[Slipdigit]

A follow-up question.

What were nurses considered to be in the British Armed Services?

In the US, nurses held officer rank but had no command authority outside the medical realm. Men were not allowed to be nurses. If not functioning in a medical capacity, nurses were subject to authority of a PFC, even if they held a field grade (nursing) commission. Appropriate courtesies commensurate with the rank were still observed. Pay for nurses was also half of a male officer with the same rank. This was explained by saying that since the nurses held no command position, they should not get full pay. What a crock! (IMHO)

I guess their differing status did help in some ways. Nursing officers captured by the Japanese and Germans were not held for the duration as were men who were medical officers.