Scottish Women's Hospital

[Derek Robertson]

Sue,

Thank you very much indeed.

I had discounted the Medal Index Card for Mary L Milne, Housekeeper in the French Red Cross as the qualifying date was November 1918 but your information suggests that it is her after all.

[Sue Light]

After a lot of consideration, I've just started to get all the names from these lists onto a web page. I've hesitated for some time as firstly, it's a lot of fiddle and faffing around, and secondly some of the copies I have are indistinct. But eventually I felt that some inaccuracy or omissions may be worth it for what it offers in general. The first page includes all those women whose surnames begin with A - F, and can be found here:

Scottish Women's Hospital, Index of Names

The remaining pages will appear as soon as I recover from word blindness and repetitive strain injury

Sue

[Carmania]

Congratulations and thank you, Sue. Not an easy task.

Aled

[Sue Light]

The pages are now complete and online. There are 1560 entries, though some women have several entries as they served with more than one unit. They can be accessed via the link in my signature, or here:

Scottish Women's Hospital Index of Names

Sue

[RoseFields]

Sue,

Ten thousand "thank yous" for all your work and devotion to this task. Congratulations on creating a list that will open many doors to identification. For me, I just found my elusive Mr. Cardew...

Best regards,

Marjorie

[RoseFields]

I am trying to find some trace of my grandmother, Margaret Hunt Marshall

Hello David,

I just stumbled on your post from April 2010 inquiring about your grandmother Margaret Hunt. I have a copy of a Sept 1914 BRCS registration card from the British Red Cross archives, name: Margaret Hunt, address: 12 Nevern Mansions S.W. 5. This Miss Hunt went in service as a V.A.D. and served the entire war period in various hospitals in England and France. No Scottish Womens or Serbian work recorded. She achieved the rank of nurse and is listed in December 1918 as "seconded for three years Training in Naval Hospital" (evidence that she became a "trained nurse" immediately after the war).

From my end I'm trying to confirm identification of a Miss Margaret Hunt who served in France at "Hopital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois", an English hospital for French soldiers. Any chance we're in luck here?

Best,

Marjorie

[MotherMave]

Hello Sue, You were very kind in helping me last year regarding the sisters Louisa & Edith Colt-Williams who were Nurses in France in WW1. I have been looking again at their files and information after giving them a rest for a while. I now know that Louisa Constance Colt-Williams was awarded the Croix de Guerre (avec palmes) at the Invalides, Paris and wondered where the records of that ceremony were kept. I have only just realized this although I had the clip of the Newspaper (local) that stated it for quite a while. Sometimes we can't see what is in front of us, well at least I can't! Would both Louisa & Edith have been with the French Flag Nursing Corps I wonder? Regards, Mavis

[Siobhan]

Hello Sue, You were very kind in helping me last year regarding the sisters Louisa & Edith Colt-Williams who were Nurses in France in WW1. I have been looking again at their files and information after giving them a rest for a while. I now know that Louisa Constance Colt-Williams was awarded the Croix de Guerre (avec palmes) at the Invalides, Paris and wondered where the records of that ceremony were kept. I have only just realized this although I had the clip of the Newspaper (local) that stated it for quite a while. Sometimes we can't see what is in front of us, well at least I can't! Would both Louisa & Edith have been with the French Flag Nursing Corps I wonder? Regards, Mavis

Mavis,

I can't find either on my FFNC list,

Regards,

Siobhan

[Sue Light]

Hallo Mavis

Although I can find our previous email exchanges, my mind is a blank over whether I ever mentioned that Edith Colt-Williams served with the Scottish Women's Hospital, Girton Newnham Unit, from 17 October 1916 to March 1918. But if I didn't - she did

Sue

[MotherMave]

Thank you for replying Siobhan and Sue, I am glad of any help. Can you tell me where Mont-Notre-Dame was, that was where No 37 CCS was situated as I would like to confirm if that was where Louisa was. She comments, in a letter to a patient's father that his son was "brought to our Ambulance", this was situated between the Aisne and the Craonnelle Plateau. (The patient died and was buried at Beaurieux). I take that to mean that it was a Medical centre or Hospital and not an Ambulance as we know them. Can you explain what this would have been like Sue? Is there any website about the Scottish Women's Hospital, Girton, Newnham that you know of. Thank you once more for all your help, you are all so knowledgeable on this Forum. Kind regards, Mavis

[TrevorHH]

I have been reading the correspondence regarding the Scottish Womens Hospital with interest. Have been helping a friend with research into her mother and sister who served as VADs during the war. They were:

Gladys Beryl Stuart Churchill who served with the Scottish Womens Hospital as an Orderly from May 1915 to May 1916 and later joined the WRENS in 1918

Irene Sylvia Stuart Churchill who served as a VAD in Salonika and later married Lt Brough Gurney-Randall at the GHQ Chapel Salonika in 1918.

I am looking for any further information on the service of these two ladies in WW1. I suspect that Irene may have also served with the SWH but do not know. Any info would be gratefully received

Thank you

[Sue Light]

Both these women appear in the 'British Red Cross Register of Overseas Volunteers 1914-1918.' While it confirms Irene Churchill's service in Salonica, it also shows that Gladys Churchill had service as a VAD in France under the auspices of the War Office, and which must have fallen between her time with the SWH and the WRENS. Irene Churchill doesn't have an entry in the lists of staff of the Scottish Women's Hospital, so it seems unlikely that she served with them. If you haven't previously done so, it would be worth contacting the BRCS Archives to see if they hold service details in their card index for the two women.

BRCS Archives

Sue

[TrevorHH]

Sue

Thanks for your reply.I did contact the Red Cross and their reply which I received since your post confirmed the following:

Irene Churchill enrolled on 12/8/1914 into the London/24 Detachment as a general service member. She served at Dr Garrett Anderson's Womens Hospital for 3 months prior to going out to Salonika. Her summary of service states she was serving - Full-time Military Hospital Salonika since July 1917 and was still serving there in May 1919. Note she married her husband Lt Brough Gurney-Randall at the Salonika GHQ Chapel on 2 July 1918.

Gladys Beryl Churchill (known as Beryl) enrolled 12/8/1914 into London/14 Greenwich and Woolwich division as a Nursing Orderly. She seems to have had two sessions with the Scottish Womens Hospital at Royaumont from Jan 1915 to May 1916 and again from July 1917 to August 1918. She resigned at the beginning of September 1918 and then joined the WRNS where she served as Asst Principal WRNS War Registry in the Admiralty. She was a coder and was one of those who received the message that the German Fleet was sinking at Scarpa Flow.

Kind regards

Trevor

PS I enjoyed your talk at the WFA AGM.

[Sue Light]

I'm glad you managed to get some more information Trevor - what a lot they must have had to talk about when they got together. For more background to Royaumont, Eileen Crofton's book 'The Women of Royaumont' is a really good account - full of information and photos and very readable.

Re the AGM - the surroundings were certainly very beautiful, but conditions a bit challenging for the speakers! I'm glad I learned to shout early in life

Sue

[Simon Jones]

I came across this film of the Scottish Women's Hospital Benevole on the French Army ECPAD site this morning when looking for somethig else and thought it might be of interest. Apologies if it is known about.

http://www.ecpad.fr/...re-44#more-2129

S

[Jennyford]

It was made by a French team, but Scottish Screen hold a slightly longer version of the same film, with English legends. http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=0035. The IWM has the shorter French film.

[Guest SWHProject]

I am involved in a project about the SWH

We need funding so are sending the following to Magazines, newspapers etc etc.

We are looking for more information, photographs , old film footage to include on a DVD.

Just wondered what you think.

Introduction

It was during a visit to Belgrade, Serbia that I was first made aware of the Scottish Woman's Hospitals and the work they did during the First World War. What saddened me was that the women involved are known about and revered in Serbia, yet their work and achievements are barely recognised in the country they came from.

In Serbia one will see statues, monuments and streets named after these women, although in the place they came from these women have been virtually completely overlooked. Britain likes to make a show of celebrating and respecting heroes of war, and even in some cases fictional accounts of war heroism in film, but has not acknowledged the work, bravery and altruism of these women in a time when women did not have a presence of being involved in direct conflict and were certainly not encouraged to do so.

Over the last few years I have researched into this fascinating story and the women involved in it, and with the Centenary of WW1 in 2014 I decided to make known what they achieved to help commemorate the lives and works of these woman.

My objective is to collate information from various sources and put it on a website so that people can access information on this subject from one main resource rather than have to search around. Hopefully, it will be an information facility centre to be accessed by schools to aid students when doing projects, historians and any person or group that would be interested in this intriguing story. I hope the website will evolve as people contribute by adding their stories and historical knowledge of this subject.

In order to gather the information I will research what I can on the Internet, books, other written accounts and by talking to people, which could include relatives of the women. Although this would necessitate time and also the need to travel, not only in this country but also to Serbia where there is a body of information on the women and the work they did. As well as the website I would like to contact the relevant people to make a documentary on this subject.

I feel we all owe a debt to these women and they need to be celebrated and respected for their doggedness at seeing though their principles against the odds. This story is indeed a worthy lesson to all and these women are powerful role models for future generations to come so therefore it is important for them to be remembered.

A Brief History

The 4th of August 1914, saw Europe submerged in the darkness of war, and people occupied with the thoughts of all the horrors and cruelty that war would bring. In a small room in Edinburgh, Elsie Inglis sat in the offices of the Scottish Federation of Woman’s Suffrage Societies and her plan was hatched to supply a woman's hospital to the battlefields. And so began, the SWH. Modestly enough with a goal of £1000 to launch one hospital, by the end of WW1 nearly £500,000 had been raised. With 14 fully equipped field hospitals in Serbia, Belgium, France, Russia, Romania, Corsica, Corfu, and Greece. It was a sad fact that Dr Elsie Inglis was turned down by the British War Office "MY Good lady go home and sit still" unphased by this, Dr Inglis sent letters to the ambassadors of these countries who accepted and the breakthrough she had hoped for was now a reality.

Between 1914-1918 it was estimated that some 1000 woman served in the SWH. Conditions were horrendous. The woman worked in terrible conditions, often working themselves to exhaustion. Going without food, sleep and regard to their own safety. In the hospitals, every inch of space was occupied, sick and wounded lay crowded together, men who had just undergone the amputation of limbs, men in the grip of typhoid, dysentery or frostbite. Men waiting to die and men already dead. Many of the woman themselves were struck down by Typhus, too exhausted to combat the fever. In Serbia Dr Elizabeth Ross, who knew the hospital has a Typhus outbreak and despite only being in Serbia for 3 weeks demanded the post. She died in February 1915, in the weeks that followed sisters Louisa Jordan, Miss A Mingull and Miss Madge Neil Fraser also passed away. Despite all this, the SWH went on to save the lives and bring back to health some 300,000 men, woman and children.

Some of the woman...

For many of the woman, the experience, of serving in the SWH went onto be a huge person adventure. katherine McPhail studied medicine at Glasgow University and qualified in 1911, during WW1 she worked as a doctor in: France, Serbia, Corsica, and along the Salonica front. Following the war, she set up the First Children’s hospital in Serbia. Only leaving Belgrade in 1947 and retiring to St Andrews. Olive Kelso King was an Australian who joined the SWH as an ambulance driver in Belgium and went onto serve in France andSalonica, leaving the SWH in 1916, she joined the Serbian army as a driver, and was awarded the Serbian silver medal for bravery, after saving the lives of the patients during the great fire of thessaloniki, when she drove for 24 hours at a stretch.. Elsie Bowerman who was from Turnbridge wells, who in 1912 had been rescued from the Titanic, joined the SWH in 1916, and served in Serbia, Romania, and Russia. Witnessed the overthrow of the Tsar, Nicolas II, in St Petersburg. In 1924 she became the first woman barrister at the old Bailey . Flora Sands went on to join the Serbian army she became the first woman to be commissioned as an officer in the Serbian Army and the only British woman to officially enrol as a soldier during WW1, She moved up the ranks to Sgt Major after she prusued an extraordinary adventure going on the great serbian retreat, to being shot on a mountain in combat. After the war she settled in Belgrade and married a fellow soldier, during WW2 She was imprisoned with her husband by the Gestapo in Belgrade,after ww2 Flora returned to the UK where she spent the rest of her days in Suffolk.

Subject to funding during 2013. we plan to take the story into schools in 2014 as part of the centenary of ww1, any support on helping us achieve our goals would be most welcome.

Regards Alan.

[Michael Johnson]

I'm seeking any information on Nurse Ethel C. Tyler, who was French Red Cross, medal roll FRX 105 B5. Her MIC shows 2A, which could be either Salonika or Serbia, Date of entry November 1915.

Thanks, as always, to our experts.

Michael

[Jennyford]

I am involved in a project about the SWH

We need funding so are sending the following to Magazines, newspapers etc etc.

We are looking for more information, photographs , old film footage to include on a DVD.

Just wondered what you think.

Hi Alan

Don’t know whether you’ve come across a newsreel film of life at the SWH unit at Villers Cotterets? It was made by the Section Cinématographique de l'Armée Française around 1917 I think. Scottish Screen Archive have a version with English titles http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=0035 (Ref 0035). The film includes the first footage of British women surgeons, though the sequence in theatre is in fact a sham – the ‘shrapnel’ removed from a ‘patient’s’ leg is in fact a piece of coal from a volunteer. The film was much used for fund-raising purposes

NB – despite what SSA say in their catalogue entry, the surgeon is not Elsie Inglis, but almost certainly Frances Ivens.

Jennian

The IWM have a shortened version, though with the original French titles, IWM508-44.

[Sue Light]

I'm seeking any information on Nurse Ethel C. Tyler, who was French Red Cross, medal roll FRX 105 B5. Her MIC shows 2A, which could be either Salonika or Serbia, Date of entry November 1915.

She served at Kragujevatz with the Wounded Allies Relief Committee - this extract comes from the British Journal of Nursing, 23rd October 1915.

The following nurses left England on Saturday

g en route for the Wounded Allies Relief Com-

. mittee's Hospital at Kragujevatz, Serbia :-Miss

Ethel Tyler, Miss Sybil Entwistle (Middlesex

Hospital). Miss Sylvia Emily McGillicuddy is

.' going out as lady-cook and general help. Dr.

James Blair Donaldson, who is going to the same

hospital as Surgeon Radiographer, wiU travel at

the same time.

I think it also shows that both she and Miss Entwistle were previously at the Middlesex Hospital, London. However, she was only in Serbia for a couple of months. I have a copy of the medal roll and it shows her to be a nurse working with the WARC and gives her dates as: 2a - November 1915 to December 1915; 1a - January 1916 to August 1916, so she soon transferred to a hospital in France. A web search for the Wounded Allies Relief Committee brings up lots of information about the unit and its hospitals.

Sue

[Michael Johnson]

As usual, thank you Sue.

It makes sense as Kragujevatz was captured at the end of 1915. Tyler must have been among those who escaped with the Serbian Army.

Michael

[dink_and_pip]

Currently on ebay is this photo. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=380685602627

It shows the second unit for Serbia before their departure from Cardiff, on the steps of the Royal Hotel. This hotel is the oldest in Cardiff and still there today.

[Neilbr]

f.a.o. Rosemary Ackroyd

Dear Rosemary - after leaving this research for far too long, I've just found your reply. I am so sorry it has taken so long to pick up the thread. If you are still "tuned in" can you please let me know and I can explain off forum.

Many thanks and apologies,

Neil

Posted 13 August 2008 - 11:26 AM

Hi Neil - if you're still there after all this time! My first post.

A family connection of mine - her late husband was the niece of of Adeline Herbert Campbell. I spoke to her last night & she has been going through Adeline's family papers in the last few days. So I was curious about your interest in her.

Best wishes

Rosemary Ackroyd

[Staffsyeoman]

Not just Edith Cavell should be remembered

http://blog.b92.net/text/25930/Lest-we-forget/

Serbia remembers them with gratitude - why don't we do so, more?

[Wendy Moore]

On 09/03/2012 at 16:09, TrevorHH said:

I have been reading the correspondence regarding the Scottish Womens Hospital with interest. Have been helping a friend with research into her mother and sister who served as VADs during the war. They were:

Gladys Beryl Stuart Churchill who served with the Scottish Womens Hospital as an Orderly from May 1915 to May 1916 and later joined the WRENS in 1918

Irene Sylvia Stuart Churchill who served as a VAD in Salonika and later married Lt Brough Gurney-Randall at the GHQ Chapel Salonika in 1918.

I am looking for any further information on the service of these two ladies in WW1. I suspect that Irene may have also served with the SWH but do not know. Any info would be gratefully received

Thank you

Hi Trevor

I've come across Irene Sylvia Stuart Churchill too. When the Red Cross records refer to her working at Dr Garrett Anderson's Hospital i think this may have been Louisa Garrett Anderson's Hospital at Endell Street [rather than her mother's hospital for women]. Do you have a contact for your friend at all? There's a reference in a news cutting to a 'niece of Winston Churchill' working at Endell St and i'm wondering whether that could have been Irene.

Wendy Moore