This Is Your Life: Hilda Rowcliffe

Hilda ROWCLIFFE MBE

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Hilda Rowcliffe, missionary, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the audience at the BBC Television Theatre, having been led to believe she was there to watch a programme about Dunkirk.

Hilda, who was born in Bristol, moved to the French port of Dunkirk in 1926, despite ill health, to work at the Sailor's Rest, a voluntary-run mission for visiting sailors and seamen. When Dunkirk was under siege during the Second World War in 1940, Hilda was forced to leave and spent the war years working at a mission in Fowey, Cornwall.

In 1946, she was invited back to Dunkirk to resume her duties, only to discover that the Sailor's Rest had been destroyed. With the help of locals, the British Consul, and the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, Hilda was able to rebuild the mission and again dispense kindness and support to the crews of visiting ships.

"A pleasure to meet you all at the BBC - I am still in a dream!"

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