St Andrews Womens Group November Meeting

For our November meeting, we welcomed as our speaker Major(Rtd) Jill Mackeen TD QARANC.(V) (QUEEN ALEXANDER ROYAL ARMY NURSING CORPS), who served with the unit in Operation Telic, the British operation during the war in Iraq, as Deputy Matron.

As a member of the Territorial Army, she was deployed to Iraq from her full-time position in the NHS as a Theatre Sister.
Working conditions in the heat and sandstorms of the desert could not have been easy in a tented hospital, but Jill's account made us realise what a wonderful professional job was achieved with limited resources by this dedicated unit.
Thank you, Jill, for your inspirational talk. Jill is the chair of the Chester branch of the QARANC. Lynne Orfanelli is the secretary.
This connection is the reason that their flag is kept in St Andrews Church and seen at the war memorial on Remembrance Sunday.

Our December meeting will be the Christmas lunch for those who have pre-booked.
We return to our normal monthly programme in February 2026, so send best wishes to you all at Christmas and the New Year. We look forward to seeing you in February