Photo of nurses and patients at Aberdeen City Hospital during the Great War

[JohnH]

This is a photo of my grandfather in his naval uniform whilst a patient at Aberdeen City Hospital during the Great War. 

The note on the back of this photo (from his daughter) states that he was suffering from measles at this time. The soldier in the photo was also a patient.  

City Hospital was the main infectious diseases hospital for Aberdeen. I checked with NHS Grampian archives, but unfortunately, they don’t have an admission register for this time so I have not been able to date this photo as yet.

My grandfather John Henderson (service no. L 768) enrolled as a Seaman in the R.N.R. Shetland Section aged 19 years, 5 months on 26 January 1915 at Lerwick, Shetland.  He saw service during the war in various armed trawlers attached to the Auxiliary Patrol in both Shetland and Orkney. He also served on H.M.T. TENBY CASTLE from 7 June 1916 to 28 August 1918, which was one of 17 armed trawlers attached to 10th Cruiser Squadron. During his service he was based at naval bases at Lerwick and Swarback Minns in Shetland, and in Oban and in Kirkwall. He was demobilised on 18 June 1919. There is no record of his hospital admission on his service record.   

I’m interested in finding out more about his illness; the treatment he would have received for measles and how long it would typically take for an otherwise fit young man to recover and be returned to active service. 

I’m also in interested in finding out more about the nursing staff we see in this photo. 

Thank you.

[JohnH]

9 hours ago, JohnH said:

I’m also in interested in finding out more about the nursing staff we see in this photo. 

Is the nurse in the dark uniform a Matron? 

[seaJane]

17 hours ago, JohnH said:

Is the nurse in the dark uniform a Matron? 

She may possibly be a QARNNS matron (red cape with navy-blue border) but I don't know if QARNNS staff were seconded to civilian hospitals during the war (the hospital itself might have been made an RN Auxiliary Hospital or Sick Quarters).

@JohnH, have you any objection to my sending a copy of this photo to my former colleagues in the QARNNS archive?

seaJane

[JohnH]

1 hour ago, seaJane said:

(the hospital itself might have been made an RN Auxiliary Hospital or Sick Quarters).

@seaJane I found an article in the Aberdeen Press and Journal on Friday 14 August 1914, which may shed some light on Aberdeen City Hospital during the Great War:

Extract from Aberdeen Press and Journal on Friday 14 August 1914. 

ROLE OF RED CROSS SOCIETY. SIR GEO. BEATSON'S ADVICE AND SCHEME.

ABERDEEN INTERVIEW. 

Sir George T. Beatson chairman of the Scottish Red Cross Council, was in Aberdeen yesterday attending to the organisation of Red Cross work in the north-eastern district of Scotland. 

Referring to present arrangements for sick and wounded in Scotland, he said, that without going into detail and without betraying any official information, the people should know that there were at present ready for their sailors and soldiers over 2000 beds in Scotland, fewer than 700 being Aberdeen, of which 520 were in the General Hospital of the Territorial Force, 150 for naval wounded in the Royal Infirmary, and the 60 in the special pavilion at the City Hospital.

Source: British Newspaper Archive. 

Edited 18 September , 2023 by JohnH
typo corrected

[JohnH]

2 hours ago, seaJane said:

have you any objection to my sending a copy of this photo to my former colleagues in the QARNNS archive?

@seaJane thanks for your reply, that's most interesting.  

I'm happy for your to send a copy of this photo to your former colleagues at the QARNNS archive. It will interesting if they can shed any further light on it. 

If they wish to publish this photo anywhere, then they will need to contact me for permission.  

[JohnH]

1 hour ago, JohnH said:

and the 60 in the special pavilion at the City Hospital.

@seaJane Further update on Naval use of Aberdeen City Hospital per an article in Aberdeen Press and Journal on Monday 17 August 1914

ABERDEEN CITY HOSPITAL. 

Matthew Hay, medical officer of health for Aberdeen, in his monthly report to the Town Council, says:—ln November of last year undertaking was given to the Territorial Association of the city to make provision at the hospital far 50 cases of infectious disease in the event of war. On account of this undertaking, and the possibility at any time of a sudden large influx of wounded from naval engagements in the North Sea, two pavilions, accommodating about 80 to 100 patients, were disinfected and refurnished with fresh bedding immediately after the declaration of war, and are being held in readiness for any eventuality necessitating their use. This has involved the discharge of a number of the tuberculosis cases, but all the more pressing of such cases are still being dealt with in the wooden pavilion at the City Hospital which was specially arranged for such purpose last year.

Source: British Newspaper Archive.
 

 

[seaJane]

Interesting!

1 hour ago, JohnH said:

If they wish to publish this photo anywhere, then they will need to contact me for permission.  

Understood, thanks!

[JohnH]

On 18/09/2023 at 16:14, seaJane said:

She may possibly be a QARNNS matron (red cape with navy-blue border)

@seaJane what colour is the rest of her uniform.  Can signpost me to any examples. 

Are all the other nurses all the same grade? Their uniforms appear to be all white apart from a slightly darker coloured sleeve, with white cuffs. I was planning to get someone to colourize this photo hence my interest. 

 

[seaJane]

5 hours ago, JohnH said:

Are all the other nurses all the same grade? Their uniforms appear to be all white apart from a slightly darker coloured sleeve, with white cuffs.

I can't help off the top of my head. Your best bet is to search the forum for QARNNS. The nurses might be naval VADs but I can't recall whether they should have a red cross on their aprons.

[FROGSMILE]

On 19/09/2023 at 17:52, JohnH said:

@seaJane what colour is the rest of her uniform.  Can signpost me to any examples. 

Are all the other nurses all the same grade? Their uniforms appear to be all white apart from a slightly darker coloured sleeve, with white cuffs. I was planning to get someone to colourize this photo hence my interest. 

 

Although it doesn’t cover the Royal Navy’s nurses this link gives great detail about the nurses of the VAD and various developments and differences in their dress, including headwear: http://www.scarletfinders.co.uk/157.html

Similarly there is also this: http://www.fairestforce.co.uk/13.html

And this: https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/our-history/first-world-war-volunteers

This will help with colouration I think: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QZOaMbTRxWY

 

Edited 25 September , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[JohnH]

Thank you @FROGSMILE  for your excellent and informative post. 

2 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

Although it doesn’t cover the Royal Navy’s nurses this link gives great detail about the nurses of the VAD and various developments and differences in their dress, including headwear: http://www.scarletfinders.co.uk/157.html

 

On 19/09/2023 at 23:26, seaJane said:

The nurses might be naval VADs but I can't recall whether they should have a red cross on their aprons.

@seaJane A section from the above source deals with the disappearance of red crosses from VAD nurses uniforms.

" Photos taken during the later years of the war can be particularly confusing.  Although in general strict regulation should have ensured that nurses' dress remained very much the same, it did lose much of the pre-war uniformity.  Red crosses disappeared from many aprons.  It's often suggested that the presence of a red cross on a nurse's apron was a sign, or not, of a certain seniority or greater experience, when in fact this lack was rather to do with wartime shortages of red cloth." 

 

[seaJane]

On 18/09/2023 at 18:49, JohnH said:

I'm happy for your to send a copy of this photo to your former colleagues at the QARNNS archive. It will interesting if they can shed any further light on it. 

They are only able to contribute this I'm afraid:

"I think this is the Aberdeen Hospital of Infectious Diseases; the Sister does not seem to be wearing a cap which would be unthinkable for a QARNNS Sister! However, it is interesting to see."

 

[FROGSMILE]

17 minutes ago, seaJane said:

They are only able to contribute this I'm afraid:

"I think this is the Aberdeen Hospital of Infectious Diseases; the Sister does not seem to be wearing a cap which would be unthinkable for a QARNNS Sister! However, it is interesting to see."

 

I wonder if she might be one of the civil nursing sisters absorbed by the Reserve.  One of the links above mentions these in connection with the QAIMNS and says that the only dress difference was that that no metal badge was authorised for the cape, but the letters R were.  I wonder if the QARNNS had to do similar.  Either way one can imagine one of these civil sisters not having the same attitude to dress as her armed services counterpart.

[seaJane]

10 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

wonder if she might be one of the civil nursing sisters absorbed by the Reserve.

Could be - I was always better on the surgeons' rather than the nurses' side of the service, so I wouldn't like to say for certain.

[FROGSMILE]

14 minutes ago, seaJane said:

Could be - I was always better on the surgeons' rather than the nurses' side of the service, so I wouldn't like to say for certain.

I don’t know whether or not the naval side embraced the civil sisters in quite the same way and was surprised that the Army did given that they already had regulars, regular reserve and Territorial Force, which made the civil sisters a fourth element.  That’s over and above the VADs of course.  For some reason it’s not at all easy to find anything online in the same detail about the QARNNS.

Edited 26 September , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[seaJane]

15 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

For some reason it’s not at all easy to find anything online in the same detail about the QARNNS.

I suppose it aligns with the general go-to view of the GW equalling the trenches and the army - the Navy 1914-1918 rarely gets the same coverage.

As I recall, the centenary medical coverage was "Crimson Fields" (spit) for QAIMNS and a remake (I enjoyed it, not having seen the BBC version, but still - a remake) of "Testament of Youth" for the VADs. QARNNS nil.

[FROGSMILE]

14 hours ago, seaJane said:

I suppose it aligns with the general go-to view of the GW equalling the trenches and the army - the Navy 1914-1918 rarely gets the same coverage.

As I recall, the centenary medical coverage was "Crimson Fields" (spit) for QAIMNS and a remake (I enjoyed it, not having seen the BBC version, but still - a remake) of "Testament of Youth" for the VADs. QARNNS nil.

Yes I couldn’t agree more SeaJane and it’s unfortunate that the RN doesn’t have a greater heritage in the public consciousness, especially given how important it was to Britain’s world prestige at that time, not to mention the overall health of its trade and economy.  Unfortunately, in terms of WW1, it was a victim of its own success, in that after Jutland the central powers never felt able to challenge its preeminence, regardless of the semi inconclusive nature of the battle’s outcome.

The British public since the war have all been fed stories of places like, e.g. Loos, the Somme, Ypres, Paschendaele, etc. but few could name the Falklands, Coronel, Dogger Bank, and Jutland.  Unfortunately the naval nurses have become a victim of that situation.

Edited 27 September , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[JohnH]

Thanks @FROGSMILE and @seaJane for your assistance with this post it's been very interesting learning about the various nursing services during the Great War. 

I have checked with my cousins and they were also unaware that our grandfather had measles during the Great War, so we are no further a head in trying to figure out when he was hospitalised.  The photo appears to be taken in the Summer time, as everything in the garden looks green.  

In my op, I raised some points regarding measles. I see from other posts regarding measles that men from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland often didn't suffer from measles when they were children, so the illness hit them a lot harder as adults. Any further info on this would be welcome. 

My grandfather lost both his younger brothers to illness during the Great War. They were both Seaman in the R.N.R. Shetland Section, who had volunteered for Naval service out with Shetland. 

 

 

[seaJane]

7 minutes ago, JohnH said:

I see from other posts regarding measles that men from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland often didn't suffer from measles when they were children, so the illness hit them a lot harder as adults.

I too am sure that I have read something about the Highlands & Islands soldiers and measles - a contributing factor to the timing of the troop train in the Quintinshill rail crash, I have heard it suggested. Can't recall where, though - possibly in Lyn MacDonald's compilation Roses of No Man's Land.

2 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

RN doesn’t have a greater heritage in the public consciousness

Not helped by the fact that the Official History medical series concentrated on the land battles and left the Admiralty to bear the costs of producing the Naval version in an extremely limited edition.

[FROGSMILE]

7 minutes ago, seaJane said:

I too am sure that I have read something about the Highlands & Islands soldiers and measles - a contributing factor to the timing of the troop train in the Quintinshill rail crash, I have heard it suggested. Can't recall where, though - possibly in Lyn MacDonald's compilation Roses of No Man's Land.

Not helped by the fact that the Official History medical series concentrated on the land battles and left the Admiralty to bear the costs of producing the Naval version in an extremely limited edition.

I didn’t realise that regarding the Naval edition.  All that said it seems a pity that no putative author, looking for a worthwhile project, has identified the absence of a naval medical history of WW1 and put themselves forward to take it on.  It seems like a gaping hole in the history and an open goal in terms of an author looking to make their name.

Edited 27 September , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[seaJane]

Unfortunately I lack the oomph to be that author since I retired - but my bibliography is already there for whoever that author may be, and the primary publications survive in the Journal of the RN Medical Service 

[FROGSMILE]

16 minutes ago, seaJane said:

Unfortunately I lack the oomph to be that author since I retired - but my bibliography is already there for whoever that author may be, and the primary publications survive in the Journal of the RN Medical Service 

I’m surprised that the Royal Navy historical branch / maritime museum hasn’t commissioned such a work and so made it worthwhile for an author.

Edited 27 September , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[seaJane]

15 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

I’m surprised that the Royal Navy historical branch / maritime museum hasn’t commissioned such a work

Catch the MOD spending money on anything except personnel or kit  - it's a bit of a fluke that they're still spending on history at all - much easier to offload the work onto someone else 

NMRN (National Museum of the Royal Navy, now including all the former RN museums) or RMG (Royal Museums Greenwich, including the National Maritime Museum) would have the money, but they don't do much publishing except of their own material. I do remember seeing an NMRN book on the naval arms race up to Jutland, but it was quite slim.

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, seaJane said:

Catch the MOD spending money on anything except personnel or kit  - it's a bit of a fluke that they're still spending on history at all - much easier to offload the work onto someone else 

NMRN (National Museum of the Royal Navy, now including all the former RN museums) or RMG (Royal Museums Greenwich, including the National Maritime Museum) would have the money, but they don't do much publishing except of their own material. I do remember seeing an NMRN book on the naval arms race up to Jutland, but it was quite slim.

Yes I agree about the MOD and it’s priorities, I was thinking more of the museums in your second paragraph.  It’s so much cheaper to publish a book nowadays and the publishers are constantly looking for new works according to several authors who have mentioned it to me in passing. I’m sure it would be fascinating to learn about the medical care of the horrendous casualties from naval actions, especially flash burns from turret fires and magazine explosions, as well as how they were treated and convalesced in the naval hospitals.

Edited 27 September , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[seaJane]

1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said:

 It’s so much cheaper to publish a book nowadays and the publishers are constantly looking for new works according to several authors who have mentioned it to me in passing

It's still very labour-intensive, though, and if a book is to be done well the labour still falls mostly on the author and the profit mostly elsewhere ...