Everard, Jean A.: my Air Force recollections (November 14, 2006)

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ABSTRACT: Pilot Officer Jean A. Everard Pilot Officer Jean Everard was born in 1926 and her father was a farmer in Saskatchewan. She served as a civilian nurse with #1 Wing, RCAF, Marville from 1955 to 1956. She then served in the reserves, and did general duty nursing in the Department of Veteran's Affairs hospital at Sunnybrook in Toronto, Ontario. -discusses why she joined the military, and that she had worked with both men and women and had worked with Department of Veteran's Affairs patients. She used to live on a NATO base in Europe and upon her return to Canada, joined the Reserves. -discusses her family's reactions to her joining the military, and says that she knew a lot of women who were in the military. -discusses her job as a nurse in the psychiatric ward in Canada. and her general duties in Marville, France. In the DVA hospital, her duties were related to neurological work. -talks about the patients that she worked with in the DVA hospital, and what they suffered from. Mentions Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. -discusses her basic training. and comments that it was not enough. There was no psychiatric textbook in the l940s, which is what piqued her interest initially. Was told that her role in the hospital was to keep patients from killing themselves or anyone else. States that she was always learning on the job. -discusses pay and that it was "certainly enough to live on." -discusses promotion opportunities, and how she was unsure of what the criteria for promotion actually was. -talks about women in the service, and how there were lots of lesbian relationships that other nurses were aware of but did not talk about. -discusses the restrictions that were placed upon nurses' behaviour, and how she lived with 7 other nurses while in training. Discusses what the girls did in their time off, and how they got quite ill after the first year from being run down. -talks about what happened to servicewomen who marred - states that they left the service. -states how she started nursing - while on holiday in Europe with a friend, a matron descended upon them and asked when they could start nursing. Discusses that it was necessary to be a registered nurse before joining, but that the hospital was mostly staffed with civilian nurses. -discusses bilingualism. -compares hospitals in Marville, France, Toronto and Montreal. -discusses sexually transmitted diseases, nurses who had affairs and men who visited brothels. -says that there were not enough medical doctors in the Canadian Airforce, so the hospitals were staffed with personnel from Great Britain. -discussed treatment for patients in the DVA hospital, which included talking to them and including them in activities. If a patient was seen to be alone, efforts were to be made to include them in anything that was happening at the time. There was lots of occupational therapy, and nurses were taught how to protect themselves and the patients. Mentions that training progressed with technology, but that training was fairly beneficial. -states that she had no idea what to expect when she joined the service. -although matrons were from WWII and very traditional, she says that there were parties among the nurses every night, as there was very little to do unless one left the base. -discusses her trips around France, Luxemburg and into Berlin immediately post-war. -states that the military was an interesting time, and that in the reserves, you met a lot of people that you had known in Europe.

An interview/narrative of Pilot Officer Jean A. Everard's experiences whilst serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Interview took place on November 14, 2006.

Interviewee: Everard, Jean A.

Interviewer: Jones, Taryn

Rank: Pilot Officer.

In Collection:
Contributor Subject Language Date created Relation
  • Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews.
  • Title of paper: "Women in the Military".
Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 2 sound recordings (MP3)
Geographic coverage Coordinates
  • 45.50884, -73.58781
Additional physical characteristics
  • One original audio cassette in Special Collections.
Physical repository Collection
  • Canadian Military Oral History Collection
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • EJA_483
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • January 18, 2013
Technical note
  • 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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file details SC141_MilitaryOralHistory_GenericThumbnail Public
file details Everard_J_0483_01.mp3 Public
file details Everard_J_0483_02.mp3 Public