Below is a Second World War Era Nursing Sister uniform with Lieutenant rank, RCAMC (Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp) buttons and belt, 1945.
Military nursing had its beginnings in the Crimean War, although the tradition of alleviating the sufferings of soldiers is an old one. The organizing of battle nursing and the dispatch of women as nurses, begun by Florence Nightingale, a British nurse (1820-1910), soon found its way to Canada.
Canada’s Nursing Sisters first took to the field in 1885, providing care to the Canadian troops sent to put down the North-West Rebellion. Although nurses in Canada’s military are no longer referred to as Nursing Sisters, their contributions have continued into the activities and missions of the present-day Canadian Armed Forces.
Women have cared for wounded soldiers throughout Canada’s wartime history. “Nursing sisters” carried out official duties with the military during the North-West Resistance, the South African War, the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War.
During the world wars nursing sisters received lectures on military law, map reading and security, instruction in gas warfare and casualty evacuation, as well as training in large-scale military manoeuvres.