John Stewart’s “Angels or aliens? Refugee Nurses in Britain, 1938 to 1942” analyses the topic of refugee nurses in Britain during the late 1930s until the early 1940s, examining experiences of the nurses as well as the policies that affected them. He demonstrates that transition from the strict attitude towards refugees to the more relaxed approach which increased in 1942.

Stewart begins the article by explaining that the historiography of refugee women remains relatively poor, therefore emphasises the importance of his discussion on the topic. He then goes on to examine the background to the refugee situation, explaining the push factors that led people to leave their homeland. This included those who fled Poland following German invasion in September 1939. Stewart then goes on to explain that before 1938, Britain was reluctant to take many refugees, operating a limited policy on accepting work permits with the number of foreigners per hospital being restricted to 3 percent of staff. In 1938, the policy remained difficult, however, it became more liberal, as Stewart argues. The approaching war problematised the situation, with certain refugees being classed as “enemy”, many of whom were interned in 1940. Some authorities, including the LCC dismissed their enemy alien staff during this year. However, eventually there was a reduction of restraints and altering of attitude towards refugees, partly due to increased sympathy towards refugees, as well concern over the labour market.

The author places emphasis on the fact that refugees were seen as one way of solving the increased demand for nurses during the war, therefore, the guidelines for refugees were relaxed in order to accommodate this. He notes that during mid-1940, the Nursing and Midwifery Department stated that 130 out of 914 trained nurses and midwives were Czechoslovakian, with the remainder of Austrian and German descent. There was some concern among the British that foreign nurses would “crowd out” nurses from the United Kingdom, however a leading article in 1939 explicitly rejected this claim. Furthermore, Stewart goes on to mention pre-war hostility toward refugee medical practitioners. He argues that one proposed resolution for this was to employ female refugee doctors as nurses.

A section of the article is devoted to producing first-hand evidence of experiences during this period, including Miss Powell, who was responsible for the nursing section of the Ministry of Labour’s International Branch, explaining that she was overwhelmed by the large number of aliens who wanted to contribute.

Stewart concludes the article by stating that “the history of refugee nurses in the late 1930s and early 1940s can be seen as an episode which reflected well on both the host community and the nurses themselves”. He notes the changing position of refugee women from low status domestic work to the higher status nursing sector.

Overall, Stewart provides a detailed account of nurses during this period, using an adequate range of primary sources from both government officials and those in the medical field.