Medical students at the Bethune Medical Officer School in China will be the only completely female group to march in the the upcoming Sept. 3 parade in Beijing honoring the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II — known in Chinese as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Meeting between Dr. Norman Bethune (left) and Nieh Jung-Chen (centre), Commander-in-Chief of the Chin-Ch’a-Chi Border Region, 1938.

The team is named after the renowned Canadian doctor Norman Bethune and have attended National Day parades in 1984, 1999 and 2009.

Bethune, a thoracic surgeon, traveled to China in 1938 where he treated Chinese revolutionary soldiers of the Chinese Communist Party in Yan’an, in northwest China’s Shaanxi province and shared his medical knowledge with the troops. While he was stationed with the Eighth Route Army (八路军) he cut his finger during an operation and likely died of blood poisoning on Nov. 12, 1939.

A photographer from China Military Online visited their training site and took this photo essay.

The televised parade is expected to draw an audience of millions and is the first time China has marked the event with a parade. It will also include troops invited from other nations.

Photo by China Military Online.

Photo by China Military Online.

Photo by China Military Online.

Photo by China Military Online.

Photo by China Military Online.

Story compiled with information from CCTV News