A Guide to Writing Historical Fiction

WWII Nurses- Request

@ResistanceGirl requested information about WWII nurses. I did my best to gather as many different sources as I could. These are all online, mainly because the majority of the books I could find were memoirs or biographies. These sites generally deal with a historical recounting of WWII nurses rather than a personal recounting.  

Websites:

The Army Nurse Corps: https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/72-14/72-14.HTM

This site gives a broad overview of what army nurses did. It gives you a good starting point to get a general idea of what it took to be a nurse in World War Two. This comes from an official army brochure and it signed by the General of The United States Army. On the bottom, it also provides further readings in memoirs from nurses of the era. 

The University of Wisconsin: http://researchguides.ebling.library.wisc.edu/c.php?g=293228&p=1953193

This site is basically an online library of World War Two nurse resources. It has biographies, memoirs, official documentation, and brief explanations of what nurses did in each major American war. 

Navy Flight Nurses of World War Two: https://www.med.navy.mil/bumed/nmhistory/Pages/showcase/Innovations/FlightNurses/main.aspx

As the title says, this is specifically about navy flight nurses. This was a special branch of the nurse corps and deserves its own reference. 

The Nurses who Were The Angels of Bataan: http://sdhumanities.org/media/blog/the-nurses-who-were-the-angels-of-bataan/

This site is about a group of army nurses who were practically forgotten by history. After Pearl Harbor, nearly one hundred nurses kept going and took care of thousands of soldiers. These nurses were mainly in The Philippines. This is a great article and, even if you aren't writing a story about nurses, I'd suggest giving this a read just for the fun of it. 

Winged Angels: USAAF Flight Nurses in WWII: https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196161/winged-angels-usaaf-flight-nurses-in-wwii/

This site tells about the flight nurses, but it also explains how they did air evacuations. It's a very informative article and also has several other links to explore for more details. 

Lessons Learned by Army Nurses in Combat: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a264441.pdf

This is a college document from 1993 that examines different lessons learned by nurses in World War Two. It goes from World War Two to Operation Desert Storm and provides a hands-on account. 

Women's History Month: Trailblazers in National Guard History: https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article/682922/womens-history-month-trailblazers-in-national-guard-history/

This site is basically a biography of Captain Norma Parsons. She was a nurse and in the national guard. She made great strides for women in the army and even founded her own special branch of the nurse corps. 

The Army Nurse Corps: https://www.med-dept.com/articles/the-army-nurse-corps/

This site details what nurses wore. It helps when describing your character and getting an idea of what nurses may have felt like. 

WWII Nurses: https://www.5thplatoon.org/aboutus2.html

This site is extremely special, it's about black women campaigning to be a part of the nurse corps. Back in the 1930s-40s, America was still segregated and so was its military. This site gives a good look into the integration of the nurse corps. 

Research Guides- Harvard University: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=357201&p=2426623

This is a list of different articles and sources compiled by Harvard University. For further reading, this is the place to go. It has different points of view, journals, and memoirs. 

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I hope these provide a good jumping off point. These sites deal with American nurses and The Red Cross. If you need any more help, research or otherwise, feel free to post a comment or shoot me a message and I'll help you to the best of my ability.