Description
Object description
British civilian nurse with Voluntary Aid Detachment, British Red Cross in London and Princess Christian Military Hospital, Englefield Green, GB, 1915-1919
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as civilian in GB, 1914-1915: pattern of wartime service; attitude towards outbreak of First World War, 8/1914; parent's escape from Germany at start of war; parent's war work. Recollections of period as nurse with Voluntary Aid Detachment, British Red Cross in London and with Princess Christian Military Hospital, Englefield Green, GB, 1915-1919: decision to take up nursing; training with Voluntary Aid Detachment; working hours.
REEL 2 Continues: reaction to sight of first operation; social life; restrictions on Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses; attitude of parent's to her service; question of impact of war on women's lives; other war work available to women; attitude towards night duty.
REEL 3 Continues: lack of German air raids; provision of billet for Belgian troops; attitude of Belgian refugees towards Belgian troops; physical condition of newly arrived patients; duration of patients' stay and death rate; patients' sense of humour; relations between nurses and sisters; patients' experiences of war; attempts to boost patients' morale.
REEL 4 Continues: pay and uniform; daily routine; night duty; relations between patients; story of adopting patient's dog; wartime employment of women; question of early reputation of Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses.
REEL 5 Continues: menial duties; attitude of ward sister towards Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses; question of shortage of nurses; attitude towards length of working day; attitude towards initial training; types of wounds encountered and treatment; shell shock cases.
REEL 6 Continues: amputations; preparations for arrival of convoys of wounded; importance of hygiene; contracting scabies from newly arrived patients; treatment of patients on arrival; duration of patients' stay at hospital; use of anaesthetics; visits from patients' families.
REEL 7 Continues: patients' recreational activities; attitude towards war; question of public awareness of war; relations between patients and nurses; different nationalities treated in hospital; treatment of civilians of German origin.
REEL 8 Continues: anti-German sentiment during war; distribution of white feathers; patients' wearing hospital blue uniform; story of dealing with French patient.