Sister Mary Bond (29th BGH)

Posted with 29th British General Hospital (29th BGH) to Belsen in May 1945, by which time ‘I was proud to be a senior Sister with many added responsibilities’.

Bond was placed in charge of one of the hospital blocks at the camp, but she felt inadequate in her capacity as a nurse to even try to counteract in any way the atrocities they had suffered.

Key to her ability to support those in her care were her fundamental nursing skills that she had learnt in her training, combined with the shi s in work and nurse–patient relationship boundaries developed in the war:

“Also under my supervision in Square Eleven was a ward full of patients suffering from Cancrum Oris – extensive ulceration of the mucus lining of the cheeks due to lack of mastication and malnutrition. The patients developed holes in their cheeks, and the tongue could be seen moving as they spoke. Even though I had learnt of this condition in nurse training, this was the first time I had ever encountered it when practicing. Such was the lack of control over the mouth area that feeding was made very diffcult. After each feed we had to wash the mouth, cleanse the surrounding ulcerated areas, and spray them with penicillin.”

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