Herbert, I wonder if you were in Alder Hey hospital? My husband spent 11 months in there during 1942, as the result of a road accident. I suppose you would be in the quarantine ward - he was in there for a short time with gastro enteritis. Marged My first memory of christmas was in the very early war years,i was in a Liverpool hospital with Scarlet Fever,the bombing was going on and i know it was christmas time because i remember the nurse,s singing I,m dreaming of a white christmas,we must have been in a cellar or something like that because i can still see it today.All my life i have not been too fond of christmas time,maybe this has been my hangup. New Year is better and i also remember all the ships horns in or on the Mersey. I come from Litherland and not far from the docks. Merry Christmas to all Bert in Oz