Page 47 - QARANC Vol 20 No 1 2022

The Gazette QARANC Association 47
would later marry. Tom was a Marine Engineer aboard the Stanley Angwin, the communications ship supporting the Royal Yacht as the new Queen conducted her tour of the Colonies.
The ship was returning from Australia and docked in Singapore to resupply. Norah was among a group of senior nurses invited aboard to have dinner with the officers and was seated next to Tom, and so began a very long courtship lasting 15 years, as they both served in various parts of the world.
Norah transferred to the Military Hospital in Kluang in North-Central Johore for her second year, this during a bloody uprising going on around them, and was then transferred to Hong Kong for the last of her three years there.
During this time a request was made to nurse a patient in an Iron Lung, as it seemed Norah was the only Registered Fever Nurse they could find in Hong Kong. She did this willingly, caring for the man for some time, until she too succumbed to infection and quickly became seriously ill. She was nursed there for a time and then shipped back to England for recuperation, spending several months at Chatham Barracks.
Norah served as a midwife in Germany for two years, in Hamburg and Iserlohn, followed by two years in Jamaica, returning to England when the base there was closed in 1959.
She brought Sam, the mess dog home with her rather than leave him to fend for himself, visiting him in quarantine for six months.
Norah enrolled in a Nursing Tutor’s course in Aldershot in January 1960 and began a new chapter in her life. She became a Senior Midwifery Tutor and was tasked with establishing the Midwifery Training School at the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital in Aldershot, training many cohorts of new midwives during her seven years there.
She was very popular and made lifelong friends. Many of her former pupils kept in touch until her death in July 2021, just months after celebrating her 100th birthday.
During her time in Singapore Norah became good friends with George Pinker, who became Sir George Pinker KCVO and Obstetrician to Her Majesty the Queen. Norah became a Midwifery Examiner in 1965, serving alongside Sir
George, and he persuaded her to stay on in this role for some time after she retired from the Army to get married in 1967.
Norah was awarded an ARRC in the June 1967 Birthday Honours.
Norah set up home in Fleet when she married Tom and took Sam the dog to live with them. She also took on a support role in the Aldershot Branch of the QARANC Association, serving as Branch Secretary for several years
She was unable to have children on marrying so late, but Norah willingly took on the role of auntie to everyone’s children and pets. She was so full of life and so entertaining with her many stories of her adventures during her long career. Everyone turned to her for excellent advice on health and personal matters, even when ill health forced her to move into a care home five years ago, she carried on this role until Covid forced her into almost isolation.
Norah had a wonderful 100th birthday party in February 2021, despite being allowed only two visitors. She received cards, letters and presents from almost 70 people, many of them former colleagues or pupils or their families. A highlight was a video tape, nearly an hour long, comprised of video messages from around the world, toasting her on her special day.
Norah died peacefully on 23 July last year. A service was held at Aldershot
Crematorium, well attended by friends and family. One of her former pupils described her as a ‘unique and remarkable woman,’ which she absolutely was.
Many people are missing her deeply now, but she didn’t want us to be sad, she wanted us to celebrate the wonderful and fulfilling life that she’d had, loving and loved by so many.
Joan Chapman (niece)
The Last Post
Gillian CERNY, 16 January 2022
Col (retd) Gillian RUSSELL RRC TD, 26 December 2021
Mary WHITEHEAD, 6 December 2021
Col (retd) Elizabeth Mary LEE RRC TD, December 2021
Col (retd) Margaret BROWN RRC, December 2021
Dorothea Elizabeth THOMAS (nee Richardson) October 2021 Edna GENT, 25 September 2021
Margaret PURVES GC, 13 September 2021
Maj (retd) Margaret BOYLE MBE, 13 August 2021
Maj (retd) Pamela MORLEY-PEET MBE, 16 August 2021 Margaret LINFORD (nee Turland), 10 August 2021
Marjorie BILVERSTONE, 9 August 2021
Lt Col (retd) Maureen KEATING RRC TD, August 2021
Mary MCQUARRIE, July 2021
Maj (retd) Marina REAKES, 9 January 2021
Constance MASELINO-OKAI, 2021
Our sympathy and condolences to families and friends