A patient in traction at the 24th General Hospital in Etaples, France, where Eileen Bush served as a volunteer nurse during the First World War. (Photo credit: Imperial War Museum).
EILEEN BUSH, BORN 1890
NURSE IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
A vivid account, written by Eileen Bush late in her life, of her service as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse throughout the First World War. This included service in war zones in France. VAD nurses served without pay on an entirely voluntary basis. Eileen opens her account in August 1914 thus: It was lovely hot summer day. I had spent the day on the river with my brothers and friends. There was intense excitement everywhere, with rumours of war with Germany. We were all very anxious to be ‘in it’. It was easy for the boys, as most of them had been in the Officer Training Corps at school; they would be called up for the Army. But there was nothing the girls could do except nurse, and for that one had to be trained and there would not be time, as everyoone knew the war would be over by Christmas.
Source: Contributed to Lives Retold in 2021 by Eileen Bush’s grandson Christopher Bishop.