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(V-Day) Canadian-doctor-named formation shows up in V-Day parade

Xinhua, September 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

A female medical soldiers' formation, named after a Canadian surgeon who aided China's fight against Japanese aggression during World War II, showed up in a military parade in Beijing on Thursday marking the war's victory 70 years ago.

The formation, led by 56-year-old Major General Tian Ou, is named after Norman Bethune, a household name in China due to his contribution and sacrifice during World War II.

The formation comprises of 264 female medical students from the Bethune Medical Officer School based in Shijiazhuang City, capital of north China's Hebei Province.

With red-cross badges in arms and medical kits on shoulders, the female soldiers passed the Tian'anmen Square riding on military medical vehicles.

Bethune was a member of the Canadian Communist Party. In efforts to help with the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he went to China as head of a medical team and arrived in Yan'an -- a center of the Chinese revolution -- in the spring of 1938.

In China, Bethune set up a mobile hospital and operated on soldiers close to the battlefield. His work helped save the lives of thousands.

In December 1939, late Chinese leader Mao Zedong wrote an article "In memory of Norman Bethune," as a tribute to the doctor, calling on the Chinese people to learn from him. Endit