HS REWA - postcard and medical / nursing staff photo

[seaJane]

I'm posting these at the request of the volunteer curators of the QARNNS (Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service) archive, who have recently purchased them.

 

They are fairly sure the staff photo was taken aboard REWA but they don't know when. I'm inclined to think (because the light seems so bright) that it dates between 1914-1916 when REWA was constantly in transit between Devonport / Gibraltar / Malta / Alexandria / Mudros / Gallipoli. If that is so the Fleet Surgeon (three rings) must be Frederick J.A. Dalton - but the visible RNVR rings of one surgeon is not diagnostic, as there was more than one RNVR medical officer carried.

 

However, if anyone has any ideas about the staff identity, or about the guesses I have made when deciphering the back of the postcard, which was trimmed into a playing-card shape after receipt, which does not show in the edited ship photograph except for a little in the top left corner.

 

My dearest Elsie,                                H.M.M.B. [?Siskin?]  8/2/15

                           This picture on the other side shows you our

[?] the hospital ship we are attending on. The photo was taken

[by] one of the officers who’s name you will see & he happens

[to] live in [?Genesta?] Rd & is a friend of young Mackay’s.

[We] have been lunching aboard  the “Rewa” again today. They

[live] like fighting cocks. It is very cold round these parts

[?rig]ht now and certainly is much colder generally than further

[no]rth. Have not received a letter from you yet but hope

[to] have a bit of luck in the morning. Yours as ever / Harry

 

[RNCVR]

Very nice photos Jane, thanks for posting!

 

Kind of of wonder why the Fleet Surgeon in front row is looking at the nurse to his right & not at the camera.

Pretty certain he would be an RN Fleet Surgeon, he is wearing Civil branch straight sleeve lace & lace on his cap peak.

The officer sitting beside the nurse on left appears also to wearing RN straight lace, possibly also a Surgeon.

 

The Officer on the right ( as you view the photo) appears to be RNVR.

 

The Officer standing on left has lace on his cap so he could also be a Fleet Surgeon.

 

Best Wishes!

Bryan

[horatio2]

The H.M.M.B. must be SISTERS, a hired Wick motor drifter (WK.90; Admiralty No. 4313 and MB.165). She was, given the contents of the message, employed (possibly) as a small hospital carrier supporting hospital ships (in this case REWA) but is is not possible to say where she was based - but perhaps in Devonport.

Edited 4 August , 2020 by horatio2

[alf mcm]

The posing of the group is unusual. Could it be that the reason for the photo is to commemorate the fact that the seated sister on the left has been awarded a medal {ribbon}?

The Fleet Surgeon can only be F.J.A. DALTON {REWA Aug 1914 to 20 Dec. 1916. There was a Staff Surgeon A.R. BRAILEY on board from Aug. 1914 until 13 Feb. 1915. Would he wear lace on the peak of his cap?

Source ;- ADM104-91

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

Edited 4 August , 2020 by alf mcm
Source added

[RNCVR]

The medal ribbon the Nursing sister is wearing could be the RRC or ARRC.

 

Cap lace commenced at Fleet Surgeon rank.

 

Thanks,

Bryan

[seaJane]

Thanks all! It's a bit late so I'll study your replies in more detail tomorrow later today. 

@alf mcm thanks for confirming my thoughts in post #1 that the Fleet Surgeon is probably Dalton.

 

I have a feeling that the surgeon who is visibly RNVR may be George Robertson Mill, but like most of the others he is looking the wrong way, drat him. This is him in the album at work:

 

[Madmeg]

A question- is there any differentition in the uniforms fo r the surgeons as oppopsed to other staff?

[seaJane]

42 minutes ago, Madmeg said:

A question- is there any differentition in the uniforms fo r the surgeons as oppopsed to other staff?

Surgeons wore (and wear) red distinction bands between the gold rings, but they wouldn't show well on black and white.

 

I'm ashamed to say I've never checked thoroughly whether the ship's crew (as opposed to medical staff) would have been RN or not - I've always assumed not, and that the crew were Mercantile Marine, because the ship's entry in the Navy List gives only the medical officers and QARNNS nursing sisters.

[seaJane]

On 04/08/2020 at 12:37, RNCVR said:

Cap lace commenced at Fleet Surgeon rank

 

Thanks RNCVR. Does the officer standing at back left have braid on the peak of his cap, or is it very shiny black and reflecting the light? I'll have to ask the volunteers if they can see on the original. If there are two sets of braid that's odd, as REWA only carried one Fleet Surgeon at a time (though I think she carried Arthur Edmunds as [?Deputy?] Surgeon General at one point(. 

 

@royalredcross do you have any thoughts about the nursing sister's medals?

 

 

Edited 5 August , 2020 by seaJane

[Madmeg]

Thanks- I have some photos of  a couple of unidentified Naval men (wavy ntertwined rings? ) and i was wondering what clues there ,ight be- none I suspect :-(

[Madmeg]

 I note the number 5 is written on her - but other pictures of the Rewa show the number four so wonder if this is another ship?. And good old wikipedia states she was torpedoed and sunk in 1918.

 

Edited 5 August , 2020 by Madmeg

[RNCVR]

3 hours ago, seaJane said:

 

Thanks RNCVR. Does the officer standing at back left have braid on the peak of his cap, or is it very shiny black and reflecting the light? I'll have to ask the volunteers if they can see on the original. If there are two sets of braid that's odd, as REWA only carried one Fleet Surgeon at a time (though I think she carried Arthur Edmunds as [?Deputy?] Surgeon General at one point(. 

 

 

It appears to be a band of lace on his cap peak, the two other officers standing in that back row do not appear to have any reflection on the peaks of their caps either so I dont think its is reflection.

 

Perhaps he was just visiting the ship on the day the photo was taken?  Perhaps this photo was taken just before the ship departed? We may never know.

 

Best...Bryan

 

 

 

 

[RNCVR]

3 hours ago, Madmeg said:

Thanks- I have some photos of  a couple of unidentified Naval men (wavy ntertwined rings? ) and i was wondering what clues there ,ight be- none I suspect :-(

 

If their sleeve lace is intertwined then they are RNR Officers.

However if their sleeve lace is wavy( like the Officer back right in the photo) then they are RNVR.

 

 

[seaJane]

3 hours ago, Madmeg said:

note the number 5 is written on her

Good point! I don't know about the numbers but I will see if any of the pictures of other hospital ships show 5.

[seaJane]

10 hours ago, Madmeg said:

I note the number 5 is written on her - but other pictures of the Rewa show the number four so wonder if this is another ship?

Hi Meg,

Just to let you know, I have gone back to my files and REWA is No.5 - No.4 is PLASSY.

sJ

 

Here's the list:

SOUDAN No.1

GARTH CASTLE No.2

DRINA No.3

PLASSY No.4

REWA No.5

CHINA No.6

DELTA (HK) No.7

GRANTALA (AUS) No.8

ALBION No.9

LIBERTY No.10

SHEELAH No.11

PRINCE GEORGE No.12 (CAN)

AGADIR No.13

MAGIC No.14

QUEEN ALEXANDRA No.15

SOMALI No.16

KARAPARA No.17

BERBICE No.18

ST MARGARET OF SCOTLAND 19

 

[horatio2]

Those number correspond with the ships' Pendant Numbers preceded, in the case of these hired hospital ships/yachts with 'YA' - YA1, YA2, etc

[seaJane]

32 minutes ago, horatio2 said:

Those number correspond with the ships' Pendant Numbers preceded, in the case of these hired hospital ships/yachts with 'YA' - YA1, YA2, etc

Thank you!

[seaJane]

WIth permission from the QARNNS Archive curators, here are some more photographs which came in the bundle with those I've already shown. Comments welcome!

 

1.

 

 

2.

 

3.

 

 

4.

 

 

 

5.

 

 

6.

 

 

7.

Edited 7 August , 2020 by seaJane

[seaJane]

Following on from the other pictures, I have permission from @IanESMith to post these photographs of his grandfather Reginald Eccles Smith (temporary Surgeon RN) and grandmother (previously Sister Marjorie Turner (Q)) aboard REWA. For more information please click here to a link in the Classified sub-forum.

 

Best wishes,

 

seaJane

I presume that reads "Deck space for patients" at the back.

 

 

Sister Marjorie Turner.

 

Surgeon Eccles Smith & friend (name of friend not known).

 

Wedding photograph.

 

 

 

 

Edited 10 August , 2020 by seaJane

[RNCVR]

Very nice photos Jane, thanks for posting!

 

Best..... Bryan

[alf mcm]

Seajane,

  I think the photograph in #1 was taken on or just before 20^th December 1916, when F/S Dalton handed over medical command of the ‘Rewa’ to F/S Keir.

 

  The photo shows the following;-

Fleet Surgeon Frederick James Abercrombie DALTON {sitting, front row}

Fleet Surgeon William Wallace KEIR {standing, back row left}

Surgeon Albert James GILBERTSON R.N.V.R. {either standing left or sitting right}

Surgeon Hubert CHITTY R.N.V.R. {either standing left or sitting right}

Temporary Surgeon Reginald Eccles SMITH - possibly {sitting behind F/S Dalton}

Temporary Surgeon John LAMBERT {standing behind F/S Dalton}

Nursing Sister Christine Annie BATES Q.A.R.N.N.S. {sitting on right of F/S Dalton}

Nursing Sister Edith Florence CHIBNALL A.R.R.C. Q.A.R.N.N.S.R. {sitting on left of F/S Dalt

Nursing Sister Annie Margaret LOGAN Q.A.R.N.N.S.R. {sitting or standing behind Miss Chibnall}

 Nursing Sister Alice Louise HOLYOAK Q.A.R.N.N.S.R. {sitting or standing behind Miss Chibnall}

 

Regards,

Alf McM

Edited 13 August , 2020 by alf mcm
Additional information

[IanESMith]

Just did a quick word search through the text of Grandads diary covering the Galipolli months and theres a few mentions of Glbertson, Chitty and Lambert.  Heres a few snippets

 

"I was thoroughly wakened, however, by Gilb tearing down to tell P.M.O. that a floating mine was alongside"

 

"We had 15 dead on board whom we hoped to land at Alexandria for decent burial, but they refused to take them, so we had to bury them at sea. The bodies were in such a state that the Carpenters refused to touch them, so the medical staff had to do it. The P.M.O. would not allow Chitty or myself to go near, as we were operators."

 

"Officer admitted with fractured femur; Lambert's case, I am told off to assist him, so even if I am not second in command I still get my finger in."

 

Not quite sure which photo you are referring too but I'm not sure grandad is in any sept the ones Jane posted from me....happy to be corrected and always interesting to find out more

[alf mcm]

Ian,

  These quotes are interesting. Tho photo referred to is shown at he first post in this thread. The names of Medical Officers are taken from ADM104/92 page 592, which shows when they were posted to 'Rewa' and when they were posted elsewhere. Your grandad is recorded as being posted on 22nd June 1915, and being posted to  'Vivid' on 6th January 1918. Your grandfather's service record as a Temporary Surgeon Probationer is available on ADM 104/170 page 279, and can be downloaded for free here;-  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10853381

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[seaJane]

1 hour ago, alf mcm said:

Fleet Surgeon Frederick James Abercrombie DALTON {sitting, front row}

 

Fleet Surgeon William Wallace KEIR {standing, back row left}

Thanks Alf! That would certainly account for why we have two MOs with gold braid on their cap peaks present.

[seaJane]

27 minutes ago, IanESMith said:

Not quite sure which photo you are referring too but I'm not sure grandad is in any sept the ones Jane posted from me....happy to be corrected and always interesting to find out

Ian, this is the photo. I thought your grandfather was seated middle in the second row, if you recall. The one standing behind him has a very quizzical expression on his face but I suppose it might be him. I'll try to get a closer shot of the image in Sep 1914 from the album.