You are forever in my heart and my thoughts, and on this day, the anniversary of our beloved Adelaide’s passing, know that I will never, ever forget your beautiful sister either.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

AUTHOR’S NOTE

As with all my books, much of this story is based on fact. It all began when I watched the movie Dunkirk, and became fascinated with the story of how British troops waiting on the beach were rescued by so many different vessels. But the more I thought about the movie, the more I asked myself: where were the women?

That was my starting point for this book, as my question led me to research the women who were stationed in France, and how they were evacuated from Dunkirk— if at all. It turns out that many British nationals were evacuated earlier than troops, including nurses, but there were still many women needing to be rescued from Dunkirk.

One of the most alarming things I discovered was about the women of the ATS; some female telephone operators were amongst the last to be evacuated. And there were also many doctors, nurses and orderlies who were still working in clearance hospitals as the evacuation was well underway.

While there are no confirmed cases of nurses being left behind in hospitals after the final evacuations, it’s true that doctors and orderlies were required to draw straws or pick numbers to decide their fate. It’s also true that they knew what would happen to them—it was a fact that the Germans were coming, but someone had to stay behind to look after the huge influx of soldier patients who couldn’t be evacuated. These doctors and orderlies were reminded that it was their duty to continue doing their jobs. Those patients who could get out of bed, called the “walking wounded”, made their way to the beach, often so terribly injured they could barely hobble along, but no one wanted to be left behind and they used anything they could find as makeshift crutches and walking sticks. Those doctors and orderlies who drew the short straws and had to stay in France were soon taken as prisoners of war by the Nazis, destined to live behind wire and do their best to survive until they were liberated.