'A nurse and a soldier' Men in the ranks of the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Second World War

Dr Emma Newlands

Over 18,000 men served in the ranks of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) during the Second World War, including surgeons, doctors, radiographers, laboratory assistants, nurses and stretcher bearers. Drawn from both conscripts and volunteers, these men came from a range of backgrounds, including army regulars, civilian doctors, conscientious objectors, those with a general interest in medicine, and others who were assigned, often randomly, to medical service. This paper focuses on the experiences of this distinct group of men, who occupied a unique role, as non-combatants in military uniform, whose aim it was to preserve, rather than to take, life.

Drawing on the letters, diaries, memoirs, and archived oral history interviews of RAMC personnel, Dr Newlands examines how men in medical service constructed a sense of identity within the armed forces. She explores the emotional implications of working in the wartime medical arena and questions whether men in the RAMC underwent a civilian to soldier transformation, like their combatant counterparts and how their changed roles and responsibilities impacted upon their sense of self-worth. In doing so, she challenges historical accounts of active service in combat zones and sheds new light on what it meant to be a man, a nurse and a soldier, in the Second World War.

Emma Newlands is a lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Strathclyde. She has particular interests in war, medicine and military culture.

This talk took place on Thursday, 18 November 2021. You can watch a recording of it below: