Description
Object description
British civilian served with St. John's Ambulance Brigade in GB, 1914-1918; served with Voluntary Aid Detachment at No.73 General Hospital, Trouville, France, 1918-1919.
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of period in GB, 1914-1918: family background in Hertford; volunteered for St. John's Ambulance Brigade on outbreak of war, 8/1914; opinion of convalescent home at Lamer Park; moved to officers' convalescent home in Cromer, Norfolk; story about wounded officer being sent home for not wearing evening dress; description of nurses' uniform; reason for volunteering for overseas service; pay. Aspects of period at No.73 General Hospital, Trouville, France, 1918: opinion of accommodation and food; amusing story about Matron-in-Chief; attitude to work as nurse; condition of wounded on arrival; duties as nurse; story about sergeants hiding revolvers and ammunition in ward; attitude to working in eye ward; story of soldiers in convalescent ward being sent into the line during German March offensive; relations with patients; opinion of American medical staff; story about soldier dying in Bath War Memorial Hospital after the war; treatment of gas cases; use of bread poultices and Carrel-Dakin solution to treat wounds.
REEL 2 Continues: description of making bread poultice; story of being reprimanded for holding soldier's hand until he fell asleep; night duty on ward; help from patients cleaning wards; description of assisting doctor with dressings; story about convalescent soldiers in Trouville singing 'Keep the Home Fires Burning'; hospital visitors; story about boyfriend being killed in France, 1915; story of having poisoned toe amputated; off-duty activities in Trouville and Paris; story about dying soldier's concern over wounded German POW; amusing story about VAD and footman; question of not being allowed to treat wounded Germans; opinion of training for VADs; description of crossing from Portsmouth to Le Havre; problem of No. 73 General Hospital not being finished on arrival; attitude to treatment of German wounded; story of visit from brother in Royal Army Medical Corps; duties as Matron-in Chief's servant; attitude to work at hospital in Portsmouth prior to arrival in France.
REEL 3 Continues: discipline and regulations at No. 73 General Hospital; problem of shortage of bandages; description of gunshot wounds; self-inflicted wound cases; treatment of shell shock cases; opinion of soldiers in ward; attitude to being awarded £100 compensation for damage to hearing; description of phosphorescent Red Cross; opinion of padres; reflections on experiences as VAD during war.