Franklin County GaArchives News.....Atlanta Nurse's Accent Charms British in Cairo November 12, 1942
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Alisa Dunn ardunn91@gmail.com August 6, 2023, 6:59 pm

The Carnesville Herald November 12, 1942
Lieut. Ann Gillespie Among Reinforcements in Cairo, Egypt

(Atlanta Journal)

The broad Southern accent of Lieutenant Ann Gillespie, Atlanta Army Nurse, charmed 
British officers handling the debarkation of 7,000 American reinforcements for the 
Allied North African offensive, who were encamped at Cairo Thursday, according to 
United Press dispatches from Africa.

"Where can I see a camel?" was the first question asked by Lieutenant Gillespie.

A graduate of the Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing here, she is the 
daughter of Mrs. A.M Gillespie, Carnesville. She has been on duty with the Army 
since February 1, 1941. She was stationed at Fort Benning and was transferred from 
there to overseas duty.

(Editor's note: Atlanta friends of Miss Gillespie were surprised Wednesday evening 
to hear her voice on WSB. She was interviewed in Cairo on NBC foreign news 
broadcast, and closed her remarks with greetings to members of her family in 
Georgia.)

The American contingent, including several Negro units and 106 Army nurses--first 
to arrive in the Middle East--disembarked Sunday night at a Red Sea port.

They were headed by Lieut. Colonel John E. Baird, of Philadelphia, who will assume 
a post in the command of Maj. General Russell L. Maxwell, commander of American 
forces in the Middle East.

Ten hours after they had disembarked in a blackout, all of the soldiers had 
reached transit camps where they will be acclimated for the desert campaign.

The Americans come from all the states of the Union. They made the crossing in 
excellent weather and without incident. A submarine was reported 70 miles away 
during the first part of the voyage and there was another scare about two-thirds 
of the way over, officers said, but no hostile craft was sighted.

They had one shore leave en route, stopping briefly at a South African port.

The contingent consisted mainly of ground forces for the Air Force, tank 
mechanics, technicians, clerks and ordinance quartermasters. Most had been in 
service only a short time.

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