Physical description

Red hardcovered book covered in a grey dust jacket. The just jacket has the title printed in red at the top then a square with a border around it, inside which is a black and white photograph of two nurses tending to a male patient in a hospital bed inside a tent. There are two red lines underneath and between them the sub-title is printed in black, followed by the author's name at the bottom.

Publication type

non-fiction

Inscriptions & markings

'B14' [Handwritten in pencil in the top corner of the first page]
'B014 2nd copy' [Handwritten in pencil on the first page]
'Property of / Returned Services Club' [Handwritten in blue ink on the first page]
'RETURNED NURSES CLUB OF VICTORIA / CLUB SUB BRANCH R.S.L.' [Stamped in purple ink on multiple pages throughout the book]
'Joan Crouch / April 1986' [signed in blue ink on the title page]

Summary

The 2/9th Australian General Hospital was raised in South Australia in December 1940, and two months later, sailed for the Middle East....This book records their courage, loyalty, selflessness and compassion for thousands of sick and wounded AIF soldiers, often under appalling conditions - sandstorms, rains and mud-slides, intense heat and leaking tents. The problem of administering a rapidly expanding hospital, the nature of the working relationships between doctors, sisters, orderlies and staff, the spirit of comradeship and the high regard in which the Australian soldier was held are all described in detail. (From inside cover)