V.A.D. Certificate

[MikeyH]

I found this timeworn 'Souvenir' certificate in a box of very forlorn odds and ends (everything £1) at a wet outdoor

antiques event and had to rescue it.  It is in its original unglazed frame approx 17-1/2" x 13-1/2".

 

 

The Voluntary Worker at Hampton-in-Arden V.A.D. Auxiliary Hospital was a Mrs.Sarah A Tall, she served from Dec.1st 1914 to March 21st 1919 and treated 2200 patients.

It carries the signatures of Commandant Dorothea Nash and Commandant Louise......... difficult to read as the surname is quite badly faded.

 

Very sad to see it in this condition, I feel sure that it was originally displayed with a great and justified pride.

 

Mike.

 

edit to add:- from the excellent Red Cross site have been able to ascertain that the unreadable surname is actually that of Mrs.Louise Wilson.

 

 

Edited 1 May , 2017 by MikeyH

[ForeignGong]

Here is her VAD Card

 

http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/Who-we-are/History-and-origin/First-World-War/Card?sname=Tall&id=203634&first=true

[MikeyH]

Thanks ForeignGong, for an amazingly prompt response.

Although it begs the question, how many patients would a Head Cook have actually treated!

 

Mike.

[Terry_Reeves]

MikeyH

 

You have to bear in mind  VA detachments  were made up from whole range of people who cooked, cleaned, helped changed dressings etc. VAD's were not trained nurses. I think the wording on the certificate is of necessity all embracing.

 

TR

[MikeyH]

Hello Terry,

 

Yes, I am aware of the wide range of skills employed by V.A.D.'s and the immeasurable contribution they made to the overall war effort.

Even here in a small market town like Daventry there was a 30 bed Auxiliary hospital on the High Street. The cook here worked 6 days a week for over two years on a purely voluntary basis, travelling six miles per day to do so.

 

Mike.

[ForeignGong]

The card states that she was full time, no pay for 13 months. That would be 8-10 hours, 6 days a week. Same as the lady above. They deserves all the accolades available, even if it was only the certificate above.

 

I say thank you to her and all the other volunteers, without whom the patients would have suffered a lot more than they did.

 

Peter 

[dink_and_pip]

This certificate was given as a souvenir of her service at the hospital. Her service ended when the hospital closed March 21st 1919. I would say that 2200 patients were treated whilst the hospital was operating  (no pun intended). Certificates or badges were a common way for the war charities to reward their voluntary workers when they closed at the end of the war.

Andy. 

[MaleVAD]

Lots of interesting things here.

VAD units ,which were organised on a county basis. were both male and female . Female units had at least one trained nurse and 5 cooks.   I think it is fair to say that everyone working in a hospital is involved in the treatment of the patients. Also it is very hard sort out from the records whether the person was paid or not . In many places many of the  full time staff were paid . The rates per week being Ordelies 28/-, Carpenters and other tradesmen 45/-, Cooks 35/-, Clerks 35/- and strong boys from 171/2 to 21 getting 21/-.  these rates where before any board and lodging. The certificates where not given out as souvenir's but as official recorded recognition of service given, Both the Red cross and the St Johns Ambulance (whose numbers made up the vast majority of the VAD members under the joint War committee) where uniformed organisations before the war started with their own systems of awards and qulifications .

So in this case it would not have been unlikely that she volunteered as a cook before 1918 when she was made head cook and then recieved some payment. ???