World War II Allied Nursing Services

Osprey Men at Arms #370

by Martin Brayley, Ramiro Bujeiro (Illustrator)

The skill and care of the women of the Allied military nursing services was remembered gratefully by hundreds of thousands of wounded servicemen of World War II (1939-1945). The small peacetime services increased rapidly by enrolling reservists and volunteers; the great majority of the nurses who cared for Allied casualties were 'civilians in uniform', who worked tirelessly under difficult conditions and - in tented hospitals close to the front lines - in real danger; many nurses paid for their devotion with their lives. This first-ever fully illustrated study of the US, British, Commonwealth, and other nursing organisations includes many unpublished photographs and 24 meticulously illustrated colour figures.

Genres: World War II, Military History, Nonfiction, History, Military Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2002

Reviews

[Cami Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains a wealth of good, clear photos of Allied nursing services members, but extremely heavily skewed toward British and American nurses. As I am focused on information about the US Army Nurse Corps, this did not bother me but could be disappointing to other readers.

However, there were two glaring errors in the American section that I think are important to note. First, a photo on page 8 of two US ANC members at basic training has a caption that states they are wearing male clothing and equipment “…to make the training a little more bearable.” That is absolute nonsense. Members of the ANC were regularly issued male uniforms because they did not have access to women’s versions until late-war. Even when they went into production, nurses serving near the front lines were unable to be issued those pieces or were not prioritized for them.

On page 24, there is a photo of NNC Chief Nurse Ann Bernatitus who was one of the US nurses evacuated before surrender to Japanese forces. The end of the brief summary of her career states that “[m]any of her fellow nurses lost their lives in Japanese captivity.” This is also false. Although it was extremely close, all 78 women (11 Navy nurses, 66 Army nurses, and 1 nurse-anesthetist) were liberated from the two internment camps after nearly three years. I have no knowledge of any other American nurses passing away during internment by Japanese forces—most captured women were traded back to the US after a few months.

Because of these two glaring errors, I have concerns about the rest of the information in the book but unfortunately don’t have the knowledge about other Allied nursing services to verify anything.

I would be extremely cautious of this book as it does not seem to be to be a very reliable source.

[Almantas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Osprey Publishing Men-At-Arms publication.