Women at Salisbury Plain

[jp1885]

Hi,

A rather vague question I'm afraid - but did women work at the training camps on Salisbury Plain?

If so, what women's' units were present, and are there any records for them?

I ask because my great aunt Lily Jones

Assuming that Lily was there as part of an official organisation (For instance I have MIC and SWB cards for a Lily Jones, QMAAC) I'd like to be able to get a more accurate picture of her service in the Great War.

Apparently her sister Florence, who I actually remember, also fell in love with a soldier at Salisbury, but sadly he died in the war and she remained a spinster for the rest of her long life, so it'd also be nice to pinpoint what she was doing there (possibly the same thing as Lily)

Both were Hereford girls, so did not live near the camp.

Thanks in advance!

[johndavidswarbrick]

Hi,

My grandmother, Gertrude Alice Slade, served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and in 1918 she was stationed at one of the camps on Salisbury Plain where she worked in a canteen. The W.A.A.C., as I understand it, was organised into four sections: cookery, mechanical, clerical, and miscellaneous; so it's quite likely that your great aunt also served in that way. Incidentally that's also how my grandmother and grandfather met - he was also in the RFA!

Dave Swarbrick

[jp1885]

Thanks for your reply Dave - small world!

William Clark was later posted to the 4th (Australian I presume) Divisional Ammunition Column.

Do you have any records / photos of your grandmother? It'd be great if my great aunt(s) appeared in them!

[johndavidswarbrick]

Hi,

PM sent

Dave Swarbrick

[jp1885]

Answered

[Moonraker]

Dave's post 2 sums it up nicely. As the war progressed, there would have been more and more WAACs employed on Salisbury Plain. "Field Artillery Training Depot at Salisbury Camp" suggests Lark Hill Camp near Stonehenge and Amesbury, eight miles north of the city of Salisbury.

Lark Hill (today rendered as Larkhill) is close to Bulford, where the WAACs had their own recreation hut, provided by the Salvation Army; and including such feminine touches as washable cream curtains, armchairs and plants on little tables. In 1918 a concession in the WAACs' mess was one piece of bread - something not granted to soldiers, who had to make do with "dog biscuits ... as hard as stone with hardly any flavour & ... one has to let little pieces of biscuit slip down which by no means aids digestion". These gave the WAACs flatulence!

Moonraker

[jp1885]

Thanks Moonraker - nobody want windy WAAFs!

I am making a big assumption that my Lil and Flo were WAAFs as I have no evidence to prove this, but I doubt they were tourists!

[CGM]

You could search the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps service records at the National Archives HERE

CGM

[jp1885]

Thanks for the link CGM,

Is every WAAC/QMAAC included in that database? My Lily and Flo aren't in the list if I search for the surname Jones, so if the list is exhaustive then maybe they weren't in that organisation.

What other women's groups would be at the camp? Nurses I suppose, but any other lists I could search?

[Sue Light]

If you scroll to the bottom of the page that was linked earlier, it says that only 7,000 WAAC/QMAAC records survive out of 57,000+ who served, so only an outside chance of a service record.

Sue

[jp1885]

Ah thanks Sue - that'll teach me to read the whole page

[Moonraker]

.... What other women's groups would be at the camp? Nurses I suppose, but any other lists I could search?

Yes, nurses certainly. There was a large hospital just to the SW of Lark Hill, named after Fargo Plantation; recently we discussed it and its possible conflation with a horse isolation hospital. And another at Bulford evolved into the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital, catering for soldiers with VD.

There would have been a few female workers among the staff at the YMCA recreation huts.

And hanging around would have been other "ladies" eager to be caring, but for a price; some of those soldiers who "benefited" from their "kindness" would have ended up at the Dermatological Hospital!

Moonraker

[jp1885]

And hanging around would have been other "ladies" eager to be caring, but for a price; some of those soldiers who "benefited" from their "kindness" would have ended up at the Dermatological Hospital!

Let's hope that my great aunts weren't among their number!

[jp1885]

By the way, these are the great aunts in question (photos taken sometime in the 20's or 30's)...

Lily Emily Jones. Born 1894 in Grendon Bishop, Herefordshire

Florence Dora Jones. Born 31 Dec 1896 in Bredenbury, Herefordshire

[kjharris]

No Australian Army nurses posted to VD hospitals - it was a privilege to be nursed by women - and VD patients didn't get that. Obviously, there were other social reasons too.

There were AANS at Tidworth in 1918 at the Delhi military hospital there and at No. 2 Group Clearing Hospital at Hurdcott.

cheers

Kirsty

[jp1885]

Thanks Kirsty!

[worthington]

This really is a message for Sue Light.

Having trawled through most of the items on this web site, I found your interest in Nurses starting in 2007 headed Canadian VADs. I am most interested in Sister Frances Maitland Frew who nursed my uncle in CCCS No 1 in 1915. I know she returned to Canada in 1916 having been in France from 1914.

I would very much like to obtain a photograph of her.

Can you help me with any information or some ideas where to search.

I apologise for this unorthadox approach, but as you can see I am fairly new to this game and the original exchange seemede to have ended.

Many thanks.

Worthington

[Guest Jacquic]

My Grandma Gladys Lawler worked on Salisbury planes around 1918. I thin she was working in the canteen. She wrote about going for a medical and receiving a pink ribbon through the post to wear when the assembled at the station from Doncaster to Bulford. Her Father didn't want her to go. She wrote about her time there and a friend who also went. I will have to read her account of her time there

[jp1885]

I bet that'll be a fascinating read!

You've got to admire these young ladies who went out of their way to do their bit, quite often very much against the wishes of their parents.