This is a fascinating insight into events of the Second World War, seen through the eyes of these remarkable women. Young women who were sent out to do their duty side by side with the soldiers who were fighting. Told from memory of from diaries and letters, written at the time. They knew they had a job to do and they got on with it as one diary entry says: “VE dinner but I wasn’t there. Went back on ward. Had a glass of champagne later”. This book is a true testament to the unselfish, brave and heroic women who volunteered to leave their comfortable homes for the horrors of war.
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 400 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.
"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" Valerie Grove, The Times
"The great strength of this powerful depiction of wartime nursing is the use made of contemporary accounts by the nurses themselves" Penelope Lively, Daily Mail
'[This book] shows the nurses were just as heroic as the men whose wounds they tended... Absolutely inspiring.' Kati Nicholl, Daily Express
Author
About Nicola Tyrer
Nicola Tyrer is a freelance journalist who works for the DAILY MAIL and DAILY TELEGRAPH.
