Penny
Phelps
was
born in London. In January
1937 she became a nurse working for the International
Brigades during the Spanish
Civil War. After the offensive at Jarama
Phelps became Medical Officer to the Garibaldi Brigade.
After contracting typhoid she was forced to return to England. Over
the next few months she spoke at Medical Aid meetings.
After making a
full recovery Phelps returned to Spain
to serve with the XVth Brigade. At Brunete
six people in her
medical unit were killed. Phelps was herself seriously wounded in
the spring of 1938 and was forced to return home.
During the Second
World War Phelps worked with physically handicapped children.
(1)
After the war Penny Phelps wrote about her experiences during the
Spanish
Civil War.
I
went to Spain in January 1937
under the auspices of the Spanish
Medical Aid Committee accompanied by two other nurses. I was interviewed
at Albacete and told I would be joining the International Brigades.
My destination, however, was kept secret from me since I was, by then,
under military discipline. As the guns were rumbling all the time
my first night was rather disturbed.
The next day we were on
the move taking mobile theatre equipment with us and getting it ready
inside a school. Casualties began to roll in and our work went on
until the early hours of the morning.
The wounded arrived in
ambulances, on open lorries or any other available transport. They
must have had a very hard time because the roads in this region are
rough and it is mountainous. We were quite near the front.
I slept until 9 a.m. and
then we had to begin operating until 6 o'clock the next morning. I
kept thinking we had just about finished, but more and more casualties
arrived and the small hospital became overcrowded. Many of the wounded
were left out in the yard from lack of space inside the school building,
which must have been extremely stressful because it was very cold
and there was often snow on the ground.
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