ONE of the first men to be accepted for nurse training at Whipps Cross Hospital in 1946 has died.

Stanley Rowbotham, 85, treasurer of the Whipps Cross Hospital Nurses League, died in November at St Thomass Hospital, after a long battle against many illnesses.

His war experiences in the Royal Army Medical Corps in India and Burma drove his ambition to continue his medical training when hostilities had ended.

After his ordeals as a medical orderly on the last Japanese prisoner of war ship to return to Britain, Mr Rowbotham decided to join Whipps Cross Hospital. In March 1946 he became one of the first men to be accepted for nurse training.

At the time, male nurses where frowned upon in the medical profession but, due to the skills many men had developed in their medical positions during the war, their expertise was sought after.

Mr Rowbotham went on to become a charge nurse on various wards at Whipps Cross and in 1975 qualified as a clinical teacher at its School of Nursing.

After retiring in 1980, he dedicated his time to the Association of Whipps Cross Nurses, where he was treasurer for more than 30 years. The organisation, established in 1946 by Matron Kate Fogarty, brings together current and retired nurses on various social occasions.

Honorary secretary of the association Anne Kelledy, a close friend, said: "Stan was an extremely caring man who devoted 34 years of his life to looking after the sick and injured.

"His cheerful cockney humour kept him and others in good sprits even through his pain and illness. As a much-loved member of the association, he will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered."

The funeral took place on November 23, starting with a church service at St Dunstan and All Saints Church in Stepney High Street, followed by burial at the City of London Cemetery.

Ms Kelledy said: "Being the kind and considerate man he was, Stan asked that, instead of sending flowers, donations should be made to one of his favourite charities, the Globe, based in Mile End Road."