Description
Ms. Drean describes the role of the Field Surgical Unit in Saint-Omer, France, its staffing complement, and what her specific duties were.
Jean Drean
Jean Drean was born in 1916 in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was the second of three children, all of whom were home-schooled. Ms. Drean studied nursing at St. Joseph's Hospital in Victoria, British Columbia, graduating in 1940. She enlisted in January, 1941 with #16 Canadian General Hospital and went overseas in June, 1942. In England, Ms. Drean served at #15 and #16 Canadian Field Hospitals. In France, she worked in a field surgical unit at a former German hospital in Saint-Omer, treating friend and foe with equal empathy. Lastly, as part of the Army of Occupation, Ms. Drean treated Russian and Polish POWs at a field hospital in Sogol, Germany.
Transcript
And then for a period of time we acted as sort of a casualty clearing station. It’s a very small unit that is in advance. Sometimes almost between the enemy and the ally so you’re having casualties brought in from both sides. There is a field, a surgical team which consists of two or three surgeons and their assistants. And then we had two nurses and there were four or five orderlies and of course your service staff of cooks and cleaners and things like that. And that really is about all a field... and there was an ambulance but then they would be brought in. So they were stationed pretty well up front so it was a busy time at that time I was on resuscitation ward. We would take the most seriously wounded, they would be in surgery and we would take them, burns and amputations and bad abdominal wounds and then we would take those and then eventually as soon as they were able then they were then sent back to England.