vandleberry@gmail.com Posted 23 December , 2014 Share Posted 23 December , 2014 Can anyone help ? I am looking for any record of Barbara Edith Stirling (b.1891) who served in Serbia 1915 – 19178 with the Serbian Relief Fund, probably as an ambulance driver. When she married in 1919 the marriage announcement indicates that she was the holder of the Serbian medal for Valour and Cross of the Serbian Order of the Good Samaritan. In 1917/18 she came back to UK and swiftly joined up with the all women Hackett Lowther Ambulance Unit as a driver and her service with that Unit is well recorded. However her time with the Serbian Relief fund is still missing. Her name does not appear on any SRF document that I can find. Any help much appreciated. Thanks, Val. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royalredcross Posted 23 December , 2014 Share Posted 23 December , 2014 She does not seem to appear on my rolls of the SRF or the SWH. NGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royalredcross Posted 23 December , 2014 Share Posted 23 December , 2014 However, she does have a Medal Index Card as a Driver with the French Red Cross. NGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 23 December , 2014 Share Posted 23 December , 2014 British Red Cross Register of Overseas Volunteers 1914-1918 First name(s) Barbara Edith Last name Stirling Initials B E Rank Chauffeur Certificate number 14124 Department Serbian Relief Fund Passport number 123993 Destination Salonica Bit limited - I'll see what else I can find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 24 December , 2014 Share Posted 24 December , 2014 I'm certain you've seen this... It's probably your site! http://toupielowther.com/Hackett-Lowther%20Unit.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 24 December , 2014 Share Posted 24 December , 2014 Hi Miss Barbara Stirling FO file 372 / 1322 dated 1919 Samaritan Cross Driver Serbian Relief Fund Miss Barbara Edith Stirling FO file 372 / 1483 dated 1920 Silver Medal of Bravery ( Obilich Medal of Bravery is usually what is meant) Both are very desirable medals and hard earnt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandleberry@gmail.com Posted 25 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 25 December , 2014 Thank you all - very much appreciated. Indeed http://www.toupielowther.com is my website. You might like to know a little more.... Barbara Edith Stirling was from a military family, she had two brothers who both served as senior officers in WW1. The all women Hackett Lowther Ambulance Unit was attached to the French Army (SSY3) and served in Operation Gneisneau, very much up front with first hand experience of guns, gas, bombs and barbed wire. Barbara was the one who got to marry Lt. Victor Chatenay the French army liaison officer. They were married in England in 1919 then went to France. During the next 20 years she presented him with 4 sons and a daughter. In WW2 the three elder sons went to England: Victor Chatenay stayed, became involved with the French resistance, and later also fled to England after being betrayed. One son was later killed in action. Barbara remained in Paris working for the resistance: in 1944 she and the youngest son were arrested by the Gestapo. The boy was sent to Buchenwald and Barbara to Ravensbruck. Both survived. Barbara was “liberated” from Ravensbruck by one of the “White Bus” convoys to Sweden: many other women who survived praised her courage and her care for her fellow inmates. She died in 1966. A very gallant lady. Ref: “Mon Journal de 1914 -18” and “Mon Journal de Temps de Malheur" by Victor Chatenay both pub. 1968. In French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 25 December , 2014 Share Posted 25 December , 2014 I thought as much - absolutely excellent site. Peter was similarly helpful with my SRF query a few months ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royalredcross Posted 29 December , 2014 Share Posted 29 December , 2014 Has anyone looked at the Medal Index Card ? It would be interesting to know the exact roll reference. If I have missed her off my roll, I need to look at the original entry and check what went wrong. The MIC Reference will give a page number . NGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan Posted 14 January , 2015 Share Posted 14 January , 2015 Hi Miss Barbara Stirling FO file 372 / 1322 dated 1919 Samaritan Cross Driver Serbian Relief Fund Miss Barbara Edith Stirling FO file 372 / 1483 dated 1920 Silver Medal of Bravery ( Obilich Medal of Bravery is usually what is meant) Both are very desirable medals and hard earnt Nice medals - on the first one it says in serbian cyrillic: "for nursing the wounded and sick, 1912", and on the silver one "Milosh Obilich" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo%C5%A1_Obili%C4%87). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Russell Scott Posted 26 August , 2015 Share Posted 26 August , 2015 Thank you for an excellent site on Barbara Stirling and many other brave women. I first met her son Michel in 1996 - he was my father's close friend after coming to their aid when their sailboat grounded at low tide opposite Michel's Brittany retirement house. Michel was a modest man who spoke impeccable 1930s English -"Would you chaps like a spot of tea?"- as he said when pulling alongside in his small boat. His house even had 39 steps up from the beach. He kept his father's books, including "Femmes francaises a Ravensbrueck" in a special library room. He kept De Gaulle's radio speech to France -"La France a perdue une batailla, mais elle n'a pas perdue la guerre!"- on his mantelpiece next to the tide clock, two maxims to live by. Michel told me some of the family story over subsequent summer visits, always with humour and modesty. Michel was given the nom de guerre "Chataignier" by De Gaulle personally on first meeting in England, to save his family in case of capture. After joining the SAS 4th FFI regiment, he did indeed parachute into Holland ("No-one taught us how to land on a shed in the dark!") and helped liberate it, including Westerbork where many trains left for the concentration camps. Michel drove a Land Rover Freelander and spoke to his two West Highland Terriers, Jock and Hetic ( a nearby island), in English. He explained it to a little girl on the beach by saying that all animals are born speaking English, but have to learn other languages. The little girl repeated the story to knots of children all summer. On the wall in Michel's home hung a black and white photo of De Gaulle, in uniform, but slouching on a shooting stick and smoking, something never seen in public. Michel explained that the Free French who fought under de Gaulle share the photo out of love and as an inside joke. When de Gaulle stayed with them, he said,"Oh not that photo gain!" but did not take it down. Michel Chatenay, FFI-SAS, passed away in L'Armor Baden, Brittany around 2009. His mother was mentioned recently in Sarah Helm's excellent 2015 book on the Women of Ravensbrueck. Barbara taught the women to rouge their cheeks with brick dust to appear healthy enough to survive 'Appel'. What a family! RIP Michel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 26 August , 2015 Share Posted 26 August , 2015 Has anyone looked at the Medal Index Card ? It would be interesting to know the exact roll reference. If I have missed her off my roll, I need to look at the original entry and check what went wrong. The MIC Reference will give a page number . NGG As far as the British War Medal and Victory medal go, she appears on the French Red Cross Medal Roll, WO329/2323, page B.95 as a driver with the Hackett-Lowther Unit between February and November 1918. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandleberry@gmail.com Posted 24 October , 2015 Author Share Posted 24 October , 2015 Hello – Barbara Stirling/Chatenay Thank you John Russell Scott for your addition back in August. Sorry not to have replied before - time just slips away and I have only just revisited this site. I am in contact with the Goring Local History Society in Goring by Thames where Barbara Stirling and her family once lived, and where she married Victor Chatenay in 1919. If you still have any access to Michel Chatenay or any of the family I would be pleased to hear from you: in particular to enquire whether any photograph of the wedding in 1919 has survived. Thank you. vandleberry@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandleberry@gmail.com Posted 28 November , 2015 Author Share Posted 28 November , 2015 ....And many thanks to Philippe who has contacted me. vandleberry@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 1 May , 2020 Share Posted 1 May , 2020 Barbara Edith Chatenay nee Stirling was arrested by the Germans in WW2, sente Ravensbruck, survived and was liberaetd by the Swedish Red Cross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 1 May , 2020 Share Posted 1 May , 2020 Her medal roll is here. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5119/41629_611411_5816-00099?pid=2562345&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3DStF1%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D5119%26gsfn%3Dbarbara%26gsln%3DStirling%26gsfn_x%3D1%26gsln_x%3DNP_NN%26cp%3D0%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26uidh%3D1fc%26redir%3Dfalse%26gss%3Dangs-d%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D0%26h%3D2562345%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D1%26queryId%3Dac28feba705793f2a9abcd0ac5be40d0&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=ac28feba705793f2a9abcd0ac5be40d0&usePUB=true&_phsrc=StF1&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true It looks as if her Serbian service is missing from this also. RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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