During the Second World War, they worked with the French Red Cross’ emergency teams to help relieve civilian populations, particularly during bombing raids. 240 IPSAs were stationed at air bases in mainland France and overseas territories.
One of the most famous missions was led by Germaine l'Herbier-Montagnon in 1940. During her "Mission des Morts et Disparus" (Mission for the Dead and Missing), she and her team found 500 French airmen and 1,300 allies who had gone missing. After the liberation, she continued searching and found further 460 French airmen and 940 Allied airmen's graves in France, Belgium, Germany, and Holland.
From 1945, they took part in the repatriation by air of 43,000 prisoners of war and deportees. They provided medical assistance on board. They have also been mobilized during the Indochina war and the Algerian war during which they took part in numerous evacuation missions. Between 1940 and the end of the Algerian war, nearly 30 IPSAs lost their lives on missions.
The IPSA were admired by patients and crews for their ability to operate in any type of aircraft and in all weathers. They were considered an “elite troop” and recognized as heroic, brave and reliable women.
– Geneviève de Gallard, France“It is only by pushing yourself that you can grow”
“I consider myself lucky to have been there. Several times the wounded expressed this to me. One of them told me: 'When you come into my shelter, my morale goes up 100%. It forces you to push yourself a bit, but it's only by pushing yourself that you can grow" said one of the nurses, Geneviève de Gallard.
After the war, in 1946, 20 IPSAs managed to be selected during the first competitive examination for the recruitment of air hostesses made by the French Armée de l’Air. They were among the first flight attendants on civil airlines.
When the French Red Cross was awarded the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre in 1946, a special mention was made of those involved in the Second World War: nurses, IPSA drivers and first-aiders who died for France.
The IPSAs ceased their activity within the French Red Cross in 1984 but their memory is still vivid in the French Red Cross. Here are the names of some of the IPSAs: Germaine l'Herbier-Montagnon, Jacqueline Golay Herbinière, la baronne de Vendeuvre, Marie Marvingt, Maryse Bastié, Joséphine Baker, Cécile Idrac, Claire Romain, Geneviève de Galard, Élisabeth Boselli, Rosemary de la Besse, Jaïc Domergue et Jacqueline Domergue.
France, 1937
Between 1990 and 2017, women made up only 2 per cent of mediators, 8 per cent of negotiators and 5 per cent of witnesses and signatories to global peace processes.