From 1945 onwards, Sue Ryder devoted herself to the service of individuals from the camps, prisons and hospitals where Displaced Persons were held in Europe. She was their one true friend. Thousands of uprooted men, women and children were given a new start in life by her efforts. For years, even in the 1980’s, she visited prisons and spoke for those still incarcerated. With determination, great thoroughness and meticulous record keeping, she took on prison visiting as a Sacred Mission. For her, no hours of travel, no amount of opposition from prison governors was too much. She did not rest until the problem was solved. She was there for them.

One Example:- A young Russian was conscripted in 1942. He fought through the War and was stationed with the Russian Army in Austria. He hated the Communists and deserted to the British Army Zone in Germany. He found work in an army kitchen, but the unit was transferred elsewhere. He had no job, no friends, no shelter and no papers. He fled to Austria and was imprisoned. On release, he was ordered to leave Austria. He fled to Germany and was imprisoned. On release, he was ordered to leave Germany. He fled to Austria and was imprisoned. This continued four times. The Germans released him into Sue Ryder’s care. He lived in her car, a tiny Austin A30, until Sue found him a job and shelter. Eight years later she obtained identity papers and he settled in Luxembourg.

On a different occasion, Sue was leaving London after a meeting when she saw rolls of carpet in a rubbish bin. this was too much. ‘Quick, open the boot and load it in. Mr Roberts, (a respected Suffolk Solicitor) you keep watch!’ Mr Roberts later admitted that this was the first occasion on which he had served as ‘A Cockatoo for a Carpet Snatch’, and he wondered whether he would be charged with accessory to larceny, or of larceny itself! Sue was in her element.

For Sue, the War into which she was launched at such a young age, never ended. The scenes she witnessed from those hideous camps haunted her. The enemy, originally Nazi dictatorship, became poverty, sickness, and prejudice. She attacked it with all the energy she could muster. Her work among the ruins of Europe, rescuing, befriending, battling with authorities on behalf of those who were friendless and had nothing, is what makes Sue Ryder one of the legends of the 20th Century.

Collected by Hugh Elphinstone from the writings of Revd Robert Clifton