Page:SLQ OM81-130 Eleanor Elizabeth Bourne Papers p4.jpg

(4 The hospital had between 400 and 500 beds and was situated in a street parallel to Drury Lane and quite near Covent Garden and Theatre-land generally. It had been an old disused workhouse infirmary at the time that Belgian refugees were pouring into England. For a time it housed Belgians but, as these gradually found work and other accommodation, the place became empty and was offered by the War Office for the hospital. It must have looked an awkward proposition as it first appeared, for work-house infirmaries were not provided with all modern conveniences. The immediate necessity was lifts and a lift