Born
Nancy Farrow in
Beeston, Nottingham, she came from what one biographer characterized as "a shabby-genteel background". In October 1936, after the start of the
Spanish Civil War, she volunteered to help the
Republican faction. She chose to do hospital work in Spain, where her husband George was already serving as an
ambulance driver. The Green's two children remained behind in Britain; their places at
Summerhill School were paid for by fellow volunteer,
Wogan Philipps. Nan Green went to the "English hospital" at
Huete, and was also posted to hospitals at
Valdeganga,
Uclés, and the Santa Llúcia "cave hospital" near the
Ebro. As an administrator and secretary to Dr.
Len Crome, she did valuable organisational work, notably in medical statistics. Her experiences, including forthright criticism of the conditions and food, and being a blood donor in the early days of transfusion, are described in a memoir published posthumously in 2004. Her commitment to the Republican cause continued after her husband George's death at the
Battle of Ebro on 23 September 1938. == Aftermath ==