Sunnybrook nurses honour veteran nurses

As part of Nursing Week at Sunnybrook, our nurses honoured residents of our Veterans Centre who were nurses in World War II. 

Shown in the photos above:

Adeline Bowland

101-year-old nursing sister Adeline Bowland has been a resident at the Veterans Centre for 12 years. During the Second World War she served in Italy with No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. In November 1943, during a voyage across the Mediterrean to Italy on the Santa Elena, Adeline along with 99 Canadian nurses, 30 doctors and 1,500 troops were torpedoed by a German plane. Miraculously all but four workers in the boiler room survived. Everyone was ferried by lifeboat to safety by sister ships. Sadly, the Santa Elena sank with all of their medical equipment. Following the war, Adeline continued her love of nursing and had a successful career as a public health nurse.

Frances McIlroy

Sunnybrook resident and nursing sister Fran McIlroy will soon celebrate her 99th birthday. It was just after completing her studies to become a nurse that Fran decided to join the war effort, enlisting as a nurse in Kingston, Ontario. During the Second World War, her wartime service of two years took her to England, Belgium and Holland tending to wounded troops. It was a dangerous time of courage and sacrifice. Nursing remained a focus for Fran long after the war. Once home she married, raised two children and worked in the North Bay community as a public health nurse.