings, fielded difficulties with orders, and carefully filed away correspondence passing between the group, the base, the grateful sailors and the government departments with whom she frequently had to negotiate. It was a mammoth task. Officialdom was in place to ensure openness at every turn during a time when the black market was almost an accepted part of life. 

In late 1945 an acknowledgement is recorded in the final report of The Dore and Totley Minesweeping Trawlers Comforts Fund, perhaps worded rather formally but I’m sure it was absolutely heartfelt:

‘In conclusion the Committee wishes to place on record its thanks for the painstaking and efficient administration of the Fund by the Honorary Secretary, Mrs K. B. Grayson, whose enthusiasm and energy was an inspiration to all who worked for the Fund throughout its existence.’