Medics and staff from Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service carry a wounded soldier from an operating theatre, Normandy, 1944

Official photograph, World War Two, North West Europe (1944-1945), 1944.

Personnel of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAINS) were the first women to arrive at the Normandy beach head. On 13 June, seven days after the initial landings of the Allied Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant-Colonel Helm arrived with two sisters. Their purpose was the setting up of a general hospital to house 600 patients. With the assistance of Pioneers and the RAMC the hospital was quickly established.