1914: Then Came Armageddon
Nurses in WWI
“Slightly wounded; shrapnel, mostly. Such are the terms of war.”
True Stories of the Great War, Volume 4, page 323.
Overview
Nurses served all over Europe and even America during World War I. Each nurse’s experience was very different, from where they were stationed to how they served and even who they were surrounded by. From working-class women to monarchs, women from every walk of life witnessed the horrors of war. Depending on their country of origin, some nurses arrived in combat zones at the outbreak of the war, while others, like the Americans, arrived around 1917 and continued to work until 1918 or 1919. Most joined organizations such as the Y.M.C.A., the Red Cross, or the Army Nurse Corps. The organization they were affiliated with determined their title, whether an army reserve nurse or a civilian nurse, as well as their pay. Regardless of their official designation, all nurses worked grueling hours in service to their countries.
Pre-War
According to the Medical Department of the United States Army, the requirements for becoming a nurse in the Army Nurse Corps were relatively minimal. As a general rule, a nurse needed to graduate from a hospital training school. Following that, they had to pass a series of moral, mental, and physical exams. Lastly, the nurse had to be inoculated against smallpox and typhus. Once these requirements were met, depending on where they were stationed, nurses would likely receive lessons in French and be taught specific drills. As for a nurse named Helen C. Bulovsky, a Madison resident, completing a hospital training school was an easy accomplishment due to her proximity to The Madison General Hospital School of Nursing, from which she graduated in 1917. Coming from a Czech immigrant family, she frequently wrote to her mother and sisters. In these letters, as well as in a short biographical essay, she chronicles her experiences during the one-and-a-half years she served. Seemingly never losing her sense of humor or optimism, her writings describe the conditions in which she lived and worked.
During War
Nurses were not only needed in Britain, France, and Germany, but also in Romania, Poland, and Italy. Spread across the continent, nurses typically traveled by Red Cross train, ambulance, or hospital ships. They often moved from one base hospital or evacuation hospital to the next and frequently worked in harsh conditions. As one nurse recalled, “Amidst the rain and the mud we lost no time in helping as much as we could. We had no shelter for ourselves, and, in fact, we had little use for our quarters, because our need among the patients was too pressing.” (Behind the Trenches, page 1)
On the Eastern Front, in places like Romania, nurses dressed horrific wounds coming from the trenches and the battlefields. “A groping hand was stretched out toward me; I took it in mine… The man had no face, no eyes; all was swathed in blood-stained cloths.” (Queen Marie, True Stories of The Great War, Volume I, page 47)
Besides the physically traumatic injuries, nurses also took on many duties to keep the hospitals running and the patients comfortable. Among their more managerial or less medically related duties were paperwork, filling hot water bottles, feeding patients, changing dressings, and administering medication. In addition, treating trench foot, typhus, and diphtheria, aiding in surgery, working with shrapnel wounds, and helping patients with shell shock (now called PTSD) were significant parts of their everyday work. All of these responsibilities, combined with treating more common ailments, meant nurses worked long hours, at times for days on end. “For 72 hours I stooped over cots… Our chief stepped in and told me I should try and get a little sleep. I had almost forgotten that I was entitled to any such luxury.” (Behind the Trenches, page 1)
Nurses managed to find moments of levity between waves of patients, such as short trips to the nearest town or a slightly longer leave to visit larger cities. Besides travel, common ways to pass the time included telling jokes, singing songs, and reading poetry, many of which depicted the struggles of an active-duty nurse. Nurse Helen, prepared songs from home to be sung in French to raise the spirits of those at her base hospital. Others, like a nurse named Aimee O’Keefe, kept drawings, newspaper articles, and the poem by Jack Caddigan, The Rose of No Man’s Land, in a small scrapbook.
Post-War
After the Great War, many nurses returned to their normal lives. Some got married, took up their original nursing jobs, or joined women’s clubs. Some women were sent back to Europe for additional service if they were not discharged after the armistice. Having served their time proudly, some nurses continued in roles of education or advocacy. The post-war story of Aimee is a prime example of this. After the war, she went to school to study the origins of the conflict and the reasons behind the bloodshed. She also gave talks about her experiences, aided disabled American veterans, became the commander of a legion post, and worked as a Red Cross nurse instructor. Her actions before, during, and after the war contributed to greater knowledge about the war and the people it affected.
Conclusion
Saving untold numbers of men, women, and children, World War I army nurses worked tirelessly to reduce the death toll. Facing harsh conditions while routinely being bombed, they managed to aid in surgeries by candlelight and calm the sick and dying. Working wherever there were soldiers, World War I nurses gained a reputation for their bravery, skill, and endurance.