WWII Nurses made of Tuff Stuff

[justjenn]

Since my next class isn't starting for another 22 days, I have been doing some reading (Besides Harry Potter)!

Anyway, I am reading a book Quiet Heroines - WWII Nurses! WOW. This book gives a good picture of what the British nurses endured and saw in WWII. I knew that the Germans (not all the people of Germany) did horrible things to people, mostly Jews, But I did not know how barbaric the Japanese Army was to nurses, doctors and patients, not to mention women & children.

There are soooo many stories of nurses being ship-wrecked, imprisoned, torchered (sp?) and killed. Some helplessly watched as the Japanese army came into the hospitals of Singapore & Hong Kong (which were runned by the British and Aussies) and saw their patients butchered and killed by bayonnets & then they were killed. But, I noticed they had respect of their patients and the doctors. And in some cases, while the doctors left, the nurses stayed behind to take care of their patients and was left to their fate when they were invaded. They kind of carnage they saw, I never want to see.

Honestly, I wouln't be good enough to be their assistants. Can you tell I am in AWE These women have my upmost respect & admiration. They were strong, brave, compassionate, kind, hard-working w/out complaining and nobel. I would love to have just one of their qualities. What role models.

If anyone gets a chance to read this book, they will not be sorry. I just wanted to share.

[plumrn, BSN, RN]

...another book goes on my list for the summer. Thanks!

[Jay-Jay, RN]

And not just in WWII either. Edith Cavell (1865-1915) was a matron nurse of the Belgium Red Cross in Brussels. Her heroic deeds of aiding 200 or more allied soldiers to escape from behind enemy lines in Germany into freedom in Holland, via the underground railroad, are never to be forgotten with the tribute to her patriotism in the naming of this mountain. Her capture led to her execution by firing squad.

There's a very beautiful mountain named after her in the Canadian Rockies.

[CountrifiedRN]

You might also be interested in the book "We band of angels" written by Elizabeth M. Norman. It's about Army and Navy nurses that were in the Phillipines when the Japanese invaded in 1942. Amazing stories.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

I heard about this the other day, haven't read it yet.

'Half Acre of Hell' is tribute to heroic group of nurses in WWII.

[DeeDee71]

Check out the history section, on the home page of allnurses.com. There are several links to nursing history pages, including one to An American Nurse at War....which is a very good site.

[SmilingBluEyes]

thank you for sharing. THESE were amazing people indeed.

[zudy]

Originally posted by RN2bNC

You might also be interested in the book "We band of angels" written by Elizabeth M. Norman. It's about Army and Navy nurses that were in the Phillipines when the Japanese invaded in 1942. Amazing stories.

I believe there was also a movie about these nurses, an old black-and -white, I saw it years ago, does any one heard about it or seen it? I can't remember the name of it.

Thanks for sharing! Makes me proud to be a nurse.

[PennyLane, RN]

Oooh, I can't wait until this semester is over and I can spend my summer reading all the books I haven't been able to while in school!!!

[CountrifiedRN]

Originally posted by zudy

I believe there was also a movie about these nurses, an old black-and -white, I saw it years ago, does any one heard about it or seen it? I can't remember the name of it.

Thanks for sharing! Makes me proud to be a nurse.

In the book I mentioned there were a couple movies talked about that were made about the events in the Philipines in that era, although the nurses were angered by them because they felt that they were not portrayed accurately. I'll look through the book later to find the names of the movies and post back.

[CountrifiedRN]

Ok, here are some old movies about WWII nurses, but they are not all historically accurate:

Cry Havoc 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - An ensemble movie about Army women living in underground barracks on Bataan (although there were no subterranean quarters)

Since you went away 1944 (a view from the people left at home)

They were expendable 1945 With Donna Reed, about an army nurse on Corregidor in love with the commander of a PT boat

So proudly we hail 1943 The movies intent was to tell the story of the battle for the Philipines through the eyes of the nurses who served there, but according to Ms. Norman, was reflective of reigning (US) cultural views and reverted to cliches and stereotypes.

I got the info from pages 124-126 of "We band of angels" by Elizabeth Norman.

[Mkue]

Thank you for the book suggestions:)