A Week Of Rememberance - Canada's Nursing Sisters Part Two

The Second World War

After Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, Canada again found itself thrust into a world conflict and again the Nursing Sisters answered the call of duty. This time, however, the nursing service was expanded to all three branches of the military: navy, army and air force. Each branch had its own distinctive uniform and working dress, while all wore the Nursing Sisters’ white veil. They were respectfully addressed as “Sister” or “Ma’am” because they were all commissioned officers. With the average age of 25, by wars end 4,480 Nursing Sisters had enlisted, including: 3,656 with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, 481 with the Royal Canadian Air Force Medical Branch, and 343 with the Royal Canadian Naval Medical Service.

The army sisters, after training in Canada, were the first to go overseas, where they joined units which had preceded them to the United Kingdom. With the soldiers going overseas, the sisters travelled by ship in large convoys, running the perilous gauntlet of German submarine action in the North Atlantic. Upon arrival in England, they worked in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps’ hospitals at Taplow, Bramshott and Basingstoke. To illustrate the demands of their work, following the Dieppe raid, the hospital at Basingstoke received more than 600 casualties and in one 19^1/2 hour period, 98 operations were performed. The surgical staff took only a few minutes’ break to rest between operations.

(L to R) N/S M.F. Giles, Pte. J.D. Bunyan, N/S I. Ogilvie and Paratrooper H.W. Kivinen after arrival of Princess Mary Royal Air Force Nursing Service June 16, 1944.

After three years in England, Nursing Sisters were sent into action on the continent. Donning battle dress, steel helmets and backpacks, No. 1 Canadian General Hospital arrived in Sicily, the first women to land in the Eighth Army area. Almost all hospital units deployed to the continent were initially set up under canvas. Later, they were moved into abandoned or bombed-out buildings. As in the First World War, Nursing Sisters faced many dangers and obstacles in trying to provide medical care in the battle zone. During an air raid on Catania, Sicily, on September 2, 1943, an anti-aircraft shell fell on No. 5 Canadian General Hospital and 12 Nursing Sisters were wounded.

Patients and Nursing Sisters in ward aboard No. 2 Canadian General Hospital Ship Letitia Liverpool, England, November 24, 1944.

The second unit was deployed to El Arrouch, Algeria. Soon after, two more units were dispatched to Italy. En route, the S.S. Santa Elena, which was carrying No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, was attacked, forcing all to take to the lifeboats. Fortunately, there was no loss of life.

As the medical units followed the front north through Italy, they were frequently within range of enemy guns and subject to shelling. Enemy action kept Nursing Sisters extremely busy. For example, in the Ortona salient, the No. 4 Casualty Clearing Station would receive more than 2,000 patients in December 1943, 760 of whom were surgical. After the fall of Rome, there was a comparatively light period of activity, and the sisters settled into routine hospital life caring for Canadian patients and German prisoners alike. As the Italian campaign drew to an end for the Canadians, three medical units moved on to France; the others were disbanded and the sisters posted to other units.

Nursing Sisters of No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, RCAMC landing at Arromanches, France, July 23, 1944.

Thirteen days after D-Day, June 6, 1944, the first two Canadian Nursing Sisters, with No. 2 Royal Canadian Air Force Mobile Field Hospital landed in Normandy at Bernières-sur-Mer. They followed others assigned to Nos. 2, 3 and 6 Casualty Clearing Stations. The Stations were set up in the Caen area. By mid-July, Nos. 7, 8, and 10 Canadian General Hospitals were established west of Bayeux.

Nursing Sisters attending the unveiling in Ottawa on August 24, 1926, of a memorial to Canadian Nurses who gave their lives in the First World War. Included in the photo are Dame Maud McCarthy, G.B.E., R.R.C. Matron-in-Chief of Territorial Army Nursing Service (N.S.), Great Britain, with Margaret C. MacDonald, Matron-in-Chief, CAMC, N.S., on her left.

As the front moved across northern France and into Belgium, in pursuit of the fleeing German armies, the medical units moved with them. Antwerp, which had been captured, was the target of the dreaded German V-2 rockets, and with the Battle of the Scheldt raging to free the Channel ports, the units moved to Nijmegen. The casualties were heavy, 3,934 in four weeks. Fortunately, the end was soon near. The Spring offensive was on and the German Army was driven across the Rhine, where surrender was imminent.

With the end of the war in Europe, the medical units gradually disbanded. Some of the Nursing Sisters as well as other personnel stayed on with the Army of Occupation to care for both military and civilian prisoners of war being released from the horrors of the camps.

No. 6 Casualty Clearing Station personnel leaving Holland on Christmas Day, 1945. Many lifelong friendships were maintained through the Nursing Sisters’ Association.

Two Canadian Nursing Sisters, Kathleen G. Christie and Anna May Waters, had accompanied the force sent to Hong Kong. Later, when the garrison fell, they were taken prisoner by the Japanese. These brave women stayed with the wounded Canadian men, working under atrocious conditions, until they were finally forced into a civilian internment camp. After two years in captivity, they were repatriated to Canada.

During the Battle of the Atlantic, which lasted for the duration of the war, the Canadian Navy had two hospital ships, the Letitia and the Lady Nelson. Both were staffed by army sisters. The navy sisters served on naval bases on both coasts of Canada, in Newfoundland, and at HMCS Niobe, Scotland. The only Canadian nurse to die due to enemy action during the Second World War was a navy sister, Sub-Lt. Agnes Wilkie. Despite the heroic efforts of her companion, Sub-Lt. (dietitian) Margaret Brooke, Sister Wilkie died following more than two hours of struggle to hold out in a life boat, after the sinking of the SS Caribou on October 13, 1942, in the Cabot Strait off Newfoundland. Margaret Brooke was awarded membership in the Order of the British Empire, the only Nursing Sister to receive this honour.

The Nursing Service of the Royal Canadian Air Force was authorized in November 1940.

“Canadian Nursing Sister wearing her winter jumper, – merry and bright – somewhere in France. December 1917.”

More than 100 station hospitals were built and the Nursing Sisters were more and more in demand.Some of them were trained for evacuation by air, 12 served in Newfoundland to participate in air-sea rescue missions and 66 served overseas. By the end of the Second World War, 3,649 Nursing Sisters had served in the Army, 481 in the Air Force and 343 in the Navy.

No account of military service in the Second World War would be complete without mention of the contribution made by the four special branches of the nursing service – the Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Dietitians and Home Sisters. Also, the sisters who served on the hospital trains returning the wounded to destinations across Canada.

The end of the Second World War brought the closure of military and station hospitals across Canada. A total of 80 nurses, 30 RCAMC, 30 RCAF and 20 RCN sisters joined the permanent force and served at military establishments across the country; many more staffed the Department of Veterans Affairs’ hospitals to care for hundreds of returning Veterans.