Interview with Mary Haddie Swan

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Description

Object description

British nurse served with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in GB and Egypt, 1941-1944; served with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service attached to 3rd Casualty Clearing Station, 81st General Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps in North West Europe, 1944-1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1914-1939: family; nursing training at Guy's Hospital, London. Aspects of period as nurse with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in GB, 1941: joining Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, 1/1941; uniform; voyage from GB to Egypt aboard HMT Louis Pasteur; lack of training received. Recollections of period as nurse with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in Egypt, 1941-1943: arrival in Egypt; initial nursing work in hospital in Amreya, Egypt; move into desert with 58th British General Hospital; infestation of tented camp by camel fleas; dealing with wounded; return to Canal Zone in Egypt prior to Battle of El Alamein, Egypt, 1942; visit by General Bernard Montgomery; troops killed when brothel bombed in Alexandria, Egypt; contact with Bedouins; regular matrons. REEL 2 Continues: medical supplies; occasion when hospital tent caught fire; duties as ward sister and opinion of Royal Army Medical Corps orderlies; attitude towards being sent back to GB; communication with fiancé. Aspects of period as nurse with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in GB, 1943-1944: return to GB, 12/1943; pattern of postings, 1943-1944. Recollections of period as nurse with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service with 3rd Casualty Clearing Station, 81st British General Hospital, Royal Army Medical in North West Europe, 1944-1945: arrival in Normandy, France, 6/1944; description of 3rd Casualty Clearing Station; duties and uniform worn; condition of casualties; work with German medical staff in Brussels, Belgium; work of nurses; reaction to death of patients; restriction on use of penicillin; attitude towards treatment of German patients; move to Netherlands, 9/1944; marriage to John Swan in Nijmegen, Netherlands, 9/1944. REEL 3 Continues: bombing of temporary hospital building in Sittard, Netherlands; dealing with survivors of Operation Market Garden who had crossed the River Nederrijn, Netherlands; personal morale; occasion when German wounded were picked up in ambulance in Arnhem Corridor; crossing River Rhine into Germany, 3/1945; state of German civilians; Germans' lack of respect for Red Cross; decision to return to GB, 4/1945; demobilisation; receiving Mention in Despatches for work during crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; reaction to sight of road accident; question of post-war recognition of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service; Major-General Brian Horrock's attitude towards women in the front line. REEL 4 Continues: Reflections of service with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, 1939-1945: post-war visits to Normandy, France in 1984 and 1994; treatment of wounded in 3rd Casualty Clearing Station; memories of Major-General Brian Horrocks; attitude of patients towards their wounding; effect of maggots on wounds; question of personal morale; working in hospitals in Amreya and Mersa Matruh in Egypt; popularity of song 'Lili Marlene' amongst Allied patients; question of impact of war on lives of women.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Smith, Lyn E (Recorder)
Swan, Mary Haddie (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1998-10-26
Dimensions: whole: Duration 115, Number Of Items 4
Catalogue number: 18571

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Interview with Mary Haddie Swan

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