The second World War

The availability of penicillin during World War II made a huge difference to the recovery chances of wounded soldiers, sailors and airmen. But it didn't lessen the need for well-trained nurses whether at home or abroad. Four thousand Canadian nurses served during the war.

When Canadian nurses were sent to Sicily after the invasion of Italy, Agnes MacLeod of Edmonton was matron of the battlefield hospital. Other nurses tell of arriving in England in 1940 at the height of the Blitz, surviving on very little sleep and wartime rations, while still putting in twelve hour days with very few hours off in a week or a month.

And, of course, getting there was "half the fun"--extended ocean voyages while their convoy of ships zig-zagged across the Atlantic in an attempt to avoid German submarines. Terror combined with seasickness must have made them glad to disembark even if it was in England's blackout.

The Alberta nurses signed on in either Calgary or Edmonton, shipped out pretty quickly to England and Africa to begin with and were later moved to the battlefields in all areas of the conflict. They had to be between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-six, single or widowed with no children, and a registered graduated of a school of nursing. They also had to be in good physical shape and pass an exam set by the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps.

Hospital ships were a possible location, especially in the Mediterranean, the large red crosses indicating their mission not always protected from German subs or bombs. So-called "clearing stations" by definition fairly close to the battlefront were right in the line of fire too. In spite of the danger and lack of equipment and supplies, nurses and other medical personnel handled hundreds of incoming wounded, endeavouring to get to the most seriously wounded first. The same nurses would staff the operating room.

The nurses who served in the military forces were given the title of nursing sisters and during the war were given the rank of commissioned officers. But the workload didn't lessen. Nursing Sister Jessie Morrison spoke of the 1944 push to learn how to pitch tents and dig latrines in preparation for the invasion of France. They left their dress uniforms in the cupboard and were issued khaki pants and shirts and heavy boots.

One of the offshoots of wartime nursing was exposure to new and innovative techniques, unfortunately made necessary by the horrible wounds that had to be treated. Burn therapy and neurological procedures were particularly important. The experiences of these women during World War II drastically changed nursing and the perception of nursing--the admiration and gratitude of all those who came in contact with them was not forgotten.