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Oh Hell: Two Nurses in 1920s London
They could be nurses, decided their father. No one could ever earn enough as a hospital nurse to be independent. They would get the much-needed firm hand, exactly how firm he was yet to discover. And he would know where to find them.
When Freda and Nan Russell-Davis, disguised in this memoir as Elizabeth and Ann Fitzjames, began their training in 1927, they had no idea what they were facing. The sheltered sisters would soon learn London's worst kept probationer nurses were cheaper to employ than maids. True, between cleaning and mopping and brass polishing, they would also become useful cooks. Ann would have every opportunity to develop her flirting skills. Oh, and Elizabeth might get slightly stabbed...
They would also learn essential facts about female anatomy and disease – not always accurate, of course. Young women shouldn't know too much about their bodies. But they'd understand enough to be jolly useful workers – if they didn't mind a bit of bullying along the way.
Freda Russell-Davis and her great niece, Suzanne Askham, provide a rare glimpse of a time when 'the noble profession' of nursing earned the lowest of salaries. Training had yet to be regulated. While the powers that be argued on the matter, the probationers struggled on. Thank goodness for a sense of humour. Not to mention a pair of striped bloomers...
When Freda and Nan Russell-Davis, disguised in this memoir as Elizabeth and Ann Fitzjames, began their training in 1927, they had no idea what they were facing. The sheltered sisters would soon learn London's worst kept probationer nurses were cheaper to employ than maids. True, between cleaning and mopping and brass polishing, they would also become useful cooks. Ann would have every opportunity to develop her flirting skills. Oh, and Elizabeth might get slightly stabbed...
They would also learn essential facts about female anatomy and disease – not always accurate, of course. Young women shouldn't know too much about their bodies. But they'd understand enough to be jolly useful workers – if they didn't mind a bit of bullying along the way.
Freda Russell-Davis and her great niece, Suzanne Askham, provide a rare glimpse of a time when 'the noble profession' of nursing earned the lowest of salaries. Training had yet to be regulated. While the powers that be argued on the matter, the probationers struggled on. Thank goodness for a sense of humour. Not to mention a pair of striped bloomers...
272 pages, Paperback
Published November 8, 2025
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