Sanitary service of girl guides during the 2nd World War

From the very beginning of the scout organization one of its main trends was the Samaritan service consisting in giving medical help to victims of disasters and acts of God. It became a domain of girls guide mainly. The articles describes a great commitment of the Polish girls guide in the medical assistance offered to their compatriots during the September campaign of 1939 and during the years of occupation from 1939 to 1945. It shows the education and training methods that prepared the girls to work with great dedication. From the first days of the war the girl guides started to work as nurses and orderlies in civil and military hospitals. They organized also their own hospitals and numerous first aid stations in bombed localities and roads frequented by fugitives escaping from the west parts of the country to the eastern territories. Under occupation, the girl guides organized their own underground medical service that collaborated strictly with military organization fighting for independence. Assisted by doctors they organized medical trainings for the members, collected medicines and sanitary materials, preparing themselves for the fights of the last part of the war. The girl guides organized groups of medical assistance of the National Army, which constituted a core of the organization medical service. During the "Storm" action several thousands of girls worked as orderlies that belonged to the combat troops of the National Army. The Warsaw insurrection was the greatest battle of soldiers of the National Army. The girls offered their help to thousands of soldiers and civilian victims.