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Nursing at the Frontline (Hardback)

A WW2 Diary from North Africa and Italy

Military

By Graham Bandy
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Pages: 272
Illustrations: 100 mono integrated
ISBN: 9781399088428
Published: 28th February 2025

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About 10 years ago a chance encounter led Graham Bandy to be entrusted with a treasure trove of wartime notes, photos, paintings and ephemera that coalesced themselves into the memoirs of a WW2 RAF Nursing Orderley, LAC Harold Scrafield.

A story unfolded through these papers of an older call up, wartime nursing, and travel through the Mediterranean area during the war. Further research found that one of “Scra’s” postings was to a secret medical mission in Yugoslavia. This was Maj Lindsay Rogers’ SOE medical expedition to Titos Partisans organised by Fitzroy Maclean. Of course, this is not described as such in his writings, just as a trip from Bari to Yugoslavia via landing craft, and “escape by HM Gunboat” back to Ancona in Italy. Included inside are many of Scra’s original and unpublished photos, and an amount of his pictures of the partisans both in Yugoslavia and at Bari.

Nursing at the Frontline tells of his entry into Carthage, initially sleeping on the hastily dug graves of the German defenders, the story of the units hosts, the White Sisters and the mostly unknown day to day routine of an RAF Mobile Field Hospital.

Scra also finds himself with air operational squadrons, finds time to photograph before and after pictures of the bombing of Monte Cassino, and to deal with death.

Now, over 40 years since Scra wrote down his memoirs in long hand, almost 80 since the events he describes and 10 years since Graham was entrusted with them, they are published to make for a fascinating read. From Carthage and the White Sisters to the events in Yugoslavia that Scra was involved with. These memoirs take you into the under reported and little known world of the wartime male RAF Nursing Orderly at the sharp end.

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About Graham Bandy

Graham Bandy has spent most of his life in the army, nursing, or both. He has been identifying military badges since he was at school, and is now a much sought after asset at both county and national family history fairs, such as WDYTYA Live and Family Tree Live and has also appeared on BBC's WDYTYA. Graham also gives many talks and lectures on the subject of badge and photographic identification and sits on the Heritage Committee of the QARANC Association. He is married and lives in Sussex with his wife and an ever growing collection of militaria and military photographs, under which they are both slowly drowning.

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