Sister Bruins took part in the Normandy landings, the liberation of Bergen Belsen and tended the wounded from ArnhemThe battle dress belonged to Mary Joan Bruins, who was brought up in Stow on the Wold, but trained as a nurse at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. Having joined the Territorials she was called up, shortly before war broke out, for the Territorial Army Nursing Service (TANS). Following military training she was given battle dress and kit in preparation for the Normandy landings embarking from Southampton in June 1944 as part of 34 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) of the British 2nd Army, under General Montgomery. Landing at Sword Beach she was involved in the Battle of Caen and subsequent battles as 8 Corps proceeded through France and Belgium, treating casualties from battles including Arnhem. Mary was also present at the liberation of Bergen Belsen. Returning home briefly on leave she was almost immediately sent to Tobruk where she met her future husband Captain Leslie M. Boundy. The couple were married and honeymooned in Jerusalem.
Nurses' World War II battledress jacket
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1944 worn during the Normandy landings
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Comments
My father also served in 34CCS, but his memoirs (written
recollections) state that they landed on Juno Beach having been anchored on a Liberty ship off Arromonches, D+10. I stand to be corrected.