Frewen, Catherine L.: my Air Force recollections (November 12, 2006)
An interview/narrative of Captain Catherine L. Frewen's experiences whilst serving in the Canadian Forces. Interview took place on November 12, 2006.
Interviewer: Jones, Taryn
ABSTRACT: Captain Catherine L. Frewen Captain Catherine L. Frewen was born in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan in 1947 and joined the military as a nurse in 1972. She served as a nursing captain and participated in the first surgical operation performed in the field since the Korean War. She served in the Gulf War. - discusses reasons for joining the military. - discusses orientation and what education nurses needed to have in order to join the military. - the job wasn't quite what she expected. -training and pay. -male nurses and discrimination that they faced. -knew nurses from WWII and the Korean War who had certain expectations of the nurses; discusses the fact that nurses were watched carefully and sometimes reprimanded. - discusses raises received and what her opinion of them was. - discusses what ranks existed and how one was able to raise one's rank. - discusses the importance of bilingualism, and working with Francophone nursing staff. - discusses supplies available to nurses, interaction between civilian and military hospitals and the differences between them. - discusses Medical Assistants and problems that arose. - discusses a nurse's status in society as a woman in the military. - discusses nurses who married and had children, and what family life was like when one worked in the military. - discusses training and preparations for chemical war, and her opinions on it. - discusses treatment and admission procedures for enemies, and gives an example of what happened to an Iraqi patient in the First Gulf War. - discusses what she did in peace time, and says it was like working in a general hospital or general nursing area. Talks about training with the AirVac course and postings to Lahr, Germany, and problems with equipment once they were in Germany. Talks about the standards of German hospitals and sending equipment into the economy. -reflects on time in the Forces, would do it again, but discusses how the Forces have changed since her time. -tells about her time spent aboard the US medical ship Mercy. -compares her training to that of present-day military nursing officers, and discusses uniforms and how procedures have changed. -speaks more about male nurses and what path their careers often took.
Rank: Captain.
Interviewee: Frewen, Catherine L.
- In Collection:
- 2 sound recordings (MP3)
- 33.13906, 35.85869
- 51.5, 10.5
- One original audio cassette in Special Collections.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- FCL_484
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- January 18, 2013
- Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 44 kHz. In .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 24 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2013. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
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Frewen_C_0484_01.mp3 |
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Frewen_C_0484_02.mp3 |
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