Southam's VAD Hospital 1917 - 1919

The aim of this project was to research and highlight the almost forgotten local history of Southam’s VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) Hospital, and uncover the life histories of the fifty or more women and girls who worked at this location. The hospital was established by public meeting and subscription in October 1916, opening in April 1917. Volunteers from the town and surrounding villages cared for over 1,000 wounded soldiers during the conflict. Our Southam VAD project aroused extensive public and press interest through a four-month long exhibition titled ‘Southam Women in World War One’. Staged at Southam Heritage Collection’s premises in Spring 2015, the exhibition met with a broad range of interest amongst visitors, with medical professionals from across the region especially interested. Subsequently around twenty-five lectures were given to Warwickshire societies as well as a paper presented at Worcester University (available on our website). Overall interest and public involvement with this research was sustained throughout the First World War centenary period, aided by a rare photographic display which featured alongside a series of commemorative exhibitions focusing on Southam’s soldiers during the conflict. Our Southam Heritage website showcases individual biographies for each VAD, and our research is still ongoing.