New
New
Year 6

The experiences of nurses during the Second World War

I can describe how nursing saw great change during the Second World War.

New
New
Year 6

The experiences of nurses during the Second World War

I can describe how nursing saw great change during the Second World War.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Nursing in the Second World War brought new people to Britain and helped new medical techniques to succeed.
  2. At the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead new plastic surgery techniques were trialled on badly injured soldiers.
  3. Sister Mary Meally ran the burns ward, where she looked after badly burnt airmen who were receiving treatment.
  4. Many West African and Caribbean women travelled to, and trained as nurses in Britain during World War II.
  5. These included Princess Ademola, daughter of the Alake of Abeokuta, an important king in Nigeria.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that nurses only did tasks like cleaning wards and providing meals.

Nurses did three years of training and had to pass exams in anatomy and physiology. They handled weapons on the front line and ran the hospitals caring for the injured in Britain.

Keywords

  • Plastic surgery - surgery that involves the reconstruction or repair of the body is called plastic surgery

  • Nigeria - Nigeria is a country in West Africa and at the time of the Second World War was part of the British Empire

Show students photos of the medals won by nurses during the Second World War and the stories behind them.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Complete the sentence: A person who has been moved to another place for safety is an .
Correct Answer: evacuee, Evacuee, evacue
Q2.
What were some of the areas that civilians were evacuated from?
Correct answer: London
Wales
Correct answer: Birmingham
Somerset
Q3.
On what date did Operation Pied Piper (the plan for evacuating civilians) begin?
1st September 1940
1st September 1938
Correct answer: 1st September 1939
1st September 1941
Q4.
Complete the sentence. The night-time bombing attacks on major British cities by Nazi Germany from September 1940 is known as ‘The ’.
Correct Answer: Blitz, blitz
Q5.
What was one of the main reasons that Nazi Germany focused their bombing attacks on cities?
destroy farmlands
destroy churches
Correct answer: destroy industries
destroy museums
Q6.
How many homes had been damaged or destroyed during WWII?
Correct answer: two million
two thousand
two hundred

6 Questions

Q1.
True of false: During the Second World War, nurses only did tasks such as cleaning wards and providing meals.
True
Correct answer: False
Q2.
Who discovered new methods to store and transport blood during WWII?
Correct answer: Charles Drew
Charles Darwin
Charles Dickens
Q3.
What is the method of surgery that Archibald McIndoe used at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead called?
Correct Answer: plastic surgery, Plastic Surgery
Q4.
What was the name of the nurse who ran the burns ward at Queen Victoria Hospital, where she looked after badly burnt airmen who were receiving treatment.
Correct answer: Sister Mary Meally
Mollie Lentaigne
Princess Ademola
Q5.
What was the nickname given to wartime nurses?
Correct answer: ATS
WAAF
QAs
Correct answer: WRNS
Q6.
Which statements about nurses in WWII are correct?
Correct answer: They served all over the world.
They only served in England.
They only worked in hospitals.
Correct answer: They worked close to battle lines.

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