24 Ball Street

Lieutenant Irene Bradley

(Mary) Irene Bradley was born in the family home in 1916 along with her twin sister Vera and grew up with six siblings at 24 Ball Street. Their father, James Bradley, operated a foundry. Irene, who always used her second name, is mentioned in the 1934 Paris District High School Yearbook. She trained as a nurse, served in the Armed Forces in WWII and spent her post-war life in Toronto.

Irene had graduated from St. Joseph Hospital, Guelph, in 1940, and after three years of nursing experience, she enlisted in Simcoe on February 17, 1943, with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (Active Force). She was stationed at Chlorley Park Military Hospital in Toronto.

On March 3, 1944 she disembarked to Europe to serve in Canadian General Hospitals. These were medical units of the Canadian Army Medical Corps that provided care for soldiers during the World Wars. These hospitals, such as No. 2 Canadian General Hospital and No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill), operated overseas to treat the sick and wounded. Irene served in the UK, Italy, and France during the Second World War. According to the family, at one point, the ship she was on which was taking supplies and nurses to the Canadian Hospital in Italy was hit by a torpedo but no one was injured and they were able to disembark safely. These ships were supposed to be off limits to German U-boats, but that understanding was not always honoured. The nurses worked in dangerous conditions, often near the front lines, and faced many of the same hazards as the troops, such as bombing, shelling, and disease. 

Irene was discharged on Sept 16, 1946, and returned to Paris to live at 24 Ball Street. She was transferred to the Reserve of Active Officers.  She soon moved to Toronto to take a job at Sunnybrook Hospital which at the time was a provincial veterans hospital. She worked there until she retired in 1975 when she moved to Burlington where her twin sister lived.  She died in 1981 at 65 years of age and is buried with her parents in the Paris Cemetery.