Angels in the Line of Fire

Rosemary Chalmer presented an informative and fascinating insight into the role of women in WWI. The eestablishment of nursing as a profession began with Elizabeth Fry in the 1840s, and was contiunued by Florence Nightingale. The Welsh nurse, Betsy Cadwaldr, worked with her during the Crimean war at Scutari Hospital in Istanbul.

In 1914 the British goverment started recruiting nurses because they knew war was coming. The Queen Alexandra Imperial Nursing Service had been established in 1902 (known as the QAs) and then the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in 1909. The QAs were trained professional nurses, and the VADs were middle-class women orgainised and trained by the St Johns Ambulance and the British Red Cross. The third important nursing organisation in WWI was the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANYs). This group of women came from the well-off classes and they provided their own vehicles to be used as ambulances. Their role was to transport the wounded from the front line to medical centres for treatment. Rosemary provided many interesting details in her talk, such as that the ambulances were not allowed to use their headlights and removed the windscreens from their vehicles so they could see more clearly. She explained that there were also hospitals establised on trains and on ships. Nurses from all these organisation worked on the Western Front and the Eastern Front.

Rosemary talked about many individuals who are mostly unknown, especially mentioning some Welsh women such as Annie Brewer and Miss Tenniswood. In Cardiff the 3rd Western General Hospital was created in 1914 which included Cardiff Royal Infirmary, Mansion House, Albany Road School and Whitchurch Hospital, plus St Woolos in Newport. Other notable British buildings used as auxilliary hospitals were Brighton Pavilion and Blenheim Palace. Many nurses died during the war, either from injuries or disease. Many received medals of honour. Rosemary read a moving piece from 'The Roses of No Man's Land' by Lyn MacDonald which described the conditions under which the nurses lived and worked.