South African Military Nursing Service attached to Q.A.I.M.N.S.R.

[alf mcm]

From the late Sue Light's 'Scarletfinders' website;-

 

S.A.M.N.S. ATTACHED Q.A.I.M.N.S.R.
     In December, 1916, a contingent of 25 S.A.M.N.S. Nurses were sent to France to be attached to the Q.A.I.M.N.S. Reserve for service in British Units. They received the pay and allowances of the Reserve and were under its regulations, but they were permitted to continue wearing the uniform of the S.A.M.N.S.

 

  Does anyone know the names of these nurses? Would they have Q.AI.M.N.S.R. service records, presumably available from T.N.A.?

[wesleycj]

Hi Alf

I also, would dearly love to know the names, I believe one of them was Staff Nurse Lucie Lezard ARRC.  Attached is a page from the few Docs that I have.

Notice the medal roll reference which I have been unable to locate.

The sailing date is about the time the first SAMNS contingent left for the UK

 

Hopefully someone out there will come up with an answer

Chris

[alf mcm]

Chris,

  One of the 25 was Jessie Olive Hockey. There is a medal card and QAIMNSR srevice record for her at TNA, which I have just downloaded. She died of meningitis, and is buried in Wimreaux Communal Cemetery.

  I searched on TNA and got the following;-   https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_col=200&_p=1900&_hb=tna&_q=south+african+nursing+service+queen

  I checked Margaret Gush Slater. There is a QAIMNSR record for a Margaret Slater, but she is not the same person.

  It is odd that there are records for some and not for others.

  Lucie Lezard is interesting. Some medal cards say that medals were issued from South Africa, which may be why there is not a card for her at T.N.A. She was born Lucy Catherine Lezard in St. Giles in 1880 {This covers the boundary between Middlesex and London}.  https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl   I have seen a passenger list where she claimed to be born in 1888! There is a family tree on Ancestry, but it doesn't give any military or nursing details.

  It will be interesting to see what else turns up.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

[alf mcm]

Bessie Wagstaff was also one of the 25 and has a QAIMNSR record. She served in a large number of hospitals and CCS's. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10801456

 

Regards,

Alf McM

[alf mcm]

Mrs Winifred L. Connell also has a QAIMNSR record, but did not transfer to QAIMNSR until 1918. She originally served as Miss Winifred L. Rossiter, and has 2 medal cards.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

Edited 6 January , 2021 by alf mcm

[wesleycj]

Hi Alf

In the war diary for the Matron-in-Chief on Scarlett Finders

 

23 Jun 1917 The War Office had requested, at the behest of South African records, a list of the SAMNS that joined for service with QAIMNS on 11 Dec 1916.

24 Jun 1917 List of nurses sent to DGMS

The question is which DGMS, my  guess is DGMS GHQ BEF and the answer might be in its war diary.

 

I also noticed that on 14 Jan 1917 there was a comment that SAMNS attached to QAIMNS should have signed a Reserve Contract.

 

Chris

[MaureenE]

Perhaps you could try contacting the South African  Department of Defence Archives .

 

Details in Chris_Baker. South African Service papers WW1 Great War Forum 27 July 2018,  which gives an email address.

 

Maureen

[alf mcm]

21 hours ago, wesleycj said:

Hi Alf

In the war diary for the Matron-in-Chief on Scarlett Finders

 

23 Jun 1917 The War Office had requested, at the behest of South African records, a list of the SAMNS that joined for service with QAIMNS on 11 Dec 1916.

24 Jun 1917 List of nurses sent to DGMS

The question is which DGMS, my  guess is DGMS GHQ BEF and the answer might be in its war diary.

 

I also noticed that on 14 Jan 1917 there was a comment that SAMNS attached to QAIMNS should have signed a Reserve Contract.

 

Chris

 

Thanks Chris,

  I have downloaded the War Diary for DGMS for British Armies in France from April to June 1917. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/740cfa3390954df6bfb8a76aaec09055  It makes interesting reading, and very easy to read since it is all typed. However, there is no mention of the list of 25 SAMNS nurses.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

20 hours ago, Maureene said:

Perhaps you could try contacting the South African  Department of Defence Archives .

 

Details in Chris_Baker. South African Service papers WW1 Great War Forum 27 July 2018,  which gives an email address.

 

Maureen

 

Thanks Maureene,

  I have just sent an e-mail to them regarding the list of 25 SAMNS attached to QAIMNSR.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

[wesleycj]

Alf

I have been through the DGMS and DMS diaries for the BEF France and they are too high a level, lots of stats etc. 

One benefit of Covid is looking at 5 erroneous diaries when they are free to download before you find the one that you want.

However still looking!

Chris