British Army Nurses - User contributions [en]

MediaWiki:Copyright

2026-02-07T12:25:49Z

WikiSysop:

WOODS, Emily Jane: Diary, Part 3 (July 1900)

2025-02-07T09:51:46Z

WikiSysop:

==Woods, Emily Jane: Diary for July 1900==

Transcribed from the original by Lt Col (Retd) Keiron Spires QVRM TD

July 1st: I didn’t write such a long letter as I meant to because I was feeling seedy and had been ordered to bed. (Diarrhoea etc but we all go through it when we 1st come out). I am not ill and have the best of attention. Well! You ask me to tell you everything about ourselves.

Our lovely corrugated iron building we were crowing over is not allowed to come further than Cape Town because of its weight. You see the carriage of all transport is very much congested. Soldiers must be sent on, then ammunition, then food and lastly hospital supplies. They had to put us in Bell tents 3 sisters in each, today some of us have very neat little washstands and a small chest of drawers given us. It crowds us up terribly and some of our boxes have had to be put outside the tents to make room for these things. The tents are very cold during the nights and very hot through the day, but we have plenty of good clothes and my rug is a beautiful warm one.

The food is very much better than army rations, only being cooked on mostly wood fires – at any rate in coppers over open fires – tea, puddings, porridge etc. is very often smoky. We haven’t had any rain yet since we came but today it was so cold outside Miss Shannon told me to go to bed after lunch. I’ve been kept in bed 2 days. They are very careful for us, Miss Shannon asks each one of us if she is feeling well every morning and night.

They had their 1st concert last night. I was very sorry not to be able to go to it. They made a huge bonfire on a bit of the veldt, commandeered a piano, and had a fine time I believe.

3rd July: Still on the sick list and starvation diet. Yesterday was feeling very bright but don’t feel so well today. It's dysentery but a mild attack. Didn’t get up till just on lunch time. We have had a very windy day. 4 other sisters on their way to Pretoria visited our Hospital today, had tea and dined with us. They think everything perfection. Lady Roberts<ref>Nora Henrietta Bews was the daughter of Captain John Bews. She married Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, V.C., on 17 May 1859. After her marriage, Nora Henrietta Bews was styled as Lady Roberts. She died on 21 December 1920.</ref> is going through in the same train as these sisters, in an armoured carriage and has sentries parade outside her carriage while in the station. She has made herself rather obnoxious by her interference in hospital affairs, I believe. (One of the plague).

There was fighting 3 miles from here yesterday. Some of our big guns have been fired yesterday and today, for Pretoria, I believe. Kitchener had all his men mounted and ready directly he heard of fighting so near. A lot of soldiers have gone out today to help control De Wet<ref>Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 – 3 February 1922) was a South African Boer general, rebel leader and politician.</ref>. There are constant rumours of his capture but I believe there are so many De Wets, like Bothas and though several are captured neither the De Wet or the Botha.

We have had a convoy of wounded and sick men (90) brought in today. It was a sight. They came in bullock wagons. Poor fellows! Some of them looked awful. There was a covered wagon with Boers who had been severely wounded. Each wagon is drawn by oxen from 15-20 in a team. If it had only been fine and light what a picture I might have taken.

We have had pouring storms of rains yesterday and today but the sisters have their own mess tent now and we have a slow combustion stove fitted to it and some red art serge for a table cloth today. It makes a nice comfortable looking sitting room for us now. We are in clover here.

If the Drs. let me I am going to have my own ward or wards tomorrow, how lovely.

4th July: The Dr. came last night and has allowed me on light duty if I wear thick shoes and take my time off. I have had charge of one ward today. Don’t know if I am to keep it. Wish I might. We have a band up every 2nd day to play to us. The Oxfords were up today. I am sorry to find I had one plate in the wrong way for the bridge, and so instead of shooting the 2 ½ s they appear right hand pieces of 2. I will try to get it done and send to you.

July 5th: I am alright now, on meat again. Took photo of exterior of the Dutch Reformed Church and 2 interiors. They have used it as a hospital since the commencement of the enteric here, and Australian nurses look after it. Sister Gould<ref>Ellen Julia (Nellie) Goulde was asked in February 1899 to help form the New South Wales Army Nursing Service, and become one of Australia's first Boer War nurses. In May of the same year the first 26 official military nurses were sworn in, hand picked by Nellie Gould herself. Miss Gould had chosen her nurses only from those who had had more than seven years of nursing experience. The New South Wales Army Nursing Reserve was the first women’s military nursing body, officially formed in August 1899. Each of the other colonies sent nurses either privately funded by business men of the era or self funded by the nurses themselves.</ref> of the Sydney Hospital is the Supt. We hear the next contingent is on its way out, I suppose Jackie won’t be in it. I have not had a letter from you since the 1st dated May 25th several of them have had letters dated June 5th or 7th. I may get it tomorrow and our letters have to be in by 2p.m. so I must finish this tonight.

July 11th: I don’t feel like writing. I know you will be writing to me but I have only had one letter dated May 24th. Some of the sisters have had them regularly and letters have come dated June 11th. I am alright now and enjoying life. I have been doing a bit of photography lately but have had my time pretty much taken up in the ward. I am very happy at my work.

Today we went to some military sports in the town. They were very good. Capital. We had some flat races, tugs of war, artillery race was fine, 5 gun carriages with their guns mounted drawn by 6 or 8 horses each pr having a postillion, and the whole (preceded by a leader on horseback) went a roundabout course at the gallop and through pieces of wood set up like nine-pins which only allowed 2 or 3 inches – at most- on either side of the wheels as they went through. It was wonderfully clean driving. One lot went through without touching any. 2nd prize lot knocked one down. Then there was some buck jumping. Officers race on horseback. There were a lot of Bengali soldiers there in their native uniforms. They looked wonderfully picturesque with their turbans etc and they ride perfectly. They gave us tent pegging. One of their number didn’t miss once. Then there was some wrestling on bare-backed ponies which was very interesting.

Fancy biscuits that would be 4d 1b are 2/6 here and there is no soap in the shops. We have run out of it because a lot of stores have not been sent on. Personally I could stand a siege of 6 months or so. Mother’s chocolate is delicious, I have a bit occasionally. Today we went up to Gun Hill where the fort is but we were not allowed to take photographs. However, I went a bit further down and managed to get what I hope will be a good birds-eye view of the town and another of No. 3 Hospital<ref>No. 3 General Hospital (592 beds) opened at Rondebosch on the 22nd December 1899, moving to Kroonstad on the 1st June 1900 where it was located for the remainder of the war. (Prime, P (1998) History of the Medical and Hospital Services of the Anglo-Boer War 1899 to 1902 London: Anglo-Boer War Philatelic Society</ref> the figures in are Lieut. ? [her query] Lieut. Gee and their Capt Harrington.

Two days ago the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders were set to watch a train. They discovered it contained whisky, so broke it open. 2 were found dead. Alcoholic poisoning, and one died yesterday “from exposure” nothing in his stomach but whisky. Mail Time. Au Revoir.

July 17th: Have had no letters, isn’t this sickening! The mails have been stopped both in and out since last Thursday, so my last to you will be late. We have had one sand-storm; they say it was not so bad as it is sometimes, but it lasted much longer. Anyway our beds were khaki colour and the floor had to be swept constantly and even then there was quite enough depth of sandy earth to grow mustard and cress on. It was terrible. All tent pegs had to be knocked in more securely and the place shut up and then the faces got brown with dust. We ate more than our share towards the ‘peck o’dust’ that day.

Yesterday I found out that we had one of the Yeomanry belonging to Col. Broughfield’s lot and that Hugh Pomfret is their Quartermaster and must have been visiting one of his men in the tent that is now mine since I came to Kroonstad …..

We gave a tea-party on Sunday which was quite a success. I photographed them. We had a lovely walk to the bridge and I photographed from the opposite side after scrambling across on stepping stones and climbing up the opposite bank. It is a very pretty negative. I have printed a lot but as you know, I have no toning sol. so I just fix them and they go a most awful colour. A yellowish tinge. Keep all the stamps you get on my letters as they will be very valuable later on.

20th July: Received your 2nd letter. I didn’t dream but what I should get the usual weekly letter. Don’t do it again. Thank you very much indeed for photographs. Everyone nearly has asked to see them and think them splendid. Could he send another of them, the one with the ship’s officer standing at head of gangway. Sister Thornton<ref>Sister Annie THORNTON, trained at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and joined Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on May 4th 1900 (service Number 512).</ref> got engaged to him on the way out …

I had 2 wards given to me, one a perfectly new one which I fitted up as near perfection as any are, the old medical ward was almost equally well got up too. I had had 3 changes of Drs., Dr. Stirling, Dr. Graves and lastly Dr. Boyd who complimented me on my charts and hoped I would keep them like that.

I didn’t get off duty until 10 that night as we had cases and the Drs. visit was late. Miss Shannon had been looking for me so I went to her tent and that was to tell me to go to D.1. and D.2. two fresh wards. I was wild the more I thought of it the worse I felt. I worked myself into a perfect rage. Consequently couldn’t sleep and had a violent headache in the morning. No one can quite appreciate what this means to me unless they were here. One has to worry and bother and go again and again for things to the store, and just take things when you see them and forth. Everything is more or less commandeered by sisters etc. However, I felt a bit better when Dr. Hodge whose wards I now have told me the reason for the change. He had refused to have Sister Murdoch<ref>Sister Isa MURDOCH trained at the Oldham Infirmary, and joined the Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on March 23rd, 1900 (Service Number 478). She was already in South Africa when the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital embarked.</ref> in his wards any longer, as she did not do her work properly and had been rude to himself.

I have one medical and one surgical tent each with 10 beds. I make the dressings myself so I find plenty to do. I have 3 Boer Prisoners of War and one German prisoner, a law student, all in the surgical tent. One Boer has a bullet wound , entrance front of chest below collar bone, exit left shoulder between scapula and head of humerus. It shattered and splintered the bone. One piece was taken out the other day in the Theatre before I had the ward.

Another one has one finger carried away by bullet and practically useless and I am afraid will have to be amputated, another bullet wound in leg. The German, it looks as if the bullet went in the front of neck, just above the bird’s nest (he did say it has altered his voice and made it hoarse) and came out back of shoulder. They are all getting on very well.

We had a fine lot of surgical cases in from Lindley the other day, have had a lot of operations lately. I went to one the other day. Major Beatson, the oldest brother of Dr. Beatson of Glasgow and Mr Graves. Uncle. He had a gunshot wound in shoulder which paralyzed his arm. They operated expecting to find a splinter of bone interfering with nerves in the brachial plexus – I was present at the operation and held the arm – what they actually found was that the cicatrix of shot wound was almost adherent to them and too much so to the subclavian for them to extensively dissect the scar out. They removed a good bit however and tied up the vessels and are hoping some good my be the result.

There has been a concert given in No. 3 Military Hosp. I was on orderly duty, so I couldn’t go.

July 22nd: I was going to write last night but I had put some glycerine jelly on my hands and gloves over and found I could not write in them. We all of us nearly, Drs. and Sisters suffer with cuts in our hands. You know we have been rising in the morning to find ice in the water and thick hoar frost outside the tent, but I had my dear little rubber bag, so was all right.

Miss Shannon said that the other day in her tent in the afternoon and in the shade it was 90o. Our single bell tent gets terribly hot. The nights are getting warmer now though. My! What a time we had of it yesterday. Sister McLeod<ref>Sister Annie McLEOD trained at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and joined the Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on May 4th 1900 (Service Number 516).</ref> and I asked a pass to go to Church in the evening (our 1st pass) but in the afternoon we heard a convoy was expected, and as I had 4 empty beds in each tent of course I could not go out. One of the Drs. went some days ago on horseback on his way to Lindley to bring sick from there. However De Wet was in the way and Dr. Garrow and train were sent after and ordered back. But there had been fighting between De Wet and some of ours involving 17th Lancers – about 12 miles this side of Lindley and their Colonel was bringing wounded and 33 sick on to us, so Dr. Garrow brought them on, and now some from No. 3 Hosp. have started for Lindley again.

Sir Burdett<ref>Sir Francis Burdett, 8th Bt. was born in 1869. He was the son of Lt.-Col. Sir Francis Burdett, 7th Bt. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge University. He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the 4th Dragoon Guards and the 17th Lancers. He succeeded as the 8th Baronet Burdett, of Bramcott, co. Warwick on 31 May 1892.</ref> was the 1st to arrive in a Cape cart with his arm in a sling, there are 2 other officers who are more seriously wounded. We got 2 ‘death or glory’ boys who are sick. One has something wrong with his eyes another slight fever. Then we received a case of synovitis one of Robert’s Horse. We have a new case tonight, rheumatism, Suffolk Regt.

Well before the convoy arrived the rain came (not De Wet) and my it does rain when it rains, there’s no doubt about it. The winds descended and the floods came and beat upon our tents and some of them fell. Some with patients in, but some with orderlies, one of my ward tents was in danger, but they were able to knock in pegs and loosen the ropes in time. What a terrible night it was. Sister McLeod and I had to pull our beds into the middle of the floor and then we kept nice and dry but the elements were making such a noise we couldn’t sleep till after 1 a.m.

July 26th: Got your 3rd letter today. Hope I shall get them regularly now. How I have enjoyed myself today! I have been for my first ride on horseback. Oh! it was lovely. I shall soon be able to ride well I believe. We have had 2 side saddles lent us and Sister Smith<ref>Sister Edith SMITH trained at the Royal Infirmary, Perth, and joined the Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on May 4th 1900 (Service Number 518).</ref> and myself went for a ride with Dr. Kinmont and Fisher a ‘Tommy’ who is a splendid riding master. The horses never will trot much they either canter or gallop and I must say I rode far better than I ever have before. I felt thoroughly happy. I am beginning to suffer from the after effects now. I expect to be very stiff tomorrow; but shall hope to go again soon.

You will have heard all about the train that was burnt the other day up the line. It was brought into Kroonstad the day before yesterday and I photographed it. It reminded me of the Norman Rd Church. I brought a bit of charred wood away with me and a screw. There were only 5 trucks with any kind of wood left on them. The others not a scrap of wood left, nothing but the ironwork, wheels, screws etc.

Yesterday we most of us attended a Bazaar in the Presbyterian Church here. We hoped to be able to get some curios. They had a Kruger penny, sold for £2 and 4d stamps, selling for 5/- each.

The papers have come in today – hope the letters will be here soon. We hear our hospital will not be here more than 2 months more. We also hear De Wet was wounded in right arm and taken with 4 or 500 men. Also that B.P. has taken Botha and 1400 men and that B.P. is mortally wounded. Don’t believe any of this. So sleepy must wish you goodnight.

July 27th: Can’t stop for more today, mail goes at 2. Several contused wounds result of ride.

July 28th: Yesterday we went down to the wrecked train. I took it again a much better one this time proved, also the bomb shelter outside No 3 Hospital. I took one inside and the outside.

Heard Piet de Wet had been in to see my Boer prisoner. The day before a Presbyterian Chaplain to forces had been to my tent and had an arm set which he had got broken through a kick from his horse. Today we had sports. They were very good began at 2 and finished the prize-giving at 5.30. Having entertained all visitors to tea, scones, buns and bread and bitter previously.

General Knove, Captain Mausescaux, Piet de Wet, his son Jacobus, a brother-in-law and another prisoner came. I asked the aide-de-camp if I might tale a photograph of Piet, he asked him and getting his permission I flew off for camera. I took one and got his signature and that of his son in my birthday book. When people saw me getting them he got besieged on all sides. He wrote dozens. You will know before you get this that these 4 gave themselves up, it sems Christian kept his brothers prisoner for some time because he told him he should do so as he thought it very foolish to keep on any longer. These however managed to escape and surrendered. The Captain tells me he will go to Cape Town for St Helena, possibly on Monday. They want to see a proof. I have developed tonight and think it will be pretty fair.

Unfortunately in the officers race 2 of our men’s horses collided and are rather badly hurt I am afraid.

We are going to ask a pass to go to Church of England service tomorrow night.

July 31st: Didn’t go to Church on Sunday on account of bad cases in the wards. Yesterday we went out begging saddles, we got 2 sent up this morning – one for a few days only, and another is coming Tuesday morning. The man at the Scotch Stores made us go to his private house and have some tea with his wife. It was so good.

The Bazaar realized over £250. I haven’t had your letter this week. Had 2 from Pretoria, from 2 sisters we met at Bloemfontein. We had a convoy in tonight received 5 cases and have packed 2. Am rather tired tonight. Hope to go a run tomorrow afternoon on the new saddle.

==Notes==
<references />

WOODS, Emily Jane: Diary, Part 3 (July 1900)

2025-02-06T17:02:14Z

WikiSysop:

==Woods, Emily Jane: Diary for July 1900==

Transcribed from the original by Lt Col (Retd) Keiron Spires QVRM TD

July 1st: I didn’t write such a long letter as I meant to because I was feeling seedy and had been ordered to bed. (Diarrhoea etc but we all go through it when we 1st come out). I am not ill and have the best of attention. Well! You ask me to tell you everything about ourselves.

Our lovely corrugated iron building we were crowing over is not allowed to come further than Cape Town because of its weight. You see the carriage of all transport is very much congested. Soldiers must be sent on, then ammunition, then food and lastly hospital supplies. They had to put us in Bell tents 3 sisters in each, today some of us have very neat little washstands and a small chest of drawers given us. It crowds us up terribly and 3rd July: some of our boxes have had to be put outside the tents to make room for these things. The tents are very cold during the nights and very hot through the day, but we have plenty of good clothes and my rug is a beautiful warm one.

The food is very much better than army rations, only being cooked on mostly wood fires – at any rate in coppers over open fires – tea, puddings, porridge etc. is very often smoky. We haven’t had any rain yet since we came but today it was so cold outside Miss Shannon told me to go to bed after lunch. I’ve been kept in bed 2 days. They are very careful for us, Miss Shannon asks each one of us if she is feeling well every morning and night.

They had their 1st concert last night. I was very sorry not to be able to go to it. They made a huge bonfire on a bit of the veldt, commandeered a piano, and had a fine time I believe.

3rd July: Still on the sick list and starvation diet. Yesterday was feeling very bright but don’t feel so well today. It's dysentery but a mild attack. Didn’t get up till just on lunch time. We have had a very windy day. 4 other sisters on their way to Pretoria visited our Hospital today, had tea and dined with us. They think everything perfection. Lady Roberts<ref>Nora Henrietta Bews was the daughter of Captain John Bews. She married Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, V.C., on 17 May 1859. After her marriage, Nora Henrietta Bews was styled as Lady Roberts. She died on 21 December 1920.</ref> is going through in the same train as these sisters, in an armoured carriage and has sentries parade outside her carriage while in the station. She has made herself rather obnoxious by her interference in hospital affairs, I believe. (One of the plague).

There was fighting 3 miles from here yesterday. Some of our big guns have been fired yesterday and today, for Pretoria, I believe. Kitchener had all his men mounted and ready directly he heard of fighting so near. A lot of soldiers have gone out today to help control De Wet<ref>Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 – 3 February 1922) was a South African Boer general, rebel leader and politician.</ref>. There are constant rumours of his capture but I believe there are so many De Wets, like Bothas and though several are captured neither the De Wet or the Botha.

We have had a convoy of wounded and sick men (90) brought in today. It was a sight. They came in bullock wagons. Poor fellows! Some of them looked awful. There was a covered wagon with Boers who had been severely wounded. Each wagon is drawn by oxen from 15-20 in a team. If it had only been fine and light what a picture I might have taken.

We have had pouring storms of rains yesterday and today but the sisters have their own mess tent now and we have a slow combustion stove fitted to it and some red art serge for a table cloth today. It makes a nice comfortable looking sitting room for us now. We are in clover here.

If the Drs. let me I am going to have my own ward or wards tomorrow, how lovely.

4th July: The Dr. came last night and has allowed me on light duty if I wear thick shoes and take my time off. I have had charge of one ward today. Don’t know if I am to keep it. Wish I might. We have a band up every 2nd day to play to us. The Oxfords were up today. I am sorry to find I had one plate in the wrong way for the bridge, and so instead of shooting the 2 ½ s they appear right hand pieces of 2. I will try to get it done and send to you.

July 5th: I am alright now, on meat again. Took photo of exterior of the Dutch Reformed Church and 2 interiors. They have used it as a hospital since the commencement of the enteric here, and Australian nurses look after it. Sister Gould<ref>Ellen Julia (Nellie) Goulde was asked in February 1899 to help form the New South Wales Army Nursing Service, and become one of Australia's first Boer War nurses. In May of the same year the first 26 official military nurses were sworn in, hand picked by Nellie Gould herself. Miss Gould had chosen her nurses only from those who had had more than seven years of nursing experience. The New South Wales Army Nursing Reserve was the first women’s military nursing body, officially formed in August 1899. Each of the other colonies sent nurses either privately funded by business men of the era or self funded by the nurses themselves.</ref> of the Sydney Hospital is the Supt. We hear the next contingent is on its way out, I suppose Jackie won’t be in it. I have not had a letter from you since the 1st dated May 25th several of them have had letters dated June 5th or 7th. I may get it tomorrow and our letters have to be in by 2p.m. so I must finish this tonight.

July 11th: I don’t feel like writing. I know you will be writing to me but I have only had one letter dated May 24th. Some of the sisters have had them regularly and letters have come dated June 11th. I am alright now and enjoying life. I have been doing a bit of photography lately but have had my time pretty much taken up in the ward. I am very happy at my work.

Today we went to some military sports in the town. They were very good. Capital. We had some flat races, tugs of war, artillery race was fine, 5 gun carriages with their guns mounted drawn by 6 or 8 horses each pr having a postillion, and the whole (preceded by a leader on horseback) went a roundabout course at the gallop and through pieces of wood set up like nine-pins which only allowed 2 or 3 inches – at most- on either side of the wheels as they went through. It was wonderfully clean driving. One lot went through without touching any. 2nd prize lot knocked one down. Then there was some buck jumping. Officers race on horseback. There were a lot of Bengali soldiers there in their native uniforms. They looked wonderfully picturesque with their turbans etc and they ride perfectly. They gave us tent pegging. One of their number didn’t miss once. Then there was some wrestling on bare-backed ponies which was very interesting.

Fancy biscuits that would be 4d 1b are 2/6 here and there is no soap in the shops. We have run out of it because a lot of stores have not been sent on. Personally I could stand a siege of 6 months or so. Mother’s chocolate is delicious, I have a bit occasionally. Today we went up to Gun Hill where the fort is but we were not allowed to take photographs. However, I went a bit further down and managed to get what I hope will be a good birds-eye view of the town and another of No. 3 Hospital<ref>No. 3 General Hospital (592 beds) opened at Rondebosch on the 22nd December 1899, moving to Kroonstad on the 1st June 1900 where it was located for the remainder of the war. (Prime, P (1998) History of the Medical and Hospital Services of the Anglo-Boer War 1899 to 1902 London: Anglo-Boer War Philatelic Society</ref> the figures in are Lieut. ? [her query] Lieut. Gee and their Capt Harrington.

Two days ago the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders were set to watch a train. They discovered it contained whisky, so broke it open. 2 were found dead. Alcoholic poisoning, and one died yesterday “from exposure” nothing in his stomach but whisky. Mail Time. Au Revoir.

July 17th: Have had no letters, isn’t this sickening! The mails have been stopped both in and out since last Thursday, so my last to you will be late. We have had one sand-storm; they say it was not so bad as it is sometimes, but it lasted much longer. Anyway our beds were khaki colour and the floor had to be swept constantly and even then there was quite enough depth of sandy earth to grow mustard and cress on. It was terrible. All tent pegs had to be knocked in more securely and the place shut up and then the faces got brown with dust. We ate more than our share towards the ‘peck o’dust’ that day.

Yesterday I found out that we had one of the Yeomanry belonging to Col. Broughfield’s lot and that Hugh Pomfret is their Quartermaster and must have been visiting one of his men in the tent that is now mine since I came to Kroonstad …..

We gave a tea-party on Sunday which was quite a success. I photographed them. We had a lovely walk to the bridge and I photographed from the opposite side after scrambling across on stepping stones and climbing up the opposite bank. It is a very pretty negative. I have printed a lot but as you know, I have no toning sol. so I just fix them and they go a most awful colour. A yellowish tinge. Keep all the stamps you get on my letters as they will be very valuable later on.

20th July: Received your 2nd letter. I didn’t dream but what I should get the usual weekly letter. Don’t do it again. Thank you very much indeed for photographs. Everyone nearly has asked to see them and think them splendid. Could he send another of them, the one with the ship’s officer standing at head of gangway. Sister Thornton<ref>Sister Annie THORNTON, trained at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and joined Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on May 4th 1900 (service Number 512).</ref> got engaged to him on the way out …

I had 2 wards given to me, one a perfectly new one which I fitted up as near perfection as any are, the old medical ward was almost equally well got up too. I had had 3 changes of Drs., Dr. Stirling, Dr. Graves and lastly Dr. Boyd who complimented me on my charts and hoped I would keep them like that.

I didn’t get off duty until 10 that night as we had cases and the Drs. visit was late. Miss Shannon had been looking for me so I went to her tent and that was to tell me to go to D.1. and D.2. two fresh wards. I was wild the more I thought of it the worse I felt. I worked myself into a perfect rage. Consequently couldn’t sleep and had a violent headache in the morning. No one can quite appreciate what this means to me unless they were here. One has to worry and bother and go again and again for things to the store, and just take things when you see them and forth. Everything is more or less commandeered by sisters etc. However, I felt a bit better when Dr. Hodge whose wards I now have told me the reason for the change. He had refused to have Sister Murdoch<ref>Sister Isa MURDOCH trained at the Oldham Infirmary, and joined the Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on March 23rd, 1900 (Service Number 478). She was already in South Africa when the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital embarked.</ref> in his wards any longer, as she did not do her work properly and had been rude to himself.

I have one medical and one surgical tent each with 10 beds. I make the dressings myself so I find plenty to do. I have 3 Boer Prisoners of War and one German prisoner, a law student, all in the surgical tent. One Boer has a bullet wound , entrance front of chest below collar bone, exit left shoulder between scapula and head of humerus. It shattered and splintered the bone. One piece was taken out the other day in the Theatre before I had the ward.

Another one has one finger carried away by bullet and practically useless and I am afraid will have to be amputated, another bullet wound in leg. The German, it looks as if the bullet went in the front of neck, just above the bird’s nest (he did say it has altered his voice and made it hoarse) and came out back of shoulder. They are all getting on very well.

We had a fine lot of surgical cases in from Lindley the other day, have had a lot of operations lately. I went to one the other day. Major Beatson, the oldest brother of Dr. Beatson of Glasgow and Mr Graves. Uncle. He had a gunshot wound in shoulder which paralyzed his arm. They operated expecting to find a splinter of bone interfering with nerves in the brachial plexus – I was present at the operation and held the arm – what they actually found was that the cicatrix of shot wound was almost adherent to them and too much so to the subclavian for them to extensively dissect the scar out. They removed a good bit however and tied up the vessels and are hoping some good my be the result.

There has been a concert given in No. 3 Military Hosp. I was on orderly duty, so I couldn’t go.

July 22nd: I was going to write last night but I had put some glycerine jelly on my hands and gloves over and found I could not write in them. We all of us nearly, Drs. and Sisters suffer with cuts in our hands. You know we have been rising in the morning to find ice in the water and thick hoar frost outside the tent, but I had my dear little rubber bag, so was all right.

Miss Shannon said that the other day in her tent in the afternoon and in the shade it was 90o. Our single bell tent gets terribly hot. The nights are getting warmer now though. My! What a time we had of it yesterday. Sister McLeod<ref>Sister Annie McLEOD trained at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and joined the Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on May 4th 1900 (Service Number 516).</ref> and I asked a pass to go to Church in the evening (our 1st pass) but in the afternoon we heard a convoy was expected, and as I had 4 empty beds in each tent of course I could not go out. One of the Drs. went some days ago on horseback on his way to Lindley to bring sick from there. However De Wet was in the way and Dr. Garrow and train were sent after and ordered back. But there had been fighting between De Wet and some of ours involving 17th Lancers – about 12 miles this side of Lindley and their Colonel was bringing wounded and 33 sick on to us, so Dr. Garrow brought them on, and now some from No. 3 Hosp. have started for Lindley again.

Sir Burdett<ref>Sir Francis Burdett, 8th Bt. was born in 1869. He was the son of Lt.-Col. Sir Francis Burdett, 7th Bt. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge University. He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the 4th Dragoon Guards and the 17th Lancers. He succeeded as the 8th Baronet Burdett, of Bramcott, co. Warwick on 31 May 1892.</ref> was the 1st to arrive in a Cape cart with his arm in a sling, there are 2 other officers who are more seriously wounded. We got 2 ‘death or glory’ boys who are sick. One has something wrong with his eyes another slight fever. Then we received a case of synovitis one of Robert’s Horse. We have a new case tonight, rheumatism, Suffolk Regt.

Well before the convoy arrived the rain came (not De Wet) and my it does rain when it rains, there’s no doubt about it. The winds descended and the floods came and beat upon our tents and some of them fell. Some with patients in, but some with orderlies, one of my ward tents was in danger, but they were able to knock in pegs and loosen the ropes in time. What a terrible night it was. Sister McLeod and I had to pull our beds into the middle of the floor and then we kept nice and dry but the elements were making such a noise we couldn’t sleep till after 1 a.m.

July 26th: Got your 3rd letter today. Hope I shall get them regularly now. How I have enjoyed myself today! I have been for my first ride on horseback. Oh! it was lovely. I shall soon be able to ride well I believe. We have had 2 side saddles lent us and Sister Smith<ref>Sister Edith SMITH trained at the Royal Infirmary, Perth, and joined the Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on May 4th 1900 (Service Number 518).</ref> and myself went for a ride with Dr. Kinmont and Fisher a ‘Tommy’ who is a splendid riding master. The horses never will trot much they either canter or gallop and I must say I rode far better than I ever have before. I felt thoroughly happy. I am beginning to suffer from the after effects now. I expect to be very stiff tomorrow; but shall hope to go again soon.

You will have heard all about the train that was burnt the other day up the line. It was brought into Kroonstad the day before yesterday and I photographed it. It reminded me of the Norman Rd Church. I brought a bit of charred wood away with me and a screw. There were only 5 trucks with any kind of wood left on them. The others not a scrap of wood left, nothing but the ironwork, wheels, screws etc.

Yesterday we most of us attended a Bazaar in the Presbyterian Church here. We hoped to be able to get some curios. They had a Kruger penny, sold for £2 and 4d stamps, selling for 5/- each.

The papers have come in today – hope the letters will be here soon. We hear our hospital will not be here more than 2 months more. We also hear De Wet was wounded in right arm and taken with 4 or 500 men. Also that B.P. has taken Botha and 1400 men and that B.P. is mortally wounded. Don’t believe any of this. So sleepy must wish you goodnight.

July 27th: Can’t stop for more today, mail goes at 2. Several contused wounds result of ride.

July 28th: Yesterday we went down to the wrecked train. I took it again a much better one this time proved, also the bomb shelter outside No 3 Hospital. I took one inside and the outside.

Heard Piet de Wet had been in to see my Boer prisoner. The day before a Presbyterian Chaplain to forces had been to my tent and had an arm set which he had got broken through a kick from his horse. Today we had sports. They were very good began at 2 and finished the prize-giving at 5.30. Having entertained all visitors to tea, scones, buns and bread and bitter previously.

General Knove, Captain Mausescaux, Piet de Wet, his son Jacobus, a brother-in-law and another prisoner came. I asked the aide-de-camp if I might tale a photograph of Piet, he asked him and getting his permission I flew off for camera. I took one and got his signature and that of his son in my birthday book. When people saw me getting them he got besieged on all sides. He wrote dozens. You will know before you get this that these 4 gave themselves up, it sems Christian kept his brothers prisoner for some time because he told him he should do so as he thought it very foolish to keep on any longer. These however managed to escape and surrendered. The Captain tells me he will go to Cape Town for St Helena, possibly on Monday. They want to see a proof. I have developed tonight and think it will be pretty fair.

Unfortunately in the officers race 2 of our men’s horses collided and are rather badly hurt I am afraid.

We are going to ask a pass to go to Church of England service tomorrow night.

July 31st: Didn’t go to Church on Sunday on account of bad cases in the wards. Yesterday we went out begging saddles, we got 2 sent up this morning – one for a few days only, and another is coming Tuesday morning. The man at the Scotch Stores made us go to his private house and have some tea with his wife. It was so good.

The Bazaar realized over £250. I haven’t had your letter this week. Had 2 from Pretoria, from 2 sisters we met at Bloemfontein. We had a convoy in tonight received 5 cases and have packed 2. Am rather tired tonight. Hope to go a run tomorrow afternoon on the new saddle.

==Notes==
<references />

MediaWiki:Copyright

2025-02-01T21:55:03Z

WikiSysop:

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2024-05-25T19:01:32Z

WikiSysop:

Brief History

2024-05-25T18:59:15Z

WikiSysop:

__NOTOC__
The first hospital built to support the military was in 1683 at Portsmouth after the campaign in Flanders in the reign of Charles II<ref> von Arni, EG. (2006) Hospital Care and the British Standing Army, 1660-1714 Aldershot: Ashgate</ref>. Although this hospital was for sick and wounded soldiers the staff were all civilians. Other than this small hospital the remaining soldiers were still left to be cared for by the civilian population.

During the Seven Years War (1756-1763) a hospital was set up in Portugal with Mrs Sullivan as Matron and a number of British nurses as staff<ref>Dobson, J. (1964) The Army Nursing Service in the Eighteenth Century. Annuls of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 14(6): pp. 417-419</ref>. During the Peninsular (1807-1814) and Napoleonic (1903-1815) Wars soldiers continued to be looked after by civilian populations. In addition, regiments allowed a number of the wives of soldiers (4-6 per company) to accompany the regiment on campaign. These women helped with cooking and in the upkeep of uniforms as well as providing some basic nursing care. They were not obliged to help the wounded but most did, and some were killed on the battlefields, including Waterloo.

By the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856) medical support was more organised but nursing care was left to orderlies who may have been trained, or who might have been drawn from the regiments taking part in the campaign<ref>Taylor, E (2001) Wartime Nurse: One Hundred Years from the Crimea to Korea 1854-1954 London: Robert Hall</ref>. The story of Nightingale has been well documented and requires no further expansion here other than to note two points: firstly, this was the first deployment of any sizeable body of nurses from the UK to support a military campaign overseas; and secondly, that Nightingale remains possibly the only nurse associated with military nursing to have been afforded a “heroic” status that overshadowed the contributions of her colleagues<ref>Rappaport, H. (2007) No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War. London: Aurum Press</ref>. The nurses who went out to the Crimea were all civilians who came under the protection of the Army but were not part of it. The formation of the ANS in 1881 enabled the flexible deployment of nurses whilst retaining a chain of command and reporting.

==Army Nursing Service==

In 1881 the Army Nursing Service (ANS) was formed. Nurses wore military uniform and were employed directly to care for military patients. The ANS, although nominally a military formation was not an established part of the Army and did not sit within any of the directorates of the War Office. Army Nursing sisters served in support of many of the campaigns that took place between the Crimean War and the Boer War.

==Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve)==
The small number of full time nurses in the Army Nursing Service, was always going to be a problem in a major conflict. In 1897 an Army Nursing Service Reserve was established, run by a committee chaired by Princess Christian, hence it was known as Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service Reserve (PCANSR). In wartime it came under the direction of the War Office. During the war in South Africa the PCANSR underpinned the employment of some 2000 nurses from all over the world.

==Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service==
The experience of the Boer War in South Africa, led to reorganisation of the Army Nursing Service and in 1902 Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was established, followed by the QAIMNS Reserve in 1908. These nursing services mobilised for duty with the Expeditionary Force, serving through the war years on every front. In World War II, the QAIMNS & QAIMNSR served in every campaign, nursing the sick and wounded and sharing the hazards of warfare. Many nurses lost their lives, and some spent many years as internees.

==Territorial Force Nursing Service==
The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was originally formed to staff the territorial force hospitals at home, and the majority of its members spent their wartime service in the United Kingdom, not only in the 25 territorial hospitals, but also in hundreds of auxiliary units throughout the British Isles. Within a short time they were also employed in the eighteen territorial hospitals abroad, and alongside their QAIMNS colleagues in military hospitals and casualty clearing stations in France, Belgium, Malta, Salonica, Gibraltar, Egypt, Mesopotamia and East Africa.

==Territorial Army Nursing Service==
The Territorial Army Nursing Service (TANS) was formed in 1920, when the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army. It existed until 1949, when both regular and reserve nurses joined the QARANC. Territorial Army nurses served alongside QAIMNS nurses all over the world, and in all campaigns during WW2.

==Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps==
On 1st February 1949 the QAIMNS became Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC). In July 1950 the first non-commissioned ranks were admitted to the Corps, and in 1954 the first nurses to undertake State Registered Nurse training within the Corps successfully passed their examinations. However, the QARANC was still an all-female organisation as male nurses at this point, were members of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), and it was not until April 1992 that male nurses transferred to the QARANC.

==References==
<references />

Brief History

2024-05-25T18:43:51Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "The first hospital built to support the military was in 1683 at Portsmouth after the campaign in Flanders in the reign of Charles II2. Although this hospital was for sick and wounded soldiers the staff were all civilians. Other than this small hospital the remaining soldiers were still left to be cared for by the civilian population. During the Seven Years War (1756-1763) a hospital was set up in Portugal with Mrs Sullivan as Matron and a number of British nurses as sta..."

The first hospital built to support the military was in 1683 at Portsmouth after the campaign in Flanders in the reign of Charles II2. Although this hospital was for sick and wounded soldiers the staff were all civilians. Other than this small hospital the remaining soldiers were still left to be cared for by the civilian population.

During the Seven Years War (1756-1763) a hospital was set up in Portugal with Mrs Sullivan as Matron and a number of British nurses as staff3. During the Peninsular (1807-1814) and Napoleonic (1903-1815) Wars soldiers continued to be looked after by civilian populations. In addition, regiments allowed a number of the wives of soldiers (4-6 per company) to accompany the regiment on campaign. These women helped with cooking and in the upkeep of uniforms as well as providing some basic nursing care. They were not obliged to help the wounded but most did, and some were killed on the battlefields, including Waterloo.

By the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856) medical support was more organised but nursing care was left to orderlies who may have been trained, or who might have been drawn from the regiments taking part in the campaign4. The story of Nightingale has been well documented and requires no further expansion here other than to note two points: firstly, this was the first deployment of any sizeable body of nurses from the UK to support a military campaign overseas; and secondly, that Nightingale remains possibly the only nurse associated with military nursing to have been afforded a “heroic” status that overshadowed the contributions of her colleagues5. The nurses who went out to the Crimea were all civilians who came under the protection of the Army but were not part of it. The formation of the ANS in 1881 enabled the flexible deployment of nurses whilst retaining a chain of command and reporting.

Army Nursing Service

In 1881 the Army Nursing Service (ANS) was formed. Nurses wore military uniform and were employed directly to care for military patients. The ANS, although nominally a military formation was not an established part of the Army and did not sit within any of the directorates of the War Office. Army Nursing sisters served in support of many of the campaigns that took place between the Crimean War and the Boer War.

Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve)

The small number of full time nurses in the Army Nursing Service, was always going to be a problem in a major conflict. In 1897 an Army Nursing Service Reserve was established, run by a committee chaired by Princess Christian, hence it was known as Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service Reserve (PCANSR). In wartime it came under the direction of the War Office. During the war in South Africa the PCANSR underpinned the employment of some 2000 nurses from all over the world.

Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service

The experience of the Boer War in South Africa, led to reorganisation of the Army Nursing Service and in 1902 Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was established, followed by the QAIMNS Reserve in 1908. These nursing services mobilised for duty with the Expeditionary Force, serving through the war years on every front. In World War II, the QAIMNS & QAIMNSR served in every campaign, nursing the sick and wounded and sharing the hazards of warfare. Many nurses lost their lives, and some spent many years as internees.

Territorial Force Nursing Service

The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was originally formed to staff the territorial force hospitals at home, and the majority of its members spent their wartime service in the United Kingdom, not only in the 25 territorial hospitals, but also in hundreds of auxiliary units throughout the British Isles. Within a short time they were also employed in the eighteen territorial hospitals abroad, and alongside their QAIMNS colleagues in military hospitals and casualty clearing stations in France, Belgium, Malta, Salonica, Gibraltar, Egypt, Mesopotamia and East Africa.

Territorial Army Nursing Service

The Territorial Army Nursing Service (TANS) was formed in 1920, when the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army. It existed until 1949, when both regular and reserve nurses joined the QARANC. Territorial Army nurses served alongside QAIMNS nurses all over the world, and in all campaigns during WW2.

Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps

On 1st February 1949 the QAIMNS became Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC). In July 1950 the first non-commissioned ranks were admitted to the Corps, and in 1954 the first nurses to undertake State Registered Nurse training within the Corps successfully passed their examinations. However, the QARANC was still an all-female organisation as male nurses at this point, were members of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), and it was not until April 1992 that male nurses transferred to the QARANC.

References
von Arni, EG. (2001) Justice to the maimed soldier: Nursing, Medical care and Welfare for Sick and Wounded Soldiers and their Families during the English Civil Wars and Interregnum, 1642-1660 Aldershot: Ashgate
von Arni, EG. (2006) Hospital Care and the British Standing Army, 1660-1714 Aldershot: Ashgate
Dobson, J. (1964) The Army Nursing Service in the Eighteenth Century. Annuls of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 14(6): pp. 417-419
Taylor, E (2001) Wartime Nurse: One Hundred Years from the Crimea to Korea 1854-1954 London: Robert Hall
Rappaport, H. (2007) No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War. London: Aurum Press

BRAND, Mary

2024-04-24T14:23:24Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
[[File:poppy.png|100px|left]]206782 Sister BRAND, Mary, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Serviced (QAIMNS) was serving at the 1st Malaysian General Hospital, Singapore. She left Singapore on the [[SS Kuala]], which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942.

<blockquote>… survived the sinking of the SS Kuala but died later from wounds incurred in the bombing of Pom Pong Island, and was buried in Tembilihan<ref> Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref> …</blockquote>

She was the daughter of Charles Cecil and Lucy Brand, of King’s Heath, Birmingham, and was a Gold Medallist, Queen’s Hospital, Birmingham<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org</ref>. She died on Pom Pong Isalnd February 16, 1942, and her name is recorded on the Singapore Memorial Column 1132

==References==
<references />

[[category:QAIMNS]] [[Category:WW2]] [[Category:Died in Service]]

BRAND, Mary

2024-04-24T14:19:54Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Nursing Service in WW2== 206782 Sister BRAND, Mary, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was serving at the 1st Malaysian General Hospital, Singapore. She left Singapore on the SS Kuala, which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942. <blockquote>… survived the sinking of the SS Kuala but died later from wounds incurred in the bombing of Pom Pong Island, and was buried in Tembilihan<ref> Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Resear..."

==Nursing Service in WW2==
206782 Sister BRAND, Mary, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was serving at the 1st Malaysian General Hospital, Singapore. She left Singapore on the [[SS Kuala]], which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942.

<blockquote>… survived the sinking of the SS Kuala but died later from wounds incurred in the bombing of Pom Pong Island, and was buried in Tembilihan<ref> Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref> …</blockquote>

She was the daughter of Charles Cecil and Lucy Brand, of King’s Heath, Birmingham, and was a Gold Medallist, Queen’s Hospital, Birmingham<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org</ref>. She died on Pom Pong Isalnd February 16, 1942, and her name is recorded on the Singapore Memorial Column 1132

==References==
<references />

[[category:QAIMNS]] [[Category:WW2]] [[Category:Died in Service]]

SS Kuala

2024-04-24T14:09:00Z

WikiSysop:

[[File:Kuala.jpg|right|thumb|''SS Kuala'']]The ''SS Kuala'' was a small coastal ship converted into an auxiliary vessel.

While still taking on passengers, the ''SS Kuala'' was attacked by wave after wave of enemy aircraft, killing dozens of passengers including an Army nurse. The ship was carrying 600 people, 500 of whom were civilians. Half of these were women and children. Scores were injured by shrapnel fragments and flying glass. It left Singapore on February 14th as the Japanese advanced.

There were about 50 nurses on board, including civilians and military nurses from the other services. The master of the ''SS Kuala'' had decided to sail at night when they were less visible to aircraft, and lie to during the day. They had just sent men ashore in boats to Pom Pong island to camouflage the ship with branches and thatch when the planes came over. The women heard a warning shout to take cover and the ship was rocked by a massive explosion as the bridge suffered a direct hit and the boiler room caught fire.

With the stricken vessel sinking fast the order came to abandon ship. There were only two lifeboats and not nearly enough lifebelts – all were forced to jump from the blazing ship into the water where a fierce current was sweeping away from the island and out to the open sea, and the Japanese came back and strafed them, hitting one of the lifeboats and catapulting the passengers back into the sea. Some survivors were picked up by the [[SS Tanjong Pinang]], which was itself sunk a day later.

British Army nurses we know about:

*[[AYERS, Eileen Norah]]
*Bell-Murray, Helene E
*[[BLACK, Charlotte Florence]]
*[[BOSTOCK, V Muriel]]
*Brand, Mary
*Carroll, Edith Katherine
*Charman, F Mary
*Cooper, Mary
*Coward, Laura
*Davies, Naomi
*Dowling, N Gwen
*Dunlop, Doreen Violet
*Evans, Margaret A (Peggy)
*Finley, Margaret Raven
*Fowler, Marjorie Helen Taylor
*Gale, Marjorie Eveline
*Garvin, Dorothy
*Harley, L
*Hervey-Murray, Agnes
*Hodgson, Marjorie Aizlewood
*Hulf, M E
*Ingham, Alice Ann
*Jenkins, K M
*Jones, Violet Maud Evelyn
*Le Blanc Smith, Beatrice
*MacDuff, Brenda
*MacGregor, Annie
*MacLean, Lydia
*McClelland, Alice Margaret
*Mins
*Montgomery, Helen Louise
*Muir, Annie Wilson
*Pedlow, Edith Doreen
*Russell, Winifred
*Spedding, V C D
*Strachan, Elizabeth
*Sullivan, Nancy
*Symonds, Lorna Sybil
*Tombs, Dorothy Helen
*Wells, Brenda Irene
*West, Cicely Lucy May
*Wilson, Edith Mary
*Woodman, K
*Wright, Irene

BOSTOCK, V Muriel

2024-04-24T14:08:13Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
Sister BOSTOCK, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) (QAIMNSR) was in Singapore in 1942, but it is not known in what capacity. She left Singapore on the SS Kuala, which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942.

<blockquote> … reached Singkep and then Eastern Sumatra with Nurse Edith Wood, and Padang where they boarded a Dutch cargo vessel, reaching Columbo on March 6, 1942<ref>Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref> … </blockquote>.
She is one of the few nurses to have reached home from the sinking of the [[SS Kuala]] and the [[SS Tanjong Pinang]].

==References==
<references />

[[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:WW2]]

BOSTOCK, V Muriel

2024-04-24T14:07:41Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
Sister BOSTOCK, V Muriel, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) (QAIMNSR) was in Singapore in 1942, but it is not known in what capacity. She left Singapore on the SS Kuala, which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942.

<blockquote> … reached Singkep and then Eastern Sumatra with Nurse Edith Wood, and Padang where they boarded a Dutch cargo vessel, reaching Columbo on March 6, 1942<ref>Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref> … </blockquote>.
She is one of the few nurses to have reached home from the sinking of the [[SS Kuala]] and the [[SS Tanjong Pinang]].

==References==
<references />

[[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:WW2]]

BOSTOCK, V Muriel

2024-04-24T13:35:19Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Nursing Service in WW2== Sister BOSTOCK, V Muriel, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) (QAIMNSR) was in Singapore in 1942, but it is not known in what capacity. She left Singapore on the SS Kuala, which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942. <blockquote> … reached Singkep and then Eastern Sumatra with Nurse Edith Wood, and Padang where they boarded a Dutch cargo vessel, reaching Columbo on March 6, 1942<ref>Pether, M..."

==Nursing Service in WW2==
Sister BOSTOCK, V Muriel, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) (QAIMNSR) was in Singapore in 1942, but it is not known in what capacity. She left Singapore on the SS Kuala, which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942.

<blockquote> … reached Singkep and then Eastern Sumatra with Nurse Edith Wood, and Padang where they boarded a Dutch cargo vessel, reaching Columbo on March 6, 1942<ref>Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref> … </blockquote.

She is one of the few nurses to have reached home from the sinking of the [[SS Kuala]] and the [[SS Tanjong Pinang]].

==References==
<references />

Tags:Died in Service, QAIMNS(R), WW2

WOODS, Emily Jane: Diary, Part 1 (May 1900)

2024-04-21T06:30:06Z

WikiSysop: Protected "EJW: May 1900" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

==Arundel Castle==

May 19th Saturday
Had a good journey to Southampton and a most enthusiastic send off, the streets thronged. It is now 10 p.m. and as I am sharing a cabin with 2 others must not write much tonight, I am going to be revaccinated but not inoculated.

21st May
Yesterday was lovely and the sea beautiful, we were in the Bay but it was in one of its best moods. The stewardess brings us a cup of tea about 6 a.m., then some have baths and we breakfast abut 8.30. At 10.30 we had a service. As there are 3 clergymen on board one of them took it – not much of a sermon.

Then we lunch at 1.30. Have a cup of tea and bread and butter or biscuits at 4 p.m. dinner at 6.30. No supper. The food is very good and plenty of it. The 2nd and 3rd class orderlies had some games. The 1st class sang hymns. There was a service for them aft. They are not allowed to mix with us at all. After dinner we sang hymns in the dining saloon, pianos accompanying. There are about 35 of us sitting at meals in the 1st class D.S. 8 doctors, 12 sisters. [[ROBERTS, Ida Henrietta|Nursing Sister Roberts]] returning to S.A. after taking the men of the Powerful home .. .. ..

Several have been sick not yours truly. We are through the bay and were very near the coast of Spain this morning. Passed Cape Finisterre before lunch. My bed got swamped with sea water early. They have changed it all. The waves have been dashing over the bows of the boat. It has been so windy today we could scarcely stand in some parts, but I am enjoying myself thoroughly, not sick yet. They had some games tonight, Gordon Highlanders v Yeomanry, Surrey and Lancashires. The students<ref>Medical students were taken as 1st Class orderlies. Army Nursing Notes (1900) Nursing Record and Hospital World. Vol 4: May 26th; p416</ref> or 1st class orderlies have a sort of concert every night in the fore port.

23rd May
Yesterday I saw some flying fish. The day passed much the same as others. Eating, drinking, sitting and reading. Walking and talking. A concert given but spoilt by the conceit and half intoxication of the reciter named Wolff. Gave us the peroration before Agincourt from Shakespere. Did it well but had been having too much Scotch, in fact he spoilt the whole evening for us.

Today I have taken 4 photographs. I don’t like the Thiosulphate Tabloids<ref>Thiosulphate was a photographic fixing agent. The word tabloid was a registered trademark of Burroughs Wellcome pharmaceutical company for products that ‘had the form or likeness of a tablet’. http://website.lineone.net/~mauricefisher/Johnsons of Hendon/Johnson Year Book.html</ref> they are not nearly strong enough. We land at Las Palmas while the ship is coaling where I hope to take more. Won’t stay for more shall be late for post – finishing in my bunk.

25th May
What a lovely day we had yesterday. Arrived at Las Palmas about 11 a.m. it was fun to see the boats come alongside with Spanish, Italians and some locals in them all selling oranges, lemons, bananas, green figs, onions, cigars, tobacco, parrots and such like things. Then came a big barge full of colliers another of coal. The kiddies in the boats were stripping and diving for silver pennies as they called them.

Then came two boats and took off a party of 25 including nurses and doctors. When we landed our conductor fried 5 of the funny little hooded crustaceans for us and we went on a 7 mile drive to an hotel on the top of a high hill. It gave us a splendid idea of the place. We found it on the whole very barren. A few palm trees and some other something like our birch trees seemed to flourish in the dry and infertile situations. We saw several patches of maize and some vineyards right up on the hills. Round their own houses and inside the houses on the streets there are well cultivated and most luxurious little gardens. You remember how Nelly told us of the little gardens inside the houses where they take their Sisters. They leave their front doors open so we could see the gardens inside. Geraniums for big shrubs. Agapanthus, clematis, roses, photinia, luxuriate and there are other lovely climbers, shrubs and plants.

I saw abutilons the size of young trees. Shrubs and lilies of all descriptions. Splendid. All gardens were full of flowering plants but it seemed to us that the Spaniards were too lazy to cultivate the rest of the ground. We only saw a very little corn and that of the very meagrest.

I have taken 2 views of the streets but they are not very successful, but they will give you some idea of the funny flat look of the houses. We returned in the same carriages and visited the Cathedral. Had not time to take a view of it. Then we returned to the town Hotel. Some of them bought some lovely Madeira wine at more or less ruinous prices. Returned to the boat between 5 and 6.

30th May
Not much to record since Las Palmas. We are now in the tropics and for the last few days and the heat has been tremendous. Monday was terrible. The heat gave me one of my old sick headaches so I had to miss dinner. The only missed meal so far.

On Saturday several of us were vaccinated I amongst them, but I don’t think mine has taken at all. On Sunday night there was some irritation and inflammation and none since.

On Sunday after service I took 2 groups of Drs. and nurses, with the ships captain. I am afraid that they will not come out well but Dr. Stirling<ref>STIRLING, Dr. Robert, Visiting Surgeon, Royal Infirmary Perth. Army Nursing Notes (1900) Nursing Record and Hospital World. Vol 4: May 26th; p416</ref> said it would be the best day to take them as they would all be in Khaki for church parade. It has been too hot since to do any work.

We saw a tremendous shoal of porpoise. We crossed the Equator about 9 a.m. on Thursday. A case of suppressed enteric turned up amongst the Gordons so 3 of us are nursing it. We only take about 4 hrs. each and that is quite enough as the hospital is in the steerage end, and one feels the motion of the boat very much more there. However, we don’t see any signs of enteric ourselves and his temperature is now normal. It was 105 when admitted.

There are heaps of flying fish to be seen this side of the Equator and some nautilus also. They had a shuffleboard tournament yesterday, it was very good. The 2nd and 3rd class passengers got up a concert for us last week, they have a professional violinist amongst them. It was a very good concert. We are to give a return one next week, and I believe the stewards are getting up a minstrel group for next week also.

We are having some lessons in Cape Dutch from a pro-Boer parson who is on board, he is a very jolly little fellow. We have been rather more lively the last few days, on Tuesday evening we (1st class) gave a concert. On the whole it was very good, but it was spoiled for me pretty much as I had to play accompaniments for 3 gentlemen. Have you heard “We’ll be there” Jack?<ref>Kruger’s Dinner Party; or we’ll be there. Song. G. Le Brunn & F. C. Smale. British Library Shelfmark H.3602.b.(31.)</ref> it is a music hall song from the British to Oom Paul<ref>KRUGER, Paul, 1825–1904, South African Transvaal statesman, known as Oom Paul. Kruger fought in the early stages of the Boer War, but in 1900 he went to Europe on a Dutch cruiser in a vain effort to enlist aid for his country. He died an exile in Switzerland.</ref>. It is capital. Banjo accompaniment I think.

On Wednesday we had sports on the well deck. They were very good. Long jump, high jump, cock fight 2 men sit inside a chalk ring with their knees up, hands clasping them. The hands are tied and a stick passed through their legs, under knees and over elbows. When trussed they begin with their feet close together. The thing is to turn your opponent. When once over he has no power to right himself. If both go down it is a rare tussle which shall get the other outside first. In the evening the stewards gave the minstrel entertainment.

Wednesday a mail boat passed and we signalled “Have you any news?” Their reply was “P.R.E” and “T.O” then “surrendered”. We could scarcely believe it. The Red Cross people received the information with mingled feelings, but directly the troops were told there was cheering and great excitement, drinking, taking up lots and so on. Most hoping fighting is not over.

There is a shocking lot of gambling and open betting – We can’t tell what to make of the news or how it will affect us. We may be sent to Pretoria now, or some other place and not go to Kroonstadt((The Author spells Kroonstad also as Kroonstadt)) at all. Last night some of us played round games, “tea-pot” etc. Evening passed quickly.

==References==
<references />

WOODS, Emily Jane: Diary, Part 1 (May 1900)

2024-04-21T06:29:21Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Arundel Castle== May 19th Saturday Had a good journey to Southampton and a most enthusiastic send off, the streets thronged. It is now 10 p.m. and as I am sharing a cabin with 2 others must not write much tonight, I am going to be revaccinated but not inoculated. 21st May Yesterday was lovely and the sea beautiful, we were in the Bay but it was in one of its best moods. The stewardess brings us a cup of tea about 6 a.m., then some have baths and..."

BOND, Nellie Auger

2024-04-10T22:11:08Z

WikiSysop:

==Army Nursing Service before 1899==
In 1898 Sister Nellie Auger BOND was serving at the Military Hospital Netley<ref>Army List 1898</ref>. In 1898 she married and left the service. She was the sister of [[BOND, Alice Sweeting| Alice Sweeting BOND]].

==References==
<References />

[[Category:Victorian]] [[Category:ANS]]

BOND, Alice Sweeting

2024-04-10T22:10:10Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "__NOTOC__ ==Biography== She was born in Cretingham, Suffolk, About 1866 ==Army Nursing Service before 1899== Alice Sweeting BOND served in the ANS alongside her sister Nellie Auger BOND. She enlisted in the ANS on January 27, 1892, and in 1898 was serving at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley<ref>Army List 1898</ref>. ==Nursing Service in the Boer War== ==Nursing service after the Boer War== Appointed Sister in the newly formed Queen Alexandra..."

__NOTOC__
==Biography==
She was born in Cretingham, Suffolk, About 1866

==Army Nursing Service before 1899==
Alice Sweeting BOND served in the ANS alongside her sister [[BOND, Nellie Auger| Nellie Auger BOND]]. She enlisted in the ANS on January 27, 1892, and in 1898 was serving at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley<ref>Army List 1898</ref>.

==Nursing Service in the Boer War==

==Nursing service after the Boer War==
Appointed Sister in the newly formed Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service (QAIMNS) in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, May 26, 1903, p.3364</ref>.

==References==
<references />

WO 100/229 QSA Medal Roll p81 created at No15 General Hospital, Howick; dated September 15, 1901 WO 100/229 QSA Medal Roll p180 created at Clarkestown; August 22, 1901 The London Gazette, February 8, 1901; p931 The London Gazette, September 10, 1901; p5958 The London Gazette, September 27, 1901; p6324 The London Gazette, May 26 1903, p3365 Army List for March 1900 Army List for November 1901 Army List for November 1902 The Times, November 29, 1900 p10a&10b The Times, December 19, 1900 p10b&10c WO 100/353 KSA Medal Roll p1 created at Pretoria; dated March 19, 1903 WO 100/353 KSA Medal Roll p7 created at Newcastle; dated February 28, 1903

[[Category:ANS]] [[Category:Victorian]] [[Category:Boer War]] [[Category:QAIMNS]] [[Category:Post Boer War]]

BODY, Edith

2024-04-10T21:43:47Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Nursing service after the Boer War== Appointed Sister in the newly formed Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service (QAIMNS) in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, May 26, 1903, p.3364</ref>. ==References== <references /> Category:QAIMNS Category: Post Boer War"

==Nursing service after the Boer War==
Appointed Sister in the newly formed Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service (QAIMNS) in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, May 26, 1903, p.3364</ref>.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:QAIMNS]] [[Category: Post Boer War]]

BLACK, Charlotte Florence

2024-04-09T07:52:25Z

WikiSysop: WikiSysop moved page Black, Charlotte Florence to BLACK, Charlotte Florence without leaving a redirect: consistency

==Biography==
Charlotte Florence BLACK was born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in 1916, the daughter of Robert and Charlotte Black<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org</ref>. She trained as a nurse in Weymouth. On March 18, 1941 she joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS)<ref>Lightfoot, BA. (2013) Amazing story of courage in the face of cruelty. Salford Advertiser, June 6, 2013, p23</ref>.

==Nursing Service in WW2==
[[File:Poppy.png|100px|left]]206670 Sister BLACK was posted to 17th Combined General Hospital, in India. In December 1941, after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the invasion of Malaya, she was one of a group of nurses sent from India to boost nursing support in Singapore. She served at the 20th Combined General Hospital, Singapore, until all the nurses were instructed to leave the island. She left Singapore on the [[SS Kuala]], which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942, off Pom Pong Island. She made it ashore<ref name="pether">Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref> and with other surviving nurses, cared for the injured and wounded passengers. Only 30 out of 160 nurses on board the SS Kuala<ref>Lightfoot, BA. (2013) Sister’s fight for survival. Salford Advertiser, June 13, 2013, p25</ref> survived. Two days later they were rescued by the [[SS Tanjong Pinang]] which was also escaping Singapore<ref name="pether"/>. The following evening the SS Tanjong Pinang was itself sunk by Japanese naval vessels on February 17, 1942. She was wounded in her legs, and after five days on a raft landed on Banka Island where she died and was buried on the beach<ref name="pether"/> <ref>Lightfoot, BA. (2013) A tragic end for nurse who gave so much to others. Salford Advertiser, June 20, 2013, p24</ref>.

She died February 23, 1942, on Banka Island and her name is recorded on the Singapore Memorial Column 1131

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Died in Service]] [[Category:WW2]] [[Category:QAIMNS]]

SS Kuala

2024-04-09T07:51:20Z

WikiSysop:

[[File:Kuala.jpg|right|thumb|''SS Kuala'']]The ''SS Kuala'' was a small coastal ship converted into an auxiliary vessel.

While still taking on passengers, the ''SS Kuala'' was attacked by wave after wave of enemy aircraft, killing dozens of passengers including an Army nurse. The ship was carrying 600 people, 500 of whom were civilians. Half of these were women and children. Scores were injured by shrapnel fragments and flying glass. It left Singapore on February 14th as the Japanese advanced.

There were about 50 nurses on board, including civilians and military nurses from the other services. The master of the ''SS Kuala'' had decided to sail at night when they were less visible to aircraft, and lie to during the day. They had just sent men ashore in boats to Pom Pong island to camouflage the ship with branches and thatch when the planes came over. The women heard a warning shout to take cover and the ship was rocked by a massive explosion as the bridge suffered a direct hit and the boiler room caught fire.

With the stricken vessel sinking fast the order came to abandon ship. There were only two lifeboats and not nearly enough lifebelts – all were forced to jump from the blazing ship into the water where a fierce current was sweeping away from the island and out to the open sea, and the Japanese came back and strafed them, hitting one of the lifeboats and catapulting the passengers back into the sea. Some survivors were picked up by the [[SS Tanjong Pinang]], which was itself sunk a day later.

British Army nurses we know about:

*[[AYERS, Eileen Norah]]
*Bell-Murray, Helene E
*[[BLACK, Charlotte Florence]]
*Bostock, V Muriel
*Brand, Mary
*Carroll, Edith Katherine
*Charman, F Mary
*Cooper, Mary
*Coward, Laura
*Davies, Naomi
*Dowling, N Gwen
*Dunlop, Doreen Violet
*Evans, Margaret A (Peggy)
*Finley, Margaret Raven
*Fowler, Marjorie Helen Taylor
*Gale, Marjorie Eveline
*Garvin, Dorothy
*Harley, L
*Hervey-Murray, Agnes
*Hodgson, Marjorie Aizlewood
*Hulf, M E
*Ingham, Alice Ann
*Jenkins, K M
*Jones, Violet Maud Evelyn
*Le Blanc Smith, Beatrice
*MacDuff, Brenda
*MacGregor, Annie
*MacLean, Lydia
*McClelland, Alice Margaret
*Mins
*Montgomery, Helen Louise
*Muir, Annie Wilson
*Pedlow, Edith Doreen
*Russell, Winifred
*Spedding, V C D
*Strachan, Elizabeth
*Sullivan, Nancy
*Symonds, Lorna Sybil
*Tombs, Dorothy Helen
*Wells, Brenda Irene
*West, Cicely Lucy May
*Wilson, Edith Mary
*Woodman, K
*Wright, Irene

Lost at Sea

2024-04-09T07:50:43Z

WikiSysop:

==Context==
[[File:poppy.png|100px|right]] Army nurses have served on Hospital Ships since the formation of the Army Nursing Service in 1881. They have also served on transports giving care to sick and wounded soldiers returning to the United Kingdom. Sadly many nurses have lost their lives at sea either whilst serving on Hospital Ships, or whilst travelling to postings overseas.

This section of the site lists those pages where I have researched either ships or the nurses serving on them.

==Pages==
**[[Brookwood_Memorial | Brookwood Memorial]]
**[[SS_Khedive_Ismail | ''SS Khedive Ismail'']]
**[[SS_Kuala | ''SS Kuala'']]
**[[SS Tanjong Pinang | ''SS Tanjong Pinang'']]

SS Tanjong Pinang

2024-04-09T07:49:43Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Context== The SS Tanjong Pinang was a 97 foot converted ‘tug’ trying to make its escape with about 160 women and children on board plus about eight wounded men from Pom Pong Island where they had been shipwrecked; it also had on board five ocean shipwreck survivors who had been plucked from the sea on the day before. Almost all these people were survivors, including many wounded, of the earlier sinking of the SS Kuala which had sailed from Singapore on 1..."

==Context==
The SS Tanjong Pinang was a 97 foot converted ‘tug’ trying to make its escape with about 160 women and children on board plus about eight wounded men from Pom Pong Island where they had been shipwrecked; it also had on board five ocean shipwreck survivors who had been plucked from the sea on the day before. Almost all these people were survivors, including many wounded, of the earlier sinking of the [[SS Kuala]] which had sailed from Singapore on 13 February and had been bombed by Japanese planes at Pom Pong Island so they had already experienced the horror and pain of one sinking. There is no official record of all those on board but it is thought that there were at least 160 on board and there could have been as many as 208 passengers and 17 crew crammed on the deck and into the hold in the dark of the night of 16 February. There are also numerous Chinese and Eurasian women who are thought to have been on board too but there are no records of their names.

[[File:Tanjongpinang.jpg|center|SS Tanjong Pinang]]

The ship left from Pom Pong Island at dawn on 17 February. One crew man said a lifeboat had ferried people from Pom Pong Island to the ship eight times carrying 20 people each time except for the last trip of 12 people. Another crewman said there were 250 passengers on board. The ship was stopped at sea about 30 miles north of the Tanjung Ular lighthouse off Banka Island at about 8.30pm that night by a warning shot across its bows. Whilst some women and children were being lowered in the ship’s only two small boats (there were no real lifeboats), a Japanese submarine or torpedo boat opened fire at point blank range whilst its searchlights were trained on the SS Tanjong Pinang directly hitting the starboard side ship’s boat. The ship sank within five to ten minutes taking down many of the women and children passengers who had been trapped in the hold and cabins.

File:Tanjongpinang.jpg

2024-04-09T07:48:36Z

WikiSysop:

SS Kuala

2024-04-09T07:46:27Z

WikiSysop:

[[File:Kuala.jpg|right|thumb|''SS Kuala'']]The ''SS Kuala'' was a small coastal ship converted into an auxiliary vessel.

While still taking on passengers, the ''SS Kuala'' was attacked by wave after wave of enemy aircraft, killing dozens of passengers including an Army nurse. The ship was carrying 600 people, 500 of whom were civilians. Half of these were women and children. Scores were injured by shrapnel fragments and flying glass. It left Singapore on February 14th as the Japanese advanced.

There were about 50 nurses on board, including civilians and military nurses from the other services. The master of the ''SS Kuala'' had decided to sail at night when they were less visible to aircraft, and lie to during the day. They had just sent men ashore in boats to Pom Pong island to camouflage the ship with branches and thatch when the planes came over. The women heard a warning shout to take cover and the ship was rocked by a massive explosion as the bridge suffered a direct hit and the boiler room caught fire.

With the stricken vessel sinking fast the order came to abandon ship. There were only two lifeboats and not nearly enough lifebelts – all were forced to jump from the blazing ship into the water where a fierce current was sweeping away from the island and out to the open sea, and the Japanese came back and strafed them, hitting one of the lifeboats and catapulting the passengers back into the sea. Some survivors were picked up by the [[SS Tanjong Pinang]], which was itself sunk a day later.

British Army nurses we know about:

*[[AYERS, Eileen Norah]]
*Bell-Murray, Helene E
*Black, Charlotte Florence
*Bostock, V Muriel
*Brand, Mary
*Carroll, Edith Katherine
*Charman, F Mary
*Cooper, Mary
*Coward, Laura
*Davies, Naomi
*Dowling, N Gwen
*Dunlop, Doreen Violet
*Evans, Margaret A (Peggy)
*Finley, Margaret Raven
*Fowler, Marjorie Helen Taylor
*Gale, Marjorie Eveline
*Garvin, Dorothy
*Harley, L
*Hervey-Murray, Agnes
*Hodgson, Marjorie Aizlewood
*Hulf, M E
*Ingham, Alice Ann
*Jenkins, K M
*Jones, Violet Maud Evelyn
*Le Blanc Smith, Beatrice
*MacDuff, Brenda
*MacGregor, Annie
*MacLean, Lydia
*McClelland, Alice Margaret
*Mins
*Montgomery, Helen Louise
*Muir, Annie Wilson
*Pedlow, Edith Doreen
*Russell, Winifred
*Spedding, V C D
*Strachan, Elizabeth
*Sullivan, Nancy
*Symonds, Lorna Sybil
*Tombs, Dorothy Helen
*Wells, Brenda Irene
*West, Cicely Lucy May
*Wilson, Edith Mary
*Woodman, K
*Wright, Irene

SS Khedive Ismail

2024-04-09T07:45:52Z

WikiSysop:

[[File:Khediveismail.jpg|right|thumb|''SS Khedive Ismail'']]The ''SS Khedive Ismail'' was a steamship sunk with great loss of life in 1944. On 6 February 1944 Convoy KR-8 sailed from Kilindini Harbour at Mombasa, Kenya to Colombo, Ceylon. The convoy consisted of five troop transports (''Khedive Ismail, City of Paris, Varsova, Ekma & Ellenga''), escorted by the heavy cruiser ''HMS Hawkins'' and the destroyers ''HMS Petard'' and ''HMS Paladin''.

In the early afternoon of Saturday 12 February 1944, a Japanese submarine sank the ''SS Khedive Ismail'' with two torpedoes. No fewer than 1,297 people, including 77 women, lost their lives in the two minutes it took for the ''SS Khedive Ismail'' to sink. Only 208 men and 6 women survived. The sinking was the third worst Allied shipping disaster of World War II and the single worst loss of female service personnel in the history of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Army nurses that died are commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial.

===Nurses who died at sea on the ''SS Khedive Ismail''===

*[[AIREY, Freda]]
*[[ATKIN, Joyce Kathleen]]
*[[BATEMAN, Edith Mary]]
*Brown, Amy
*Dalgarno, Elsie Alice
*Dann, Elizabeth Doritha
*Davies, Margaret Eluned
*Dervan, Gertrude
*Dewar, Alice Whitehead
*Dowling, Beatrice Olivia
*Farrelly, Mary
*FitzGerald, Catherine Mary
*Harvey, Grace Wesslink
*Hastings, Valerie Francis
*Humphrey, Muriel Christine
*Ievers, Eileen Mary Elsie
*Jarman, Marie
*Johnston, Maud Fredaline
*Kells, Maggie Jane
*Kells, Winifred Evelyn
*Leckey, Muriel Emily
*Leech, Barbara Elisabeth
*Littleton, Mary Joyce
*MacLaren, Jean Noel
*McMillan, Marion Lennox
*Moore, Isabella
*Morgan, Sarah
*Nuttall, Phyllis
*Pirie, Barbara
*[[RICHARDSON, Sybil Gwendoline]]
*Robertson, Helen Murray
*Senior, Doris Ena
*Smith, Marjorie
*Spence, Isobel
*Taylor, Katherine Mary Monica
*Thomas, Jane Mair George
*Urquhart, Mary Annie Ross
*Walker, Kathleen Hewison
*Warwick, Roberta Alice
*Whitaker, Mafalda Selene
*White, Gwendoline May
*Willis, Annie Amelia
*Young, Eleanor Jane

BLACK, Charlotte Florence

2024-04-09T07:40:48Z

WikiSysop:

BLACK, Charlotte Florence

2024-04-07T21:29:31Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Biography== Charlotte Florence BLACK was born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in 1916, the daughter of Robert and Charlotte Black<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org</ref>. She trained as a nurse in Weymouth. On March 18, 1941 she joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS)<ref>Lightfoot, BA. (2013) Amazing story of courage in the face of cruelty. Salford Advertiser, June 6, 2013, p23</ref>. Nursing Service in WW2 206670 S..."

==Biography==
Charlotte Florence BLACK was born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in 1916, the daughter of Robert and Charlotte Black<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org</ref>. She trained as a nurse in Weymouth. On March 18, 1941 she joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS)<ref>Lightfoot, BA. (2013) Amazing story of courage in the face of cruelty. Salford Advertiser, June 6, 2013, p23</ref>.

Nursing Service in WW2
206670 Sister BLACK was posted to 17th Combined General Hospital, in India. In December 1941, after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the invasion of Malaya, she was one of a group of nurses sent from India to boost nursing support in Singapore. She served at the 20th Combined General Hospital, Singapore, until all the nurses were instructed to leave the island. She left Singapore on the SS Kuala, which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942, off Pom Pong Island. She made it ashore3 and with other surviving nurses, cared for the injured and wounded passengers. Only 30 out of 160 nurses on board the SS Kuala4 survived. Two days later they were rescued by the SS Tanjong Pinang which was also escaping Singapore3. The following evening the SS Tanjong Pinang was itself sunk by Japanese naval vessels on February 17, 19423 5. She was wounded in her legs, and after five days on a raft landed on Banka Island where she died and was buried on the beach3 5.

She died February 23, 1942, on Banka Island and her name is recorded on the Singapore Memorial Column 1131

References

Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)
Lightfoot, BA. (2013) Sister’s fight for survival. Salford Advertiser, June 13, 2013, p25
Lightfoot, BA. (2013) A tragic end for nurse who gave so much to others. Salford Advertiser, June 20, 2013, p24

Command and Control of Army nursing

2024-04-07T20:56:56Z

WikiSysop: /* Colonel Commandant */

__NOTOC__
==Command & Control of Army Nurses==
When the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was formed in 1902, it was decided that the Army nurses should be managed by a Matron-in-Chief.

The first Matron-in-Chief of the QAIMNS was Sidney Jane Browne (later Dame). She trained as a nurse in West Bromwich and joined the Army Nursing Service on July 1, 1883<ref>The National Archives: War Office Nominal Roll of Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as at 30th September, 1900.</ref> shortly after qualifying. She was sent to Egypt in 1884 and a year later was posted to duty on the ‘’Hospital Ship Ganges’’. In 1885 she returned to Britain and was posted to the military hospital in Woolwich. In 1887 she was promoted to Acting Superintendent at the military hospital in Malta. She became Superintendent of the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich in 1894 and had just transferred as Superintendent of the Connaught Hospital, Aldershot at the start of the Boer War<ref>McGann, S. (1992) The Battle of the Nurses. London: Scutari Press</ref>.

She went to South Africa and was Matron of the biggest of the base hospitals at Wynberg where Alfred Keogh was Commanding Officer. She also served at Rondesbosch and and at Springfontein<ref>The National Archives: War Office 100/229 Medal roll for the Queen’s South Africa Medal p. 34</ref> <ref>The National Archives: War Office 100/229 Medal roll for the Queen’s South Africa Medal p.163)</ref>. Alfred Keogh was the Director General Army Medical Services when the new nursing service was being discussed and championed Sidney Browne as Matron-in-Chief<ref>McGann, S. (1992) The Battle of the Nurses. London: Scutari Press</ref>.

She was appointed Matron-in-Chief of the QAIMNS in April 1902 and returned to Britain<ref>McGann, S. (1992) The Battle of the Nurses. London: Scutari Press</ref>. In September that year she was awarded the RRC and given it personally by the King. Her military service made her acceptable to the RAMC, but she was also well received by the civilian matrons. Sidney Browne was a member of the Royal British Nurses Association and a founder member of the Matron’s Council. She supported and had campaigned for registration of nurses and felt this would help the military recruit nurses with recognisable qualifications. She was also supported by Queen Alexandra, who took a personal interest in the formation of the new nursing service.

===Matron-in Chief QAIMNS===
*Dame Sidney Browne, 1902 – 1906
*Caroline Keer, 1906 – 1910
*Dame Ethel Becher, 1910 – 1919 (War Office)
*Dame Maud McCarthy, 1914 – 1919 (France & Flanders)
*Dame Sarah Oram, 1915 – 1919 (Middle East)
*Beatrice Isabel Jones, 1916 – 1920 (Mesopotamia)
*Dame Anne Beadsmore Smith, 1919 – 1924
*Florence Hodgins, 1924 – 1928
*Rosabelle Osborne, 1928 – 1930
*Marguerite Medforth, 1930 – 1934
*Daisy Martin, 1934 – 1938
*Catherine Roy, 1938 – 1940
*Dame Katharine Jones, 1940 – 1944
*Dame Louisa Wilkinson, 1944 – 1946
*Lilian Hunnings, 1946 – 1948
*Brigadier Dame Anne Thomson, 1948 – 1949

===Matron in Chief Territorial Force Nursing Service/ Territorial Army Nursing Service===
*Dame Sidney Browne, 1909 – 1920
*Dame Maud McCarthy, 1920 – 1925
*Dame Anne Beadsmore Smith, 1925 – 1931
*Rosabelle Osborne, 1931 – 1936
*Agatha Phillips, 1936 – 1940

===Matron-in-Chief QARANC===
(Title changed to Director Army Nursing Service in 2004)

*Brigadier Dame Anne Thomson, 1949 – 1952
*Brigadier Dame Helen Gillespie, 1952 – 1956
*Brigadier Dame Monica Golding, 1956 – 1960
*Brigadier Dame Barbara Cozens, 1960 – 1964
*Brigadier Dame Margot Turner, 1964 – 1968
*Brigadier Barbara Gordon, 1968 – 1973
*Brigadier Helen Cattanach, 1973 – 1977
*Brigadier Joan Moriarty, 1977 – 1981
*Brigadier Vera Rooke, 1981 – 1984
*Brigadier Rita Hennessy, 1985 – 1989
*Brigadier Jill Field, 1989 – 1992
*Brigadier Hilary Dixon-Nuttall, 1992 – 1995
*Brigadier Jane Arigho, 1995 – 1999
*Colonel Bridget McEvilly, 1999 – 2002
*Colonel Kathy George, 2002 – 2005
*Colonel John Quinn, 2005 – 2008
*Colonel Wendy Spencer, 2008 – 2011
*Colonel Pete Childerley, 2011 – 2013
*Colonel David Bates, 2013 – 2016

===Chief Nursing Officer (Army)===
In July 2016 the new post, Chief Nursing Officer (Army) was established and replaced the role of Director Army Nursing Services (DANS) and Matron-in-Chief (Army).

*Colonel Karen Irvine RRC QHN, January 2016 – January 2018
*Colonel Alison McCourt OBE ARRC QHN, February 2018 – December 2019
*Colonel Alison Farmer ARRC QHN, December 2019 - November 2022
*Colonel Paul Jackson (November 2022 - Present)

===Colonel Commandant===
A Colonel Commandant of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps is a retired senior officer of the Corps who is appointed by the Military Secretary following approval by the Sovereign.

The title Colonel Commandant dates back to the period 1922 to 1928 when this name was used as a rank for Commonwealth militaries. It is now used as the title for Officers who hold the honorary appointment within a corps or regiment of the British Army. Colonels Commandant assist the Corps by offering their experience and wisdom to support the senior team, and in maintaining esprit de corps. The period of tenure for the Colonel Commandants is currently 5 years depending on his or her age, and may be extended up to 10 years. Retirement age is 70 yrs.

*Dame Louisa J. Wilkinson DBE RRC 1949
*Dame Anne Thomson DBE RRC 1954
*Dame Helen S. Gillespie DBE RRC 1956
*Dame Monica Johnson Golding DBE RRC 1961
*Dame Barbara Cozens DBE RRC 1966
*Dame Margot Turner DBE RRC 1969
*Colonel Joan Marion Orford RRC 1974
*Brigadier Helen S Cattanach CBE, RRC 1978
*Colonel Kathleen Grimshaw RRC 1981
*Colonel Valerie Joy Smith RRC 1987
*Colonel Diana Geraldine Mary Anderson RRC 1992
*Colonel Margaret Mary Slattery RRC 1995
*Colonel Iona Mary Leith-Macgregor RRC 2000
*Brigadier Jane Mary Arigho CBE RRC 2005
*Colonel Bridget McEvilly 2008
*Colonel Rosemary Kennedy 2008
*Colonel Sue Bush RRC 2011
*Colonel Jane Davis OBE QVRM TD DL 2014
*Colonel Carol Kefford 2017
*Colonel Kevin Davies MBE RRC OStJ TD DL 2020

===References===
<references />

[[Category:Contexts]]

MediaWiki:Cookiewarning-info

2024-04-07T20:54:49Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "Cookies help us deliver this wiki, but no personal or tracking data is collected. By using the wiki, you agree to our use of cookies."

Cookies help us deliver this wiki, but no personal or tracking data is collected. By using the wiki, you agree to our use of cookies.

BICKFORD, Sarah Alice

2024-04-05T16:26:08Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Biography== Sister Sarah Alice Bickford trained at the General Hospital in Birmingham. She joined the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on February 23, 1900<ref> War Office: Nominal Roll of Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as at 30th September</ref>. We have found no reference in the QSA Medal Rolls so she may have been serving in a military hospital in the UK. ==Reference== <references /> Category:PCANSR Category:Boer W..."

==Biography==
Sister Sarah Alice Bickford trained at the General Hospital in Birmingham. She joined the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on February 23, 1900<ref> War Office: Nominal Roll of Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as at 30th September</ref>. We have found no reference in the QSA Medal Rolls so she may have been serving in a military hospital in the UK.

==Reference==
<references />

[[Category:PCANSR]] [[Category:Boer War]]

Category:WW1

2024-04-05T16:21:01Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "This category lists those nurses who served during WW1."

This category lists those nurses who served during WW1.

BICKERDIKE, Elizabeth Mabel

2024-04-05T16:20:06Z

WikiSysop:

__NOTOC__
==Biography==
[[file:Bickerdike.png|thumb|right|Elizabeth Mabel Bickerdike]]Elizabeth Mabel Bickerdike was born about 1873 in Bombay, India. Her father was an East India merchant. The 1881 Census showed her living with her family in Surrey, England<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1881 RG11 823/39/11</ref> as did the census for 1891<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1891 RG12 590/132/4 </ref> and she was educated at the Girls High School, Croydon. She trained as a nurse at the Infirmary in Bolton, Lancashire, and then worked at the Borough Fever Hospital, Croydon. She enlisted in the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on the 13th October, 1899<ref>The War Office: Nominal Roll for the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as at September 30th 1900 </ref>.

==Nursing Service in the Boer War==
The Queen’s South Africa Medal Rolls show her as having served at No.2 General Hospital, Pretoria<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p24</ref>; at No.5 General Hospital, Wynberg<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p45</ref>; at No.8 General Hospital, Bloemfontein<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p55</ref>, and at No.19 General Hospital, Pretoria<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p173</ref>, arriving home to Southampton on the Targus on April 30th, 1901.

==Nursing service after the Boer War==
She joined the QAIMNS in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, 1903: p3365</ref> and in February 1903 was in the list of the first 12 nurses to be posted as “Staff Nurses” to the Herbert Hospital, Woolwich. In February 1904 she was posted to the troopship Plassy for “Indian troopship duty” and returned to Woolwich in April 1904. She was posted to Alton and in January 1906 to the Military Hospital, Portsmouth. She resigned in July 1906 and became a private nurse with the Registered Nurses Society. The 1911 Census showed her working as a hospital nurse at the Mount Vernon Hospital for Consumption, London<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1911 RG14 651</ref>

==Nursing service in WW1==
She rejoined the QAIMNS at the start of WW1 becoming an Assistant Matron. She saw service in a number of places. In Egypt, she was at the engagement at Agadir on the 26th February, 1916. She was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross (ARRC) in 1918<ref>The London Gazette, 1918: p6490</ref>.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:PCANSR]] [[Category:Boer War]] [[Category:QAIMNS]] [[Category:Post Boer War]] [[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:WW1]] [[Category:RRC]]

BICKERDIKE, Elizabeth Mabel

2024-04-05T16:19:23Z

WikiSysop:

BICKERDIKE, Elizabeth Mabel

2024-04-05T15:32:37Z

WikiSysop: /* Biography */

BICKERDIKE, Elizabeth Mabel

2024-04-05T15:29:55Z

WikiSysop: /* Nursing service in WW1 */

__NOTOC__
==Biography==
Elizabeth Mabel Bickerdike was born about 1873 in Bombay, India. Her father was an East India merchant. The 1881 Census showed her living with her family in Surrey, England<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1881 RG11 823/39/11</ref> as did the census for 1891<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1891 RG12 590/132/4 </ref> and she was educated at the Girls High School, Croydon. She trained as a nurse at the Infirmary in Bolton, Lancashire, and then worked at the Borough Fever Hospital, Croydon. She enlisted in the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on the 13th October, 1899<ref>The War Office: Nominal Roll for the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as at September 30th 1900 </ref>.

==Nursing Service in the Boer War==
The Queen’s South Africa Medal Rolls show her as having served at No.2 General Hospital, Pretoria<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p24</ref>; at No.5 General Hospital, Wynberg<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p45</ref>; at No.8 General Hospital, Bloemfontein<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p55</ref>, and at No.19 General Hospital, Pretoria<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p173</ref>, arriving home to Southampton on the Targus on April 30th, 1901.

==Nursing service after the Boer War==
She joined the QAIMNS in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, 1903: p3365</ref> and in February 1903 was in the list of the first 12 nurses to be posted as “Staff Nurses” to the Herbert Hospital, Woolwich. In February 1904 she was posted to the troopship Plassy for “Indian troopship duty” and returned to Woolwich in April 1904. She was posted to Alton and in January 1906 to the Military Hospital, Portsmouth. She resigned in July 1906 and became a private nurse with the Registered Nurses Society. The 1911 Census showed her working as a hospital nurse at the Mount Vernon Hospital for Consumption, London<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1911 RG14 651</ref>

==Nursing service in WW1==
She rejoined the QAIMNS at the start of WW1 becoming an Assistant Matron. She saw service in a number of places. In Egypt, she was at the engagement at Agadir on the 26th February, 1916. She was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross (ARRC) in 1918<ref>The London Gazette, 1918: p6490</ref>.

==References==
<references />

BICKERDIKE, Elizabeth Mabel

2024-04-05T15:29:07Z

WikiSysop:

__NOTOC__
==Biography==
Elizabeth Mabel Bickerdike was born about 1873 in Bombay, India. Her father was an East India merchant. The 1881 Census showed her living with her family in Surrey, England<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1881 RG11 823/39/11</ref> as did the census for 1891<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1891 RG12 590/132/4 </ref> and she was educated at the Girls High School, Croydon. She trained as a nurse at the Infirmary in Bolton, Lancashire, and then worked at the Borough Fever Hospital, Croydon. She enlisted in the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on the 13th October, 1899<ref>The War Office: Nominal Roll for the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as at September 30th 1900 </ref>.

==Nursing Service in the Boer War==
The Queen’s South Africa Medal Rolls show her as having served at No.2 General Hospital, Pretoria<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p24</ref>; at No.5 General Hospital, Wynberg<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p45</ref>; at No.8 General Hospital, Bloemfontein<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p55</ref>, and at No.19 General Hospital, Pretoria<ref>War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p173</ref>, arriving home to Southampton on the Targus on April 30th, 1901.

==Nursing service after the Boer War==
She joined the QAIMNS in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, 1903: p3365</ref> and in February 1903 was in the list of the first 12 nurses to be posted as “Staff Nurses” to the Herbert Hospital, Woolwich. In February 1904 she was posted to the troopship Plassy for “Indian troopship duty” and returned to Woolwich in April 1904. She was posted to Alton and in January 1906 to the Military Hospital, Portsmouth. She resigned in July 1906 and became a private nurse with the Registered Nurses Society. The 1911 Census showed her working as a hospital nurse at the Mount Vernon Hospital for Consumption, London<ref>The National Archives: England Census 1911 RG14 651</ref>

==Nursing service in WW1==
She rejoined the QAIMNS at the start of WW1 becoming an Assistant Matron. She saw service in a number of places. In Egypt, she was at the engagement at Agadir on the 26th February, 1916. She was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross (ARRC) in 1918<ref>The London Gazette, 1918: p6490</ref>.

==References==
<references />

BICKERDIKE, Elizabeth Mabel

2024-04-05T15:10:30Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "Biography ELIZABETH MABEL BICKERDIKE Elizabeth Mabel Bickerdike was born about 1873 in Bombay, India. Her father was an East India merchant. The 1881 Census showed her living with her family in Surrey, England1 as did the census for 18912 and she was educated at the Girls High School, Croydon. She trained as a nurse at the Infirmary in Bolton, Lancashire, and then worked at the Borough Fever Hospital, Croydon. She enlisted in the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Ser..."

Biography

ELIZABETH MABEL BICKERDIKE

Elizabeth Mabel Bickerdike was born about 1873 in Bombay, India. Her father was an East India merchant. The 1881 Census showed her living with her family in Surrey, England1 as did the census for 18912 and she was educated at the Girls High School, Croydon. She trained as a nurse at the Infirmary in Bolton, Lancashire, and then worked at the Borough Fever Hospital, Croydon. She enlisted in the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) on the 13th October, 18993.

Nursing Service in the Boer War
The Queen’s South Africa Medal Rolls show her as having served at No.2 General Hospital, Pretoria4; at No.5 General Hospital, Wynberg5; at No.8 General Hospital, Bloemfontein6, and at No.19 General Hospital, Pretoria7, arriving home to Southampton on the Targus on April 30th, 1901.

Nursing service after the Boer War
She joined the QAIMNS in 19038 and in February 1903 was in the list of the first 12 nurses to be posted as “Staff Nurses” to the Herbert Hospital, Woolwich. In February 1904 she was posted to the troopship Plassy for “Indian troopship duty” and returned to Woolwich in April 1904. She was posted to Alton and in January 1906 to the Military Hospital, Portsmouth. She resigned in July 1906 and became a private nurse with the Registered Nurses Society. The 1911 Census showed her working as a hospital nurse at the Mount Vernon Hospital for Consumption, London9.

Nursing service in WW1
She rejoined the QAIMNS at the start of WW1 becoming an Assistant Matron. She saw service in a number of places. In Egypt, she was at the engagement at Agadir on the 26th February, 1916. She was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross (ARRC) in 191810.

References

The National Archives: England Census 1881 RG11 823/39/11
The National Archives: England Census 1891 RG12 590/132/4
The War Office: Nominal Roll for the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as at September 30th 1900
War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p24
War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p45
War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p55
War Office: Queen’s South Africa Medal Roll WO100/229:p173
London Gazette, 1903: p3365
The National Archives: England Census 1911 RG14 651
London Gazette, 1918: p6490

File:Bickerdike.png

2024-04-05T15:07:46Z

WikiSysop:

Category:Died in Service

2024-04-05T15:02:53Z

WikiSysop:

[[File:paper-poppy50px.png|right]]This category lists those nurses who died on active service. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission only lists those nurses serving in WW1 and later, so there are some differences between this list and their database.

British Army Nurses

2024-04-01T19:36:06Z

WikiSysop:

<gallery class="center" mode=packed heights=120px>
File:AmbulanceTrain1.jpeg|alt=ambulance train WW1
File:barge_care.jpg|alt=barge WW1
File:jerusalem1943.jpeg|alt=Jerusalem 1943
File:qaimns_ww2_jobs.jpg|alt=At work WW2
</gallery>

==History and Heritage of British Army Nurses==
This is a wiki for the history and heritage of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps and its antecedents (Army Nursing Service; Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve); Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and its Reserve, Territorial Force Nursing Service, Territorial Army Nursing Service), collectively British Army nurses.

Much of the information in the wiki was based on my prosopography of nurses in the Boer War. This was expanded to include nurses who may have been Army nurses before the Boer War, and also the impact of Boer War veterans on nursing in WW1. Over time it has become a general repository for information about British Army Nurses.

==Categories==
Like all wiki based sites, the pages are allocated into 1 or more categories. These are listed below. You can also use the search facility to find pages you might be interested in.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Categories
|-
! Era !! Formation !! Personal
|-
| [[:Category:Victorian| Army Nursing Service 1881-1899]] || [[:Category:ANS| Army Nursing Service]] || [[:Category:Died in Service| Died in Service]]
|-
| [[:Category:Boer War| Boer War 1899-1902]] || [[:Category:PCANSR| Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve)]] || [[:Category:RRC| Awarded the Royal Red Cross/ Associate Royal Red Cross]]
|-
| [[:Category:Post Boer War|After the Boer War]]|| [[:Category:QAIMNS| Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service]] || [[:Category:MM| Awarded the Military Medal]]
|-
| [[:Category:WW1| WW1 1914-1919]]||[[:Category:QAIMNSR| Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve)]] || [[:Category:diaries |Diaries & Letters]]
|-
| [[:Category:Between the wars| Between the wars 1919-1939]]|| [[:Category:TFNS| Territorial Force Nursing Service]] ||
|-
| [[:Category:WW2| WW2 1939-1945]] || [[:Category:TANS| Territorial Army Nursing Service]] ||
|-
| || [[:Category:QARANC| Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps]] ||
|}

==Abbreviations of Service used throughout the wiki==

*ANS: Army Nursing Service
*PCANSR (Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve)
*QAIMNS: Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service
*QAIMNS(R): Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve)
*QARANC: Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps
*TANS: Territorial Army Nursing Service
*TFNS: Territorial Force Nursing Service

Category:Post Boer War

2024-04-01T19:27:37Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "This category lists those nurses who served between the Boer War and WW1. This period covers the first appointments to the new Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and later its Reserve component."

This category lists those nurses who served between the Boer War and WW1. This period covers the first appointments to the new Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and later its Reserve component.

BECK, Evangelina

2024-04-01T16:02:11Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "==Nursing service after the Boer War== Appointed Sister in the newly formed Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service (QAIMNS) in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, May 26, 1903, p.3364</ref> ==References== <references /> Category:QAIMNS Category:Post Boer War"

==Nursing service after the Boer War==
Appointed Sister in the newly formed Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service (QAIMNS) in 1903<ref>The London Gazette, May 26, 1903, p.3364</ref>

==References==
<references />

[[Category:QAIMNS]] [[Category:Post Boer War]]

BEAUFOY, Katy

2024-04-01T15:57:20Z

WikiSysop: Created page with "__NOTOC__ ==Biography== Katy Beaufoy was born in Aston, Birmingham on the 20th December, 1868. Her father was the Superintendent of the Birmingham Post Office. She trained at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital in Devon starting on the 16th October, 1893. After qualifying she was Sister of the Operating Theatres for eighteen months, then Sister of the Male Wards for six months. She was Matron of the Exeter Sanatorium from 11th July, 1888 until she joined Princess Christian..."

__NOTOC__
==Biography==
Katy Beaufoy was born in Aston, Birmingham on the 20th December, 1868. Her father was the Superintendent of the Birmingham Post Office. She trained at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital in Devon starting on the 16th October, 1893. After qualifying she was Sister of the Operating Theatres for eighteen months, then Sister of the Male Wards for six months. She was Matron of the Exeter Sanatorium from 11th July, 1888 until she joined Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) in July 1900<ref name=“wo399”>The National Archives: WO/399/494</ref>.

==Nursing Service in the Boer War==
[[File: MatronKayeBeaufoy.jpeg|thumb|right|Matron Katy BEAUFOY]]She served at Elandsfontein until she was invalided back to the UK<ref> The National Archives: WO 100/229 QSA Medal Roll p91 created at No.20 General Hospital, Elandsfontein; dated July 15, 1901</ref>. She then returned to civil nursing practice until returning to military nursing in 1914 as an Acting Matron in the QAIMNS(R)<ref name=“wo399”/>.

==Nursing Service in WW1==
Katy Beaufoy was posted to the Military Hospital at Devonport on the 17th August 1914 and then to Egypt on the 10th May, 1915 for service at No. 15 General Hospital at Alexandria. She was transferred to Ras el Fin on the 4th June, 1916, and then moved as Acting Matron to HMHS Dover Castle. She boarded the Dover Castle in Salonika on May 7th, 1917. When she arrived in Malta she was given leave to return home on the death of her father<ref name=“wo399”/>.

While in England she was admitted to hospital in July 1917 for an operation. After a medical board to make sure she was fit to return to duty she was sent instructions on the 24th October to report to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, although these orders were then cancelled <ref name=“wo399”/>.

On the 1st November, 1917 she was sent a telegram Prepare to embark on Hospital Ship as Matron from the Matron-in-Chief. She was then sent instructions to report to Liverpool to embark in the HMHS Glenart Castle. Her record contained letters back and forth between her and the Matron-in-Chief organising the nominal roll of staff for the HMHS Glenart Castle. The next entry in her record was a letter from the War Office to her next of kin informing them that Katy Beaufoy was missing believed drowned after the loss of the HMHS Glenart Castle by torpedo. Further letters confirmed that there no hope of finding survivors and that Katy Beaufoy had died at sea. HMHS Glenart Castle left Cardiff on 25th February, 1918, bound for Brest to load wounded. At 03:47 the next day a torpedo struck her, she went down quickly, and only 38 survived from 206 on board <ref name=“wo399”/>.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Boer War]] [[Category:PCANSR]] [[Category:WW1]] [[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:Died in Service]]

File:MatronKayeBeaufoy.jpeg

2024-04-01T15:40:41Z

WikiSysop:

RICHARDSON, Sybil Gwendoline

2024-04-01T15:38:52Z

WikiSysop:

===Nursing Service in WW2===
[[File:Poppy.png|50px|left]]206418 Sister Sybil Gwendoline Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service was killed at sea on the 12th February 1944, when the [[SS Khedive Ismail]] was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean <ref>Smith, AK (2004) Gender & Warfare in the twentieth century: Textual representations. Manchester: MUP. p112.</ref> <ref>Worsley, P. (Ed) (2010) SS Khedive Ismail. Maritime Heritage Association Journal Vol 21(2). p7.</ref> <ref>Crabbe, B. (2014) Beyond the call of duty [WWW] [http://briancrabbmaritimebooks.com/Beyond_The_Cll_of_Duty.php]</ref>. She is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, Panel 22. Column 3<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission. [http://www.cwgc.org]</ref>.
[[Category:Died in Service]] [[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:WW2]]

===References===
<references />

AYERS, Eileen Norah

2024-04-01T15:38:13Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
[[File:Poppy.png|50px|left]]206581 Sister AYERS, Eileen Norah, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was serving at the17th Combined General Hospital, Singapore. She left Singapore on the [[SS Kuala]], which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942<ref name="COFEPOW">Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref>.

<blockquote>… last seen after first direct hit on ship by MA Evans and other members of the QAIMNS. Not seen since taking to sea …<ref name="COFEPOW"/></blockquote>

She died at sea February 14, 1942, and her name is recorded on the Singapore Memorial Column 113<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission</ref>.

==References==
<References />

[[Category:QAIMNS]] [[Category:WW2]] [[Category:Died in Service]]

ATKIN, Joyce Kathleen

2024-04-01T15:37:47Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
[[File:Poppy.png|50px|left]]270574 Sister Joyce Kathleen ATKIN, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service was killed at sea on the 12th February 1944, when the [[SS Khedive Ismail]] was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean<ref> Smith, AK (2004) Gender & Warfare in the twentieth century: Textual representations. Manchester: MUP. p112.</ref> <ref> Worsley, P. (Ed) (2010) SS Khedive Ismail. Maritime Heritage Association Journal Vol 21(2). p7.</ref> <ref> Crabbe, B. (2014) Beyond the call of duty [WWW] http://briancrabbmaritimebooks.com/Beyond_The_Cll_of_Duty.php</ref>.

She is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, Panel 22. Column 1. Daughter of Sidney Robert and Annie Atkin<ref> Commonwealth War Graves Commission. http://www.cwgc.org</ref>.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:WW2]] [[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:Died in Service]]

BATEMAN, Edith Mary

2024-04-01T15:37:16Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
[[File:Poppy.png|50px|left]] [[File:Edith_Mary_Bateman.JPG|thumb|right|Sister Edith Mary Bateman (with kind permission of Brian Crabb)]]
257776 Sister Edith Mary BATEMAN Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) was killed at sea on the 12th February 1944, when the [[SS Khedive Ismail]] was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean<ref>Smith, AK (2004) Gender & Warfare in the twentieth century: Textual representations. Manchester: MUP. p112.</ref> <ref>Worsley, P. (Ed) (2010) SS Khedive Ismail. Maritime Heritage Association Journal Vol 21(2). p7.</ref> <ref>Crabb, B. (2015) Passage to Destiny: The Sinking of the Troopship Khedive Ismail in the Sea War Against Japan. Donington, Lincolnshire: Paul Watkins Publishing</ref>.

She is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, Panel 22. Column 2. Daughter of Lewis and Margaret Bateman, of Risca, Monmouthshire<ref> Commonwealth War Graves Commission. http://www.cwgc.org</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:WW2]] [[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:Died in Service]]

ATKIN, Joyce Kathleen

2024-04-01T15:34:50Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
[[File:Poppy.png|100px|left]]270574 Sister Joyce Kathleen ATKIN, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service was killed at sea on the 12th February 1944, when the [[SS Khedive Ismail]] was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean<ref> Smith, AK (2004) Gender & Warfare in the twentieth century: Textual representations. Manchester: MUP. p112.</ref> <ref> Worsley, P. (Ed) (2010) SS Khedive Ismail. Maritime Heritage Association Journal Vol 21(2). p7.</ref> <ref> Crabbe, B. (2014) Beyond the call of duty [WWW] http://briancrabbmaritimebooks.com/Beyond_The_Cll_of_Duty.php</ref>.

She is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, Panel 22. Column 1. Daughter of Sidney Robert and Annie Atkin<ref> Commonwealth War Graves Commission. http://www.cwgc.org</ref>.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:WW2]] [[Category:QAIMNSR]] [[Category:Died in Service]]

AYERS, Eileen Norah

2024-04-01T15:34:05Z

WikiSysop:

==Nursing Service in WW2==
[[File:Poppy.png|100px|left]]206581 Sister AYERS, Eileen Norah, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was serving at the17th Combined General Hospital, Singapore. She left Singapore on the [[SS Kuala]], which was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 14, 1942<ref name="COFEPOW">Pether, M. (2012) SS Kuala Researched Passenger List version 3.3.5 (available from the COFEPOW website)</ref>.

<blockquote>… last seen after first direct hit on ship by MA Evans and other members of the QAIMNS. Not seen since taking to sea …<ref name="COFEPOW"/></blockquote>

She died at sea February 14, 1942, and her name is recorded on the Singapore Memorial Column 113<ref>Commonwealth War Graves Commission</ref>.

==References==
<References />

[[Category:QAIMNS]] [[Category:WW2]] [[Category:Died in Service]]