PJS Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 I am trying to find out more information (full names would be a good start) of the following Nursing Sisters who were deployed to Mespot. in 1917-18: Sister S M BONSER - (Jun - Sept 1917) Sister M McINTOSH - (Jun - Jul 1917) Sister D HUNT - (Jul 17 - Mar 1918) Sister Mrs OVER* - (Disembarked Apr 1918) * Sister OVER was actually listed as "QAIMNSI" which does not make any sense to me. They all served on the Hospital Ship VITA during the periods marked above. Any information - or ideas about where to look - would be much appreciated. I am at a dead end right now. Thank You Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 Peter It is Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service for India. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 This medal roll is for Zara May Bonser https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5119/41629_612057_10725-00226?pid=3894039&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D5119%26h%3D3894039%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DbmY30772%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bmY30772&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 27 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 27 July , 2019 1 hour ago, Terry_Reeves said: Peter It is Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service for India. TR Terry, I am aware of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) and the Queen Alexandra's Military Nursing Service for India (QAMNSI) but I've never seen QAIMNSI before. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 27 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 27 July , 2019 1 hour ago, alf mcm said: This medal roll is for Zara May Bonser https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5119/41629_612057_10725-00226?pid=3894039&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D5119%26h%3D3894039%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DbmY30772%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bmY30772&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true Regards, Alf McM Spectacular. Thank You. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 This may be Sister M. McIntosh, QAIMNSR and Canadian Army Medical Corps. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6273190 and https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10798023 Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 27 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 27 July , 2019 (edited) 53 minutes ago, alf mcm said: This may be Sister M. McIntosh, QAIMNSR and Canadian Army Medical Corps. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6273190 and https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10798023 Regards, Alf McM Thank you again. I had seen the 2nd link and flagged it as a possible, but I had not seen the first link. I will spend some time trying to peer through the watermarks to see if I can find any reference to VITA in either record set. Peter Update: The 2nd link is not her. This nurse was serving in France during 1917. Edited 27 July , 2019 by PJS Update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 Sister Dora Emily Hunt TFNS https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6085484 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 "Persons mentioned" in this record include Sister Ella Over, but I haven't so far managed to trace her. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9211971 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 27 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 27 July , 2019 9 minutes ago, seaJane said: "Persons mentioned" in this record include Sister Ella Over, but I haven't so far managed to trace her. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9211971 This seems to be referring to a German nurse as part of a capture statement from France so it doesn't appear to fit, unfortunately. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 Not all Nurses who served in I dia belonged to QAMNSI. Those who did are mentioned in the relevant Indian Army List, but none of your names are mentioned. Later or earlier lists would need to be consulted. This one is for July 1918 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285012/page/n1121 Appointments to QAMNSI are sometimes mentioned in the London Gazette. Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 27 July , 2019 Share Posted 27 July , 2019 15 minutes ago, PJS said: This seems to be referring to a German nurse as part of a capture statement from France so it doesn't appear to fit, unfortunately. Peter Ah, ok, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 27 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 27 July , 2019 (edited) Just as a note to myself, I checked the following Indian Army Lists and got no hits: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284986/page/n579https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285035/page/n573https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284987/page/n575https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284964/page/n585https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285010/page/n603https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284988/page/n633https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284989/page/n819https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285011/page/n879https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285011/page/n879https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285012/page/n1121 Edited 27 July , 2019 by PJS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royalredcross Posted 28 July , 2019 Share Posted 28 July , 2019 QAMNSI used a large number of nurses employed on short-term contracts. For financial reasons they were not admitted to the regular service which was pensionable. If these nurses were not listed in the Indian Army Lists, they they were almost certainly temporaries. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 28 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 28 July , 2019 17 minutes ago, royalredcross said: QAMNSI used a large number of nurses employed on short-term contracts. For financial reasons they were not admitted to the regular service which was pensionable. If these nurses were not listed in the Indian Army Lists, they they were almost certainly temporaries. Norman Yes, that is correct. Below is how they are listed in the War Diary: Sister Z M BONSER - QAMNSI (R) / (Attached)Sister M McINTOSH - QAMNSI (T) Sister D HUNT - QAMNSI (T)Sister Mrs OVER - QAIMNSI (T) And I can see from the link that Alf posted that Sister Zara May Bonser was originally a temp but then became permanent. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 28 July , 2019 Share Posted 28 July , 2019 On 27/07/2019 at 19:35, seaJane said: Sister Dora Emily Hunt TFNS https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6085484 This is Dora Emily Hunt's service records. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10805192 Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 28 July , 2019 Share Posted 28 July , 2019 There's quite a lot about Miss Bonser/Mrs Chesney in the Royal College of Nursing archive;- http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/cgi-bin/webglimpse.cgi?ID=1&cache=yes&nonascii=on&maxlines=5&maxchars=750&wordspan=&autosyntax=ALL&query=BONSER&rankby=DEFAULT&query_all=BONSER&query_exact= Her award of the Royal Red Cross is here - https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBM%2FRRCR%2F00005537 Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 28 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 28 July , 2019 1 hour ago, alf mcm said: This is Dora Emily Hunt's service records. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10805192 Regards, Alf McM Thank you for that but unfortunately she is not the Sister D. HUNT from the VITA. Dora Emily Hunt served in the UK and then France and Belgium. Peter 1 hour ago, alf mcm said: There's quite a lot about Miss Bonser/Mrs Chesney in the Royal College of Nursing archive;- http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/cgi-bin/webglimpse.cgi?ID=1&cache=yes&nonascii=on&maxlines=5&maxchars=750&wordspan=&autosyntax=ALL&query=BONSER&rankby=DEFAULT&query_all=BONSER&query_exact= Her award of the Royal Red Cross is here - https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBM%2FRRCR%2F00005537 Regards, Alf McM Alf, this is excellent. Thank you. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 28 July , 2019 Share Posted 28 July , 2019 Peter, This is the correct Nurse Hunt. She suffered Malaria and was treated in Salonica {see image 28}. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10805193 Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 31 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 31 July , 2019 Alf, Thank you but after much peering through watermarks I do not believe that Dorothy Hunt is not the correct nurse either. Dorothy Hunt served in the UK and Salonika where, as you say, she contracted malaria but she did not sign up for overseas service until 1918 and the D. Hunt I am looking for was already on-board the VITA in July 1917. I do sincerely appreciate you taking the trouble to look though. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin DavidOwen Posted 31 July , 2019 Admin Share Posted 31 July , 2019 There is a medal card for C Dorothy M Hunt who was a nurse in Salonika, not sure if she maybe you're though https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6085479 she was TFNS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 31 July , 2019 Share Posted 31 July , 2019 David, This is the same Nurse Hunt AS mentioned above. Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 31 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 31 July , 2019 46 minutes ago, DavidOwen said: There is a medal card for C Dorothy M Hunt who was a nurse in Salonika, not sure if she maybe you're though https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6085479 she was TFNS. Thank you David. Medal Card shows that she first deployed to Salonika in 1918 but the QAMNSI(T) nurse I am looking for was already deployed on the HMHS VITA in 1917 so it can't be her. I do wonder how the Nurses I am looking for joined the QAMNSI as temps? Surely they must have already been in India which I would think should preclude any TFNS nurses from the UK being transferred. It seems to me that the TFNS nurses would have either stayed with the TFNS or perhaps transferred to QAIMNS - but I don't understand how they would transfer to QAMNSI which was run by the Indian Government. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royalredcross Posted 31 July , 2019 Share Posted 31 July , 2019 After the war a number of QA Reserve and TFNS nurses sought employment with the Indian government on temporary basis. During the War the Indian govt. neglected to increase its establishment of QAMNSI (pensionable) and in about 1916 advertised for around 600 nurses on 6 month contracts to meet their needs. They also retained a number of Australian nurses which had been posted to India in places like Deolali, and also used a number of QA Reserve nurses. They were, to put it mildly, a most parsimonious lot !! They would use any nurse they did not have to pay for. Even after the war, the Australian govt. had to fight to get their nurses back. As Mesopotamia was considered part of the Indian theatre of war, many of the temporaries were employed there as well as in India. Some of these temporaries continued in India on a succession of short term contracts until 1926 when the nursing Service for Indian Troops Hospitals was formed. (Later renamed the Indian Military Nursing Service). This service was pensionable so all the existing temporaries piled into it. If you look at the Indian Army List around 1930, you will see that many of the IMNS women are given an appointment date as early as 1916, though the service was only founded in 1926. Not sure whether this is useful or not, but it is clear that some temporaries would not have met the requirements to be a QA or TFNS nurse,. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 31 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 31 July , 2019 Norman, Thank you that is useful. I will find the Indian Army Lists for 1926 - 1930 and see if any of the 3 nurses pop up. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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