Dame Margot Turner | |
---|---|
Birth name | Evelyn Marguerite Turner |
Born | 10 May 1910 |
Died | 24 September 1993 | (aged 83)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | British Army |
Years of service | 1937–1968 |
Rank | Brigadier |
Unit | Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps |
Commands held | Matron-in-Chief Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (1964–68) |
Battles/wars | |
Awards |
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire Royal Red Cross Mentioned in Despatches |
Other work | Colonel-Commandant Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (1969–74) |
Brigadier Dame Evelyn Marguerite Turner DBE, RRC (10 May 1910 — 24 September 1993), known as Margot Turner, was a British military nurse and World War II prisoner of war. After the war she resumed her career with a succession of foreign postings.
Turner served with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service from 1937 to 1949 and Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) from 1949 to 1974. She served as Matron-in-Chief of QARANC and Director, Army Nursing Services (1964–68) and was Colonel-Commandant of QARANC from 1969 to 1974.
Turner's obituary in The Independent recounted her horrific experiences as a prisoner of war held by the Japanese. The television series Tenko was created by Lavinia Warner after she had worked as a researcher for the edition of the television programme This Is Your Life which featured Turner, and was convinced of the dramatic potential of the stories of women prisoners of the Japanese.
She died at St. Dunstan's home for disabled ex-servicemen and women near Brighton, East Sussex on 24 September 1993, aged 83 with nurses and her carer Geoffrey Wilcock present.