christine liava'a Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Jean Allan (Nurse in submarine) is supposed to have been awarded a "Malta Award" or " Malta Cross", possibly a "Malta Star". I cannot find any such medal. Any ideas what it could have been? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Could this have been the Royal Red Cross? This is a medal awarded to members of the nursing services (restricted to females until 1976). It is awarded in two classes and was instituted in 1883. The design is very similar to a 'Maltese Cross' . Although the design is not technically exactly the same as a Maltese Cross it could easily be described as one by the general public (It is a cross pattée like the VC). Alternatively could it be an award by the Order of St John who do use the Maltese Cross as an emblem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hill 60 Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 You could try this site (Malta Ambulance Corps) which is the personal site of someone in the MAC. Although there are references to medals they seem to be modern ones. There are, however, a couple of possibilities of help. One is a contact e-mail address and then there are links that might yeild results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Christine I feel sure this would have been the Royal Red Cross or Associate RRC. Anyway, here is a list of all decorations awarded to members of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service during the period 1914-1918: R.R.C. 138 Clasp to R.R.C. 39 A.R.R.C. 105 G.B.E. 3 C.B.E. 5 O.B.E. 9 M.B.E. 1 M.M. 8 Order of St. Sava 2 Greek Medal for Military Merit 2 French Silver Medal for Epidemics 1 French Silver Gilt Medal for Epidemics 3 French War Cross 2 Belgian Medal of Queen Elizabeth 4 These do not include the awards to members of the Territorial Army Nursing Service, as probably not appropriate, although there was one further award to one of them called the 'Order of Christ'. So if you exclude most of those - not likely considering the theatres she served in - your choice gets pretty limited [luckily!] Regards - Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Christine This is the Royal Red Cross (RRC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Christine This is the Royal Red Cross 2nd Class Also known as the Associate Royal Red Cross (ARRC) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 26 June , 2003 Author Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Sue and HeritagePlus, Yes I think it likely that it was one of the Red Crosses. But, I can't find her listed as receiving anything in the London Gazette! Sue, Do you have a list of recipients for those medals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Christine Unfortunately the recipients of these awards are not named, except in the case of nurses who died during the war. The information comes from one of three histories of the QAIMNS/QARANC - this one being 'One Hundred Years of Army Nursing' by Ian Hay, published in 1953. All three seem to be a little shallow in parts, probably due to trying to cover an enormous span of time in too few pages. The other two are 'Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps' by Juliet Piggot [1975] and 'Sub Cruce Candida' [2002] and adding all the information together, it seems even more difficult to work out how such a 'Boy's own Paper' sort of incident could have occurred without ever getting a mention. In April 1915 recruitment to the Army nursing service was at it's height, and many nurses were being transported to the Mediterranean, particularly to Malta where the British Military Hospital was receiving hundreds of casualties from the Gallipoli campaign. I can't help thinking that if any nurse was going to be chosen for an unusual mission it might fall to one of the many long standing and experienced army nurses, and not to a new recruit from New Zealand - and I am definitely not casting any doubt on her training or expertise, just making a point. The reports of the transport of nurses to the Med. make constant references to 'seas infested with German U-boats', - but never to a British submarine playing any part in this transport. I'm sure it would be worth contacting the RAMC Museum at Keogh Barracks, Aldershot, who hold all the archives, diaries, letters, etc. for the QA's [and there are a lot!] - they should have details of the recipients of all awards, and if anyone knows about nurses and submarines, it will probably be them. RAMC Museum It would be great, of course, to find out that she WAS the first army nurse in a submarine! Regards - Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 26 June , 2003 Share Posted 26 June , 2003 Christine, I can't ping her in the on-line London Gazette either - but given the way text get grabled that don't prove anything. I probably should be looking for Jeam Allon ... There is a register of the RRC in the PRO, I'll have a look. Jock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 27 June , 2003 Share Posted 27 June , 2003 Christine These are the criteria for award of the RRC and ARRC RRC Awarded to fully trained Nurses of the official Nursing Services who have shown exceptional devotion and competency in the performance of actual nursing duties, over a continuous and long period, or performed an exceptional act of bravery and devotion to her post of duty. ARRC Awarded to fully trained Nurses, Nurses Aides and Volunteers of the official Nursing Services who have performed an exceptional act of bravery and devotion to her post of duty. Note the 'her duty' - these awards did not become open for award to men until 1976! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 27 June , 2003 Share Posted 27 June , 2003 Note the 'her duty' - these awards did not become open for award to men until 1976! No sexism at work here - the Corps was entirely female before that date, so no men to reward. Regards - Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 29 June , 2003 Share Posted 29 June , 2003 I've e-mailed Christine a precis of Jean MacKie Allan's file. She did serve in Gib and Malta but there is no evidence in the file to confirm or deny she ever took passage on a submarine or was involved in anything sneaky-beaky. I couldn't confirm an award of RRC/ARRC - the registers rely on you knowing the rough date the award was gazetted, there wasn't time to read through the whole lot. Jock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 29 June , 2003 Share Posted 29 June , 2003 Looking at the shape of the medal, you can see why it might have been nicknamed a 'Malta Cross' Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 29 June , 2003 Share Posted 29 June , 2003 Looking at the shape of the medal, you can see why it might have been nicknamed a 'Malta Cross' Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now