Treating Field Marshall Montgomery

Ms. Smith-Adamson describes being the only nurse at her hospital denied an opportunity to see Field Marshall Montgomery during his visit to Germany. Ironically, his aircraft crashes and he arrives at her hospital for x-rays and a checkup. She is his nurse while he is there.

Helen Smith-Adamson

Helen Smith-Adamson was born in Burford, Ontario in 1916. Her father had the distinction of being the first graduate of Royal Military College. Unable to pursue a science degree because of her gender, Ms. Smith-Adamson enrolled in the nursing program at Toronto Western Hospital. After three years, she graduated and found employment as a nurse with John Inglis Co. Her husband had been mortally wounded at Ortona, and following his death Ms. Smith-Adamson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps as an operating room nurse. She served in military hospitals in Toronto and Camp Borden, and later in a convalescent hospital in England. Ms. Smith-Adamson arrived in Njimegen as the war was ending, and transferred to a casualty clearing station in Sogol, Germany. While there, she had the distinction of treating Field Marshal Montgomery following his plane crash. After the war, Ms. Smith-Adamson was a civilian nurse until she remarried.

Medium:

Video

Owner:

Veterans Affairs Canada

Duration:

2:27

Person Interviewed:

Helen Smith-Adamson

War, Conflict or Mission:

Second World War

Battle/Campaign:

Ypres

Branch:

Army

Units/Ship:

Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps

Rank:

Lieutenant

Occupation:

Nurse

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce