It is a fascinating story of a rebellious young Irish nurse who is thrown into the deep end as the war starts, having to care for gravely ill children with hopelessly inadequate supplies and in the midst of bombing raids (her sister hospital takes a direct strike). She follows the soldiers into France with the Normandy landings where she tends a field hospital on the frontline. Her patients are axis and allies alike and, in the face of daily tragedy and disease, she finds her strength in her patients with their varied and charming personalities. As a nurse and perhaps being Irish (who were neutral) she brings a culturally un-sided and stark account of the major events of WWII, dispairing at the poor treatment of German prisoners in British run PoW camps, and relaying British foot soldiers' dismay at not getting the air backup they were promised. Through the chaos she meets a man who is to become her husband as the war is ending, she tells of his role to protect the German civilians from Russian soldiers who are conducting revenge attacks.
Links:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Morris_(Diarist)
Family blog: http://marymorrisauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/her-wartime-diaries.html
Old BBC entry by Grandpa: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/53/a4106053.shtml
Irish times: http://www.irishtimes.com/
Daily Express: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/481145/The-forbidden-diary-of-a-wartime-nurse
Irish mail on Sunday, June 1st, 2014
Irish times book review: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/discovering-an-irish-nurse-s-unique-wwii-diary-1.1829873?page=3
Connacht tribune: http://connachttribune.ie/caltra-nurses-d-day-diary-bestseller/
Daily mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-2680044/Nightingale-Dunkirk.html
Essay by Carol Acton: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09670880903533417
Irish times book review: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/irish-nurse-s-account-of-the-war-a-very-private-diary-1.1874768
