Frenchy: World War II Nurse by Cynthia Lynne David

Author:Cynthia Lynne David [Lynne David, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781623092252
Publisher: BN Publishing

Chapter 12

Casablanca: Home Away From Home

The days fell into a new routine for Frenchy and Ellen and the rest of the nurses. Part of that routine was decidedly unpleasant. To combat the danger of malaria, a parasite spread from person to person by mosquitoes, all army personnel had to take regular doses of the drug Atabrine. Unfortunately Atabrine caused severe side effects such as intense nausea and diarrhea. To take their mind off of their misery, Frenchy and Ellen concentrated on their French lessons.

"Qu'esca ques tou vous--like keska two voo. The qu is more like a k." Ellen groaned as Frenchy tried again to help her with her pronunciation of French. Ellen was learning French very slowly. She could get some of the words on paper, but saying the words was more of a challenge for her.

"I am a nurse, not a linguist! They never told me French was a prerequisite for being a nurse," Ellen dropped the book and lay back on her cot. She was tired of French and Frenchy knew it.

"Okay, enough language for now. Let's practice some of those espionage rules." Frenchy grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her head like an Arab. "Now, if someone approaches you like this, and asks where you are being sent for duty, what do you say?"

Ellen giggled, then straightened up and replied stiffly, "That, sir, is classified information, so that even if I did know, I couldn't tell you."

Espionage class, French class, map reading lessons, and calisthenics filled their days with activities and their minds with new thoughts and fears.

"We've come a long way from nurses’ training school," Frenchy sighed as she flopped onto her cot. "Did you ever dream that becoming a nurse would take you to Africa and force you to learn to read a map and keep secret information?"

"It wasn't becoming a nurse that did that, it was joining the army."

"Red Cross," Frenchy corrected indignantly.

"Okay, Red Cross," Ellen agreed.

The differences in the Red Cross training and the army training had become more pronounced as the girls had landed on foreign shores. For reasons no one quite knew, the schedule always seemed to pair an army trained nurse with a Red Cross nurse. The army girls said it was due to the Red Cross lack of military training. The Red Cross girls said it was because their nurses’ training was superior.

Quite a little competition and rivalry had sprung up during the weeks of uncertainty about assignments to the front. Days filled with what seemed like busy work instead of the real job they had come to do only increased the tensions. At least the effects of Atabrine eventually diminished as the nurses’ bodies became accustomed to the drug.

In an effort to boost morale, the superior officers had devised a plan for a sort of field day competition. All of the staff still awaiting assignments to the field were divided into two teams. Each team would have to compete in contests that would measure their combat readiness.

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