Florence Elsie Boater nee Pickett Q.M.A.A.C.

[Sav]

My wife's Aunt Florence Boater nee Pickett was widowed in the first few weeks of the was when her husband Sjt. Alfred Boater was killed serving with the 1st Dorsetshires in France. She enlisted in the Q.M.A.A.C. No.24048 and her rank was Acting Forewoman. Her medal card shows that she qualified for the award of the BWM and VM. I'm seeking assistance in finding some details of her service. She is pictured below in uniform with her son Jack born 1914.

[royalredcross]

She was Mentioned in Despatches in the London Gazette of 10 July 1919.   QMAAC Records are in WO398, but only a proportion of these have been retained.  Florence Boater does not appear to have survived. 

 

Norman 

[Sav]

Thanks for that information Norman. We had no idea that she was Mentioned in Despatches. Florence survived the war and remarried in the 1920s to Percy Rolfe. She died about 1957.

Sav

Edited 30 April , 2020 by Sav
correct spelling

[royalredcross]

You might also like to know that her rank in the Gazette was acting Forewoman.  (Equal to Sgt.)  She wears the light collar of a Forewoman. 

[Sav]

Thanks for that clarification Norman.

[Sav]

It must be quite a rare occurrence for both a husband and a wife to be both Mentioned in Despatches. Her husband Sjt Albert Boater, No 6702, was killed in action Oct 1914 with the 1st Dorsetshires. His MiD was gazetted 17 Feb 1915 p.1664 and Her MiD being gazetted10 July 1919.

I wonder if there have been other instances.

Regards

Sav

Edited 3 May , 2020 by Sav
spelling correction

[Sav]

This annotation appears at the bottom of Florence's MIC. Can anyone interpret it for me? Is it a reference to her MiD?

Sav

Edited 3 May , 2020 by Sav

[royalredcross]

Yes. The EM part is short for emblems, the oak leaf emblem worn on the ribbon of the Victory medal to show that she was MID. 

Norman

[SapperBoo]

Florence served with the Overseas Branch of Ordnance Survey.  I think she is on the front row second from the left on the photograph in this link.

 

[Sav]

On 07/12/2020 at 22:12, SapperBoo said:

Florence served with the Overseas Branch of Ordnance Survey.  I think she is on the front row second from the left on the photograph in this link.

 

As far as we know Florence Remained in the QMAAC till the end of the war. She probably would have been involved in catering given her experience at the Antelope Hotel in Dorset prior to her marriage before WW1.