Kathie Posted 22 February , 2016 Share Posted 22 February , 2016 Constance Halse played the piano and rode horses in South Africa. in 1915 she went to England and is recorded as being a VAD and being sent to Aldershot Hospital - think a VD hospital. She then moved on to Cahiers 4 General Hospital. On her return to SA I 1920 her service card records her as 'Staff Nurse'. Is this possible? How could she have trained in this time and if she was working all the while? Kathie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 22 February , 2016 Share Posted 22 February , 2016 Kathie, Constance has a Red Cross record card which you may already be aware of. She gave her rank at engagement as 'Nurse' and rank at termination as 'n/a'. Perhaps she thought she hadn't finished her nursing career. Other South Africans can be found by putting 'South Africa' in the Location/Hospital section of the search screen. Regards, Alf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathie Posted 4 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 4 April , 2016 Alf, Thanks for this. I do have her record card - but I don't think she was a nurse - after her return to SA she was a 'masseuse' not a nurse. Kathie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathie Posted 4 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 4 April , 2016 Alf, You have made me look more carefully at her card. What is '1 scarlet stripe'???? Who and why were they awarded those? Kathie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 4 April , 2016 Share Posted 4 April , 2016 I wonder whether this page from Sue Light's very interesting blog might help explain the stripe. Scroll down to paragraph 6 beginning "During the autumn of 1917..." By the way, I think you may mean Camiers 4. (My grandfather was taken to Camiers 4 in with a severe wound August 1917.) Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEW Posted 4 April , 2016 Share Posted 4 April , 2016 Quote in 1915 she went to England and is recorded as being a VAD and being sent to Aldershot Hospital - think a VD hospital. Her VAD card says she became a VAD 24th July 1917 and served at a 'Military Hospital France' she has BWM and Victory medals and the Scarlet Stripe. She may have been engaged as a VAD and resigned and then re-engaged with 1st card now lost, where does the Aldershot and 4th GH appointment come from? She may be the Miss C Halse who came to England with family in 1893 from Cape Town? Indexed as Miss L Halse. Interested to see what the Service Card looks like, any chance of attaching it? I don't think the Rank = Nurse on a VAD card means a great deal, certainly doesn't imply she was qualified or training although she was receiving some pay. I have cards that say 'Rank = Nurse, duties = cleaning dining room'. Or this one for Sophie Salt who was obviously a highly experienced but unqualified VAD nurse with a string of hospital appointments but her rank is simply Member. TEW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathie Posted 6 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 6 April , 2016 Thank you. As always I will look up Sue's information on the stripe. As for Constance - I do have her SA service card but I don't know how to put it on the Forum. I will try. I have local papers and a brother writing how she had done a three month course in 1916 and was then at Aldershot and have a photo of her at Aldershot. I have local papers referring to her as at No 4 General Hospital and so does her SA service card (which only records as a VAD up till then) record her as being struck off strength of No 4 General Hospital in 1919. Her SA service card is the confusing one because it refers to 'Staff Nurse'. I am now going to try and work out how to load service card. Kathie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transvaal_Ranger Posted 19 January , 2019 Share Posted 19 January , 2019 Good evening all, Apologies for the thread resurrection. I am in possession of Constance's medal pair and have listed them on ebay (starting Thursday 24th of Jan). Not a plug for business by any stretch but just thought I would raise it in case any of the previous posters where actively looking for it. Regards, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjharris Posted 6 August , 2019 Share Posted 6 August , 2019 Greetings all, Red Cross cards usually denote trained nurses by use of the term 'TN' . Trained nurses in the Red Cross were usually paid and this is shown on the card too. Scarlet stripes - weren't they for years of active service in a war zone?? cheers, Kirsty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 6 August , 2019 Admin Share Posted 6 August , 2019 The scarlet stripe was an efficiency stripe. Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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