Hay there WW2talk! I've been ehre recently in the past on my prisoner's of War project about 2 years ago, im back and in need of help! Im writting a script on a WW2 senario where the solider falls in love with his war nurse. What i need to know is What were the names of war nurses back then? And what was the name of any sort of ... Mobile Hospital they had back then? Thank you!
Wowbringer Some Nurses were called Jill - Nancy - Beverley - Jane - Catherine etc - you know just the usual girls names - BUT- in the British Army they were called Lieutenants - Captains etc but generally "Sister" as in Nursing Sister. The Hospital where they were working was at the third next stage up from the battlefield - the first being the Regimental Aid post - Second - Field Ambulance - third CCS - Casualty Clearing Station - then finally the General Hospital You are probably thinking along the lines of the popular M*A*S*H unit on TV - no such thing in WW2 Cheers
Capt Bill- Had an arguement recently about the location of # 33 Gen. Hospital as the record shows it was at Catania from 1/45 - 4/45 - not so as I was in that hospital from 10/44 - 12/44 - discharged ISG after skin grafts - signed by Major Gordon who was Chief Surgeon at the time, probably the only one as it was a one wing affair in a Sicilian Maternity unit ! Cheers
Capt Bill- Had an arguement recently about the location of # 33 Gen. Hospital as the record shows it was at Catania from 1/45 - 4/45 - not so as I was in that hospital from 10/44 - 12/44 - discharged ISG after skin grafts - signed by Major Gordon who was Chief Surgeon at the time, probably the only one as it was a one wing affair in a Sicilian Maternity unit ! Cheers Tom Where do you think it was then, at the time you were there? The records show that it was in Syracuse until January 1945, before moving to Catania that month, so Syracuse would be the period that you were there - is that not correct? Sue
Well NO Sue - 33rd Brit Gen. was at Catania ALL the time I was there - and I have the discharge certificate to prove it - I was wounded at the Gothic Line on September 17th - CCS at Ancona less than a week-probably 93rd at Bari -two weeks - Hospital ship destined for Blighty - turned into Catania Harbour think about 24 Battle experienced were taken to 33rd Gen in View of Mount Etna until discharge in very late December - from Catania back up to Torre Annunziatta on the Amalfi Coast - for week's convalescence - then to base depot at Rieti - for re-training on Armoured cars in order to join 16/5th Lancers for the final push into Austria....don't really care what the records show - 33rd Brit Gen were at Catania when I got there in October 1944... Cheers
Hi Sue - and Everyone Else I'm still researching my British family's experience during WWII, and as Sue may remember from previous correspondence, my mother was an actress who joined the VAD in the fall of 1939 (I think). I would love to correspond with people who served in military hospitals in Great Britain during WWII in the VAD. Im particularly interested in Lambeth Military Hospital and the temporary hospital that was set up in the Aerodrome Hotel in Croydon where my mother worked. Does anyone have any ideas about how to find such people? Also - my mother's hearing was severely damaged during her service with the VAD. I talked recently with a doctor who treated her many years later and he told me that the sudden and almost complete loss of hearing on one ear would have been quite devastating. He added that she was the best lip reader he ever knew, and that her training as an actress helped her considerably. Do any one you know how the VAD would have treated someone who suffered 70 - 80 decibel loss in one ear? Would she have been able to continue working as a nurse, or not? There are several reasons this is important evidence for me, one of which is that she evacuated to the US on January 15, four days after a bomb hit the Nurses Home at Lambeth Hospital. This fits the description of the event she told us when were we kids, but not the sequence of her service reported in articles written about her in the US when she learned to fly and piloted a small plane on a 2500 - 3000 mile tour of the eastern US raising money for Bundles for Britain. Yes, she was quite amazing! Unfortunately, she died in 1973, long before I became really interested in her story. Any help would be wonderful and I would appreciate it very much. Thanks Barbara
Barbara, I may be wrong but I think dbf has posted quite a bit on here about the Nursing Home in Lambeth hospital when it was bombed. I think some of the nurses were from Ireland and received awards.
Wowbringer Some Nurses were called Jill - Nancy - Beverley - Jane - Catherine etc - you know just the usual girls names - BUT- in the British Army they were called Lieutenants - Captains etc but generally "Sister" as in Nursing Sister. The Hospital where they were working was at the third next stage up from the battlefield - the first being the Regimental Aid post - Second - Field Ambulance - third CCS - Casualty Clearing Station - then finally the General Hospital You are probably thinking along the lines of the popular M*A*S*H unit on TV - no such thing in WW2 Cheers Yes, I remember Nancy was an American pilot and commander during World War II. I think she was female pilot in world war 2.
We have a WWII US Army Nurse who served in Europe and saw a lot of action in our WWII Round Table Group here in the States. She still wears her dog tags to the meetings. A friend and I had a visitor sit with us. It was a Nurse who was a student of the Army Nurse. The Nurse told us the Army Nurse was the best and most experienced Instructor they had in all their years of schooling. She could not say enough of how the Army Nurse inspired the new Nurses as students. Our Army Nurse still keeps a eye on the Old WWII Veterans every month. She checks on the Veterans and their health just like she is making rounds in a tent on the front.
Hi again - With Sue's help I just identified Netherne Emergency Hospital as one of the hospitals where my mother served as a VAD. This hospital was in Coulsdon/Croydon near Kenley RAF Base and I'd love to hear from anyone who served at there or at Kenley or know anything about either place. My mother was at Netherne in June, 1940, right after my uncle was rescued from Dunkirk, and I wonder if staff at Netherne might have cared for other survivors. Thanks for any information or advice. Barbara
Hi - took me awhile, but now I know you mean Diane not "Database file." I'll check - thanks. The problem with the Lambeth bombing being the one that destroyed my mother's hearing in one ear is that it occurred so soon before she left for the US. When I learned that she worked at Netherne Emergency Hospital, I found a bomb hit the Nurses Home there too, but didn't explode. I'm trying now to find out if an unexploded bomb could have made such a destructive sound wave, and when the bombing occurred. Will read dbf's posts to learn more about Lambeth Hospital. Thanks for your help. Barbara
The delightful Staff Nurse A***l of BMH Munster way back when. I had a minor leg op, on the ward some pals turned up just to add to my grumpy attitude, as I bemoaned my lot through a dry mouth, a vision - well a goodies trolley - pointing weakly (I was ill remember, real man illness|! ) I asked Nick to get me a drink, I pulled the ring and the thirst quenching nectar went down. wrong route it came back, Nick managed to get the waste paper bucket in line of the trajectory, phew close! Then I saw A***l striding across the ward, 'who gave him that?' 4 Jock Guards all looking innocent, as unlikely a scenario as you may or may not encounter. the hysterical laughter that erupted around the ward was no salve to my hurt pride, rolled over by Nurse A, exposing soft uplands through an operating gown a sharp stinging application of Nurse A's form of discipline. I have since learned that in London members of the establishment do not get such services free!
