A message from Sara Courtney, Deputy Chief Nurse
Ahead of Armistice Day, which takes place this year on Saturday 11 November, I wanted to take the opportunity to recognise all NHS colleagues who have served in the armed forces or have family connections to current or former serving personnel. The NHS is very fortunate to be made up of many people with various military backgrounds and we are so grateful for the experience of you all.
This week I have invite our staff to take some time this week to reflect on their own experiences, share their stories and those of family members.
I joined the Royal Navy in 1993. On joining, my grandparents opened up much more about their experiences, somehow my joining the military connected us on a different level. I learned so much from them, about them and about their comrades that I always reflect on at Remembrance.
On the 11 November, my thoughts usually drift to my grandparents in the first instance. During the second world war, I had one grandfather in the British Army deployed in Africa and one in the Royal Air Force, a pilot of a Lancaster Bomber aeroplane in Bomber Command. I reflect on their experiences and my grandmothers who were left at home waiting for news of their husbands – how difficult this must have been for all of them.
My time in the Queen Alexandra Royal Naval Nursing Service was spent caring for Armed Forces personnel, often being flown home from conflict zones, their families and so many veterans who later in life now need hospital care. Supporting people physically, but almost more importantly emotionally, when they return from a conflict zone sometimes with life changing injuries, sometimes the only survivor, in the first 24 hours, the first 48 hours, the first week, the first month is so much more than a privilege. It is an honour. We must never forget the support comrades who come home still need. They carry unseen wounds every day that they often do not share, but every day they suffer in silence with.
In 2021, I was privileged to have been asked to attend the Remembrance Parade at the Cenotaph in London, as one of the first ever NHS Veterans group to march. The atmosphere in Whitehall was so emotional and so moving. At 1100hrs the whole of Whitehall fell silent. I had never experienced anything like the silence of so many thousands – standing together in Remembrance. Even the slight wind stopped and fell silent. Individuals reflecting on their own experiences, their fallen comrades, their families and friends and those who gave their all for us to live the freedoms we have today. Connected through comradeship. I will never forget that day, and it will become part of my yearly reflections on Remembrance Day.
I encourage my children and my nephew and niece to pause and remember. I tell them stories of their great grandparents and my own stories to encourage them to never forget that the freedoms they have every day, is because of the sacrifice so many others made before them.
I know that with so much conflict happening in the world, and our own memories or those of our family, Remembrance Day can bring many feelings to the surface so please do remember that there is a range of support available for ex-military personnel, reservists and service leavers across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight available via the Op COURAGE service - https://www.opcouragesoutheast.nhs.uk.
Thank you again for all your support.