VJ Day is commemorated every August 15th. This year for the 80th time. August 6th 1945 – the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima leaving 140,000 dead.…
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Our world is full of lionesses Not so much in politics, sadly. Football certainly. Let’s hear it for the European champions – England. Israel, Gaza & the West…
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50 years ago today (more or less) An arbitrary date. Sadly wars do not end with the announcement of a ceasefire. It’s more messy than that. But that’s…
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I was 4 years old on May 8th 1945. I remember my mother's tears turning to joy, so different from anguished tears of women waving their men off…
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Every Remembrance Sunday, like many of you, I watch the ceremony centred on the Cenotaph in London and through the magic of television we see moving ceremonies happening…
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Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia 1990-1994. Royal Commission Hospital, Yanbu 1995-1996. No matter how efficient the briefing in London, it did little to prepare me for the reality that was…
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Alice Springs, 1972-1976. Head nurse of ER and the Out Patient department at Alice Springs General Hospital. In those days, gatherings of First Nation Australians lived on settlements…
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Cairo, 1981-1983. My first Middle East experience was like a magic carpet ride through a sensory overload of colours, smells, sights and sounds of a culture so different…
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Cassiar, June 1966 – July 1967. Huddled comfortably at the base of the spectacular Cassiar mountains, the small hospital delivered a full range of health care and surveillance…
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Eskimo Point, Sept 1977 – April 1978. On June 1st 1989 this Arctic settlement was renamed Arviat. This Inuktituk name means ‘place of the bow headed whale’ referring…
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