FOLKESTONE CHERITON ROAD CEMETERY: Agnes “Madge” Curran Macdonald, Died 1 June 1917

[Denis]

 

 

I note that in recent years there have been various posts about the above casualty who was wounded during the Gotha raid on Folkestone on 25 May 1917 and died in hospital on 1 June. There has been some confusion about her identity. For reasons that are totally unclear there was a local belief that she was a Canadian stenographer. Agnes was actually born in Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire, in 1894 but grew up in Airdrie after her family moved there. As far as her family were concerned, she was a WAAC Motor Driver awaiting transit to France. I have been in touch with Folkestone locals who have an interest in commemorating the casualties from the bombing to clarify the identity issue. I hope that this might also result in the stone being replaced on the grave.

A photo appeared on this site in 2018 marked in red to indicate the site of her grave (1874) as there was no marker. In fact, there is a small stone marker which at some point has been moved off grave 1874 and is leaning against grave 1853 to the left. I’m hopeful that my contact with local interests as mentioned above may also result in the stone being replaced on the grave. Agnes is commemorated on the Airdrie Academy War Memorial and the Airdrie War Memorial but not commemorated by the CWGC.

[Jim Strawbridge]

She may not have been Canadian but she was a stenographer by training lodging with the Jackman family in Folkestone. I have a note that she was a Queen Mary's staff nurse who was killed whilst awaiting a call to go to France for ambulance work. So from typing she trained as a nurse, it seems. It is noted above that she was a WAAC motor driver. If she was a trained nurse then I would have thought that she would not have been a driver as her skills would have been needed for nursing. Out of interest there is an Agnes MacDonald who served with the Territorial Force Nursing Service but do not know if this is her. More research on my part needed.

[Denis]

After about six months of looking into the facts surrounding the death of this girl at last I’ve managed to pin down just why she is still remembered in Folkestone as a Canadian. The Folkestone Express of 9 June 1917 carried a report of her inquest, included in which was the following:

“Mr Jackman, at whose house the deceased lodged, said she was a Canadian typist, and had come over to England to assist in war work. She was waiting to proceed to France in order to do ambulance work”.

Clearly it was that statement from which all other Canadian references stemmed. Mr Jackman may have been quite stressed at the time given that his own daughter had been killed while walking beside Agnes.

Agnes was discussed here back in 2006 when two medal cards thought to relate to her were illustrated. Sue Light responded “The medal cards are for a Staff Nurse in the Territorial Force Nursing Service, and there is no possibility that they could belong to a woman who was described as a 'Motor Driver.'” The logic of that is sound, but only relevant if she was indeed a Staff Nurse and, apart from the two medal cards below, which it was concluded were for someone else, I am not aware of any record that she was a Staff Nurse. It’s hard to imagine that her family would not be aware of her achieving such a status and, for no particular reason at all, claim she was a WAAC Motor Driver. Unfortunately, they received a further blow in 1918 when son William died while serving on HMS Teutonic. He is buried in a war grave in Quebec City.

Proving a WAAC link seems impossible. It’s somewhat ironic that most WAAC records were destroyed by bombing in WW2.

[Jim Strawbridge]

The MIC is very useful in that it strikes out the possibility that the Agnes MacDonald in the TFNS was the Agnes MacDonald killed in the bombing raid. The MIC shows a maiden name of Fancy and Agnes Fancy married Reginald L. MacDonald in the first quarter 1919 in Weymouth. I have Agnes as living at 12 Connaught Road whereas the Roll of Honour above gives her address as 36 Milton Street. The funeral cortege seem to have left from Connaught Road so it would be interesting to know her link with Milton Road.

later - Answering my own question, the 36 Milton Street is actually in Airdrie where the MacDonald family lived.

Edited 4 March , 2021 by Jim Strawbridge

[alf mcm]

  As a Driver Agnes would have been a member of the Women's Legion. The W.L. drivers who served in France had to become W.A.A.C. members. Perhaps they transferred to W.A.A.C. just before they went abroad.

  Some W.L./W.A.A.C. drivers served with the Canadian Forestry Corps, so perhaps Agnes was supposed to serve with them?

 

Regards,

Alf McM

Edited 6 March , 2021 by alf mcm
Canadian info added

[Denis]

That's an interesting thought. Are there any Women's Legion records available?

[alf mcm]

  There's next to nothing online regarding individual W.L. Drivers. There are some medal cars which mention W.L., but they wouldn't be relevant for Agnes. There's about a page of information in 'Tracing your Servicewomen Ancestors' by Mary Ingham.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

[Simon Keable Elliott]

Hi Alf,

Really interested in your comment that ' Some W.L./W.A.A.C. drivers served with the Canadian Forestry Corps' since that is what my Grandmother Jolie Buck did. She was English and was diving officers around London in 1916 before travelling to France. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can find out anything about her time in France - ie where she was based, when did she return to England etc.

Thanks