The amazing experiences of the Queen Alexandra nurses in the Second World War form one of the greatest adventure stories of modern times, and – incredibly – remain largely untold. Thousands of middle-class girls, barely out of school, were plucked from sheltered backgrounds, subjected to training regimes unimaginably tough by today’s standards, and sent forth to share the harsh conditions of the fighting services. They had to deal with the most appalling suffering, yet most found reserves of inner strength that carried them through episodes of unrelieved horror.
Over 200 nurses died, torpedoed in hospital ships, bombed in field hospitals or murdered in Japanese prison camps. Dozens won medals for gallantry. From the beaches of Dunkirk, to Singapore and D-Day, they saw it all. Whether tending burned pilots from the Battle of Britain or improvising medical treatment in Japanese death camps, their dedication was second to none. This is their story.
Read by Barbara Flynn and Sian Thomas
(p) 2008 Orion Publishing Group
Over 200 nurses died, torpedoed in hospital ships, bombed in field hospitals or murdered in Japanese prison camps. Dozens won medals for gallantry. From the beaches of Dunkirk, to Singapore and D-Day, they saw it all. Whether tending burned pilots from the Battle of Britain or improvising medical treatment in Japanese death camps, their dedication was second to none. This is their story.
Read by Barbara Flynn and Sian Thomas
(p) 2008 Orion Publishing Group
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Reviews
The great strength of this powerful depiction of wartime nursing is the use made of contemporary accounts by the nurses themselves
Tyrer's prose, tripped of purple passage or poetic flourish, reflects a brisk journalistic commitments to gathering the last testimonies in a tale well worth telling
Anyone seeking a definition of the genuinely heroic should read Nicola Tyrer's moving account of Queen Alexandria's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Written with sensitivity, with personal anecdotes and illustrations, this is entertaining and inspirational