Wendy Weaver, who was held in a Japanese prison camp in China during the Second World War, before settling in Dundee, has died aged 90.
She shared the camp with Olympic gold medallist and Scotland rugby international Eric Liddell, who organised games to amuse the child prisoners.
When Liddell, who was immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire, took ill with a brain tumour, Wendy’s father, John Robinson, a doctor, treated him.
However, facilities in the camp were limited and Liddell’s condition would have been inoperable in a hospital at that time. The sportsman, known for his Christian faith, died in February 1945.
Wendy lived in Dundee for 50 years after coming to the city in 1968 when her husband, Patrick Weaver, was appointed consultant in general surgery at Dundee Royal Infirmary.
Move to China
Mary Catherine Bainbridge Robinson, always known as Wendy, was born in Hastings in 1932 and was taken in China in 1935 by her parents, John and Marie Robinson.
John began work in medical practice but moved to become a medical officer with the Kailan Mining Administration at Tiensin in China.
His father had been a professional musician who had worked with success across China.
Imprisoned
In 1943, the family was sent to Wishien Internment Camp which they shared with Eric Liddell, among other Westerners.
When they were released in October, 1945 they returned to their home but the civil war was being fought in their area and the family was evacuated to Shanghai and then returned to the UK.
After living in London and Wales, the family settled in Hartlepool.
Wendy went on to train as a nurse and it was while working at Guy’s Hospital, London, she met her future husband, Patrick Weaver.
Marriage
They married in 1959 and lived in London, Oxford and Newcastle before Patrick was appointed to his position at DRI, working under Professor Sir Donald Douglas.
The general surgical unit moved to Ninewells Hospital when it opened but Patrick returned to DRI to specialise in urology. He retired in 1992 and died in 2011.
The couple had three children, Elizabeth, a barrister in London; William, a lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of Loughborough; Matthew, who works for the Commodity Futures Exchange in London.
Wendy was an active member of Dundee Bridge Club for many years, enjoyed cooking and walking and was a regular at Dundee Rep.
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