World War Ii Front Line Nurse

The riveting personal account of a Michigan nurse's experiences in France, Germany, and Africa during the Second World War

The riveting personal account of a Michigan nurse's experiences in France, Germany, and Africa during the Second World War

In World War II, 59,000 women voluntarily risked their lives for their country as U.S. Army nurses. When the war began, some of them had so little idea of what to expect that they packed party dresses; but the reality of service quickly caught up with them, whether they waded through the water in the historic landings on North African and Normandy beaches, or worked around the clock in hospital tents on the Italian front as bombs fell all around them. For more than half a century these women’s experiences remained untold, almost without reference in books, historical societies, or military archives. After years of reasearch and hundreds of hours of interviews, Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee have created a dramatic narrative that at last brings to light the critical role that women played throughout the war. From the North African and Italian Campaigns to the Liberation of France and the Conquest of Germany, U.S. Army nurses rose to the demands of war on the frontlines with grit, humor, and great heroism. A long overdue work of history, And If I Perish is also a powerful tribute to these women and their inspiring legacy.

What it was like to be a nurse in every theatre of operation from Dunkirk to the Western desert of North Africa.

No Time for Fear summons the voices of more than 100 women who served as nurses overseas during World War II, letting them tell their story as no one else can. Fessler has meticulously compiled and transcribed more than 200 interviews with American military nurses of the Army, Army Air Force, and Navy who were present in all theaters of WWII. Their stories bring to life horrific tales of illness and hardship, blinding blizzards, and near starvation—all faced with courage, tenacity, and even good humor. This unique oral-history collection makes available to readers an important counterpoint to the seemingly endless discussions of strategy, planning, and troop movement that often characterize discussions of the Second World War.

Contains ... unedited observations and thoughts recorded in ... diaries and letters home from October 1942 to October 1945.

Based upon a range of oral and written testimonies, this text examines the personal experience of nurses who played a role at the front during World War II in theatres as far apart as Africa, Europe and the Far East. Britain's female military nurses pursued a frontline policy for the first time, believing that their skills would be of most use to the wounded in operational areas. As a result, they suffered the same consequences of war - bombing, torture, imprisonment - as their male counterparts and more than 3000 of their number died as a result of the policy.

Recounts the history of the Army Nurse Corps, whose members served with but not in the armed forces, and describes the experiences of nurses in every theater of World War II, including the special situation faced by African American nurses.