1940s Nurses: Heroines of WWII

The nurses of the 1940s were strong women to say the least.  Young women at the ages of about 17 or 18 would go straight to nurse training in hospitals.  There was no time to lose in the tough times of WWII.

To get a position as a nurse in this time, school qualifications were not very important, as some girls hadn't even finished school.  An 8 week course detailing basic nursing care as well as physiology, psychology and astronomy was taught.  Each nurse was given a bed and a uniform.  The starting salary was about £4 per month!  This could be deducted at the whim of the matron, for example if you broke a thermometer.

The dress code was very strict, blue smocks, white starched aprons, white pleated caps, white shoes, hair up, and minimal makeup.  The nurses were expected to bring their own stockings.

Depending on how many years you were there, a nurse might go up in salary.  Leadership was based on seniority; usually an older matron would be in charge of a team of younger nurses. If you got married, you would have to leave nursing, however this was uncommon as most of the men were at war.

These ladies were expected to be incredibly polite.  It was drilled into them from day one to call each patient by their title and surname, "Sergeant Bellamy" for example!  Nurses were expected to treat each patient as if they were guests in their own home.

To bring this context into the play, I will be putting the nurses in blue smocks and constructing aprons for each of them, which I will attach with poppers.  They will be wearing white starch caps and white shoes.  For even more authenticity, each girl will have her legs spray-tanned and a line drawn up the back of her leg as nylons (a trick coined by the resourceful ladies of the war when there were no stockings available).

Creating Silhouettes On-stage

Due to the fact that we will not be able to buy all authentic 1940s vintage clothing for the production, it is essential to know how to create the right shape of the time on stage.

1940s shape is high-waisted, streamlined and military inspired.  To create the silhouettes, I used mainly high-waisted knee-length skirts, as were commonly worn in the summers of the 1940s, pairing them with generic blouses.  This pairing makes quick changes much easier.

For hair, we will have 1940s up-do styles (which also give shape to a costume) accessorised with snoods.
















 I decided to purchase the more iconic pieces of clothing online.  For example the wraparound apron.

It is these key pieces (apart from uniforms) that can help distinguish the time period and give more clarity to a piece!

Film and Stage Adaptations

Below are a few clips of the film version of "A Matter of Life and Death".

It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between our production and the film!  The film has the advantage of showing heaven in black and white, and then earth in Technicolor.  Even the Conductor comments on it, "Wow, life is so much better in Technicolor!"

I'm happy to see that the RAF uniform for Peter (played by Andrew) is very similar to the one we've purchased online.  June (played by Meg) is American in the film, which I thought was a bit coincidental since we've actually changed Bob (played by Bob) to be Canadian (due to his natural American accent).

Instead of having the Girl (played by Anastasia) playing on the beach, as in our play and the Kneehigh production, the film has a nude boy with sheep and a dog! The Girl is a lot more practical, especially since she isn't herding sheep and is wearing a nice blue dress and straw hat.











The National Theatre Kneehigh production is, like ours, a lot more stylised.  Even this promo for it is sort of surreal and strange.
Again, many of the costumes I have already sourced and made are similar to the ones in the promo, which I'm quite happy about!