Description
Object description
A photocopy of her ts memoir (30pp, 1994) of her experiences as a State Registered Nurse (1934 – 1940) and then with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) in the UK, Scandinavia, the Middle East, and North West Europe (March 1940 – 1945), including her training and nursing career with the Barnet General Hospital, Hertfordshire (1934 – March 1940); her call-up and mobilisation (March 1940); her service at the Military Hospital in Netley, Hampshire (March 1940 – April 1940); her active service in the hospital ship, the converted Royal Mail Line SS ATLANTIS off Norway (April 1940 – June 1940), evacuating British, Polish and German wounded, on the voyage to Port Tewfik, Egypt (?October 1940 – November 1940) via Cape Town and Durban, South Africa and Aden, and evacuating the wounded from Madagascar, North Africa and the Sudan to Alexandria in Egypt, Bombay in India, Durban in South Africa, and Haifa in Palestine (December 1940 - 1942); in tents with the 73rd General Hospital in the desert at Quassasin in Egypt (no dates, but 1942 - 1943); the hospital ship ORANJE (1943) evacuating patients from North Africa to Durban, South Africa; the 27th General Hospital at Geneifa near Quassasin in Egypt (no dates, but 1943); her voyage home to the UK in the DORSETSHIRE (August 1943); Buckland House, Brecon (autumn 1943); the 73rd General Hospital at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, UK (autumn 1943 - ?June 1944) and at Bayeux in Normandy (June 1944 – November 1944); Benedon House in Kent (?December 1944 – January 1945); nd the 29th General Hospital at Ekloo (Eccloo) in Belgium (January 1945 - June 1945) and treating the survivors of the concentration camp at Belsen (June 1945 – July 1945); and commenting on life in a troopship; German air raids; her duties; the rations; the conditions; her off duty entertainment, notably concerts, social events and sightseeing; her patients, including their nationalities and the types of sick and wounded treated, notably amputations, burns, dehydration, dysentery, malaria, psychological, sand fly fever and desert sores; the use of morphia, penicillin and sulphonamide; feeling homesick; life in the desert; meeting her future husband; her marriage (September 1943); Italian prisoners of war (POWs); V weapons; American troops; the devastation of Caen; being awarded a Certificate of Merit signed by Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery for her work in France; celebrating VE Day (May 1945); her work at Belsen, notably her duties, the filthy conditions, the treatment and rehabilitation of the survivors, dealing with the contagious diseases prevalent in the camp including spraying DDT daily, the visit of Mary Churchill (ATS Commandant and daughter of Winston Churchill) and her personal reaction to the atrocities which she witnessed; and her reflections on her wartime service.
Content description
A photocopy of her ts memoir (30pp, 1994) of her experiences as a State Registered Nurse (1934 – 1940) and then with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) in the UK, Scandinavia, the Middle East, and North West Europe (March 1940 – 1945), including her training and nursing career with the Barnet General Hospital, Hertfordshire (1934 – March 1940); her call-up and mobilisation (March 1940); her service at the Military Hospital in Netley, Hampshire (March 1940 – April 1940); her active service in the hospital ship, the converted Royal Mail Line SS ATLANTIS off Norway (April 1940 – June 1940), evacuating British, Polish and German wounded, on the voyage to Port Tewfik, Egypt (?October 1940 – November 1940) via Cape Town and Durban, South Africa and Aden, and evacuating the wounded from Madagascar, North Africa and the Sudan to Alexandria in Egypt, Bombay in India, Durban in South Africa, and Haifa in Palestine (December 1940 - 1942); in tents with the 73rd General Hospital in the desert at Quassasin in Egypt (no dates, but 1942 - 1943); the hospital ship ORANJE (1943) evacuating patients from North Africa to Durban, South Africa; the 27th General Hospital at Geneifa near Quassasin in Egypt (no dates, but 1943); her voyage home to the UK in the DORSETSHIRE (August 1943); Buckland House, Brecon (autumn 1943); the 73rd General Hospital at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, UK (autumn 1943 - ?June 1944) and at Bayeux in Normandy (June 1944 – November 1944); Benedon House in Kent (?December 1944 – January 1945); nd the 29th General Hospital at Ekloo (Eccloo) in Belgium (January 1945 - June 1945) and treating the survivors of the concentration camp at Belsen (June 1945 – July 1945); and commenting on life in a troopship; German air raids; her duties; the rations; the conditions; her off duty entertainment, notably concerts, social events and sightseeing; her patients, including their nationalities and the types of sick and wounded treated, notably amputations, burns, dehydration, dysentery, malaria, psychological, sand fly fever and desert sores; the use of morphia, penicillin and sulphonamide; feeling homesick; life in the desert; meeting her future husband; her marriage (September 1943); Italian prisoners of war (POWs); V weapons; American troops; the devastation of Caen; being awarded a Certificate of Merit signed by Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery for her work in France; celebrating VE Day (May 1945); her work at Belsen, notably her duties, the filthy conditions, the treatment and rehabilitation of the survivors, dealing with the contagious diseases prevalent in the camp including spraying DDT daily, the visit of Mary Churchill (ATS Commandant and daughter of Winston Churchill) and her personal reaction to the atrocities which she witnessed; and her reflections on her wartime service.
History note
Cataloguer SNR