Page 4 - QARANC Vol 19 No 2 2021

2 The Gazette QARANC Association
Editorial
As I write this, it seems hard to believe that we have come through 20 months of COVID-19 with its lock-downs, numerous and often confusing rules and regulations, and ‘new normals.’ As life opens up once more, it is gratifying to receive articles and items of branch news that indicate you are all busy meeting up with old friends and enjoying sport and other activities once more. I must admit that I quite enjoyed the lock downs at home, and being in a family bubble meant that we could enjoy real quality time with everyone without the pressure to go out or be anywhere else. It has been a timely reminder of how much our families and friends mean to us, and the ‘Friendship’ extended to me and to everyone else by the Association has been so much appreciated.
Many of you will be aware that this will be my final editorial for the Association Gazette. What started as a one-off in 2017 has turned into eight editions! However I feel the time has come for me to stand down and let someone else take over. I will also be standing down from the Heritage sub- committee and will no longer write ‘Corps Heritage Matters,’ although you may see the occasional history article from me! None of us gets younger, and I am very keen to spend more time with my gorgeous grandchildren, Jacob and Verity, and on my hobbies and interests
whilst I am still fit and able to do so.
I’d like to thank Colonel John Quinn, the Chief Nursing Officers (Army), the Board of Trustees and the RHQ staff for their support during my editorship. Especially I would like to thank all the contributors for taking time out of their busy lives to write articles and submit photographs for publication. Being the editor is a challenging task, but I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to research and write my own material
and to introduce some new ideas. Finally I’d like to thank my husband, Keiron, who has been both a sounding board and a tower of strength in supporting me throughout my editorship. If you think you have the skills and time to be the next editor, please make your interest known to RHQ. You will need lots of patience and a good eye
Alison Spires’ desk displaying some of the Gazettes she has edited over the last five years!
for detail, and having a friendly broad shoulder to cry on when things go wrong is always useful!
Alison Spires Editor
Book Review
CUTTING A NEW PATTERN UNIFORMED WOMEN
IN THE GREAT WAR
Edited by Barton C Hacker and Margaret Vining
Smithsonian Scholarly Press, Washington 2020
ISBN 978-1-944486-35-0
As a contributor to this book it seems a little
disingenuous of me to write a review of it, but
as the chapter, co-written with Keiron Spires, a
trustee of the Association, and British military nursing historian, Christine Hallett, takes up only a few pages, I hope that readers might forgive me!
Cutting a new pattern is a weighty yet scholarly tome published by no less an institution than the Smithsonian in Washington, USA. Its 16 chapters are written by internationally renowned nursing scholars, and they provide an insight into the question of why so many women worldwide were drawn to join various civilian and military organisations during the First World War, and wear the associated uniform.
Wearing a particular uniform sets individuals and groups apart from others, and there is no doubt that uniforms for women can be measured as much by their attractiveness and propaganda usefulness as by their function. The QA red cape historically has provided instant recognition of someone as an Army nurse, and there are many who regret its demise along with the distinctive cape medal. Can any of us say that we were not attracted by the cape when applying to the Corps for a commission?; I was, but it certainly wasn’t my reason for joining!
Cutting a new pattern is not the kind of book that anyone is likely to read from cover to cover. However, it is a fascinating book to delve into as your interest takes you. Is it a book for your own library shelf?; maybe not, however, it certainly deserves a place in the military history section of a library. Should it be in the women’s history section? I guess that might be where you would find it, but I believe the topic of women’s contribution to war and conflict deserves to be part of mainstream military history, not an adjunct or afterthought. If you come across it in a library, do read a chapter or two!
Alison Spires, Editor
Available in the UK from Amazon Books (and others) Amazon price £28.15 (correct October 2021) with free delivery. You may find cheaper copies on second hand book sellers: abebooks.co.uk
Correction
Gazette Volume 19, No 1, Spring 2021, page 17, Florence Nightingale Scholar
The Editor has been made aware that an inaccuracy was unintentionally included in the following sentence of the above published article. The sentence:
‘... went to Zambia in support of Birmingham City University to launch the framework of the first Bachelor of Science Nursing Programme in the country, working alongside senior faculty lecturers and nurses from BCU and the Lusaka College of Nursing’
is incorrect, nor had the scholar worked clinically in the country.
The offence caused by the statement is regretted and the author has offered a fully apology.