The Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland has gathered archives, memorabilia, and a roll of honour for nurses from all across Ireland.

In an attempt to free France from Nazi Germany's rule, these nurses arrived in the country on June 6, 1944, alongside thousands of other Allied soldiers aboard ships.


The book Nurses' Voices From The Second World War: The Ireland Connection recounts the stories of nurses who cared for those released from concentration camps and witnessed the war from its beginning to its conclusion.

The gunfire and shelling continued close by while the nurses slept with their tin helmets tucked in close. Winter conditions were reported as “particularly grim,” with rum rations distributed to fend off the chill.

Mary Murphy, a Galway resident, remembers the D-Day landings thus way: "The hospitals advanced to areas of greatest need as the battlefront stretched."

“We were very busy for the first few months, sometimes working day and night with only a few hours' rest.”

“International wards of patients: Canadians, Americans, Poles, British as well as German prisoners of war” poured out of the battlefields, according to Mary Morris, a native of County Galway.

They talk about shell shock and severe injuries that alter lives.

Up to 300 patients may be moved out during the height of battlefield admissions, according to the book, to make room for another 400 admissions.

Operating rooms were always in operation and extra tents were set up when the wards ran out of beds.

Penicillin's availability and developments in blood transfusion and storage have been credited with revolutionising medical care on the front lines and were deemed “crucial to improving care and treatment” as the allies continued to liberate more nations.

Cronroe, County Wicklow resident Violet M. Armstrong was recognised in dispatches for her valiant and exceptional service in northwest Europe.

The Field Marshal Montgomery Certificate was given to Belfast woman Mary Baird, who was among the first nurses dispatched to France and followed the troops to Germany, in recognition of her exceptional dedication to duty.

When the horror of the concentration camps was revealed, nurses on the continent faced further challenges even as VE Day, which was marked 11 months later, was observed.

The book describes how nurses arrived to Bergen Belsen in northern Germany and found hundreds of dead bodies along with 60,000 starved inmates suffering from cholera and typhoid fever.

It stated that the treatment of these individuals was complicated and that they should start with tiny meals since trying to eat regularly after such severe deprivation may be lethal.

“A number of hardened generals who had been engaged in all the heavy fighting from D-day to VE day remarked how nurses had not flinched when faced with the terrible task which confronted them but concentrated on the work at hand,” according to the book.

Ballygawley, County Tyrone resident Gertrude Moutray was sent to Bergen Belsen.

Her journal during that trip, nevertheless, only goes into depth about her arrival and lodging.

According to the book, a lot of nurses were silent about what they saw.

The book was well received by Rita Devlin, director of the Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland, who also expressed her professional satisfaction in the large number of nurses from Ireland who made a substantial contribution to the Second World War.

“These nurses worked under extreme conditions such as weather, enemy attack, food shortage and patient influx during heavy battle,” she stated.

“We should recognise and celebrate their courage and altruism.”

“It is hoped that this publication will in some way shine a light on this overlooked group of nurses who were dedicated to caring for their patients despite the risk of themselves.”

The Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland is selling Nurses' Voices From The Second World War: The Ireland Connection for £5.