A British Nurse in WWII
September 22, 2023
11:30 a.m.
Birch Bay Village Inn, and by Zoom
Click to register for this event
NOTE: Registration for the lunch and lecture at Birch Bay Village is now Closed. However, you may still register for the Zoom presentation wich begins at noon. When you register you may also choose to join the waiting list for the in-person lunch.
Drawn from the original journals and albums of Sister Shirley Jean McNab of the British Army, her daughter, Val Libby, presents an illustrated talk about her mother's experience overseas near the frontlines of North Africa and Italy for almost four years of WWII.
Sister McNab joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service in 1942. She was quickly sent overseas with the first Allied effort “Operation Torch.”
She served in Algeria, Italy, back to Algeria, back to Italy until the war ended in 1945. Demobilized in 1946 she decided to immigrate to the USA. By that time, she was a lieutenant. McNab married Edward Libby in New York and continued her nursing career until retirement.
From 2007 to 2013 she resided at Parker Ridge in Blue Hill ME, close to her daughter and son-in-law.
Sister McNab’s documents are now in the collection of the Army Medical Services Museum, UK.
The luncheon, at Birch Bay Village in Hulls Cove, begins at 11:30 and costs $15, payable by cash or check at the door; the lecture is from noon to 1:00.
The Zoom presentation begins at noon. If you register for the online talk you will receive the link the day before. There is no charge for the Zoom presentation.
Val Libby is a teacher for Acadia Senior College, a landscape historian, retired professor and author of the award-winning book The Northwest Gardens of Lord & Schryver (OSU Press 2021).
Click to register for this event, or email learn@acadiaseniorcollege.org.
