Page 48 - QARANC Vol 18 No 1 2020

46 The Gazette QARANC Association
Obituaries
Promoted to Captain in 1971, she was posted to CMH Aldershot. Her work was highly demanding and her involvement in tending the victims of the Guildford pub bombings in 1974 had a profound effect on her.
Sandy left the Army in 1976, first returning to Glasgow and then to the Middlesex Hospital in London. In 1981 she married Patrick Le Pla, a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. They were married for 15 years, initially living in a flat overlooking Hyde Park in London. When Pat was posted to Scotland, they returned to live in Kirkintilloch in a cottage on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal and when he retired from the Royal Navy a few years later, they set up a floating restaurant on a canal boat. The Lady Margaret sailed for a number of years
and the skills Sandy had picked up from a Cordon Bleu cookery course in London were put to good use.
After the boat was sold, Sandy returned to nursing at Monklands Hospital in Lanarkshire and then to Forth Valley Hospital in Falkirk where she was the Senior Night Officer until her retiral in 1995.
She had a number of interests which continued to keep her busy and included the Forth and Clyde Canal Society, of which she was a leading light. Another interest was politics: a long term member of the Scottish Conservative Party she was asked to stand as a local councillor in 1999. She was reluctant to take the role on, to the point that she voted Liberal Democrat in that election and was relieved when she not elected.
Sandy had a strong sense of duty and a desire to care for people. Hugely entertaining, she loved to tell anecdotes and stories, particularly of her Army days, and relished good food, drink and company. In fact, during the eulogy, it was mentioned by her nephew that some of her last words were ‘gin and tonic’. She died after a short illness, spending her last few weeks in St Andrew’s Hospice in Airdrie. She is survived by eight cousins.
Her funeral was at Daldowie Crematorium on 30 August 2019 and was well attended by family, friends and members of the Scottish Branch of the QA Association.
This obituary is an excerpt taken from the full article published in The Herald (Glasgow) on 16 September 2019.
Joyce as a young QA officer
own pace, Joyce was affectionately known as ‘The Captain’. She had been used to giving orders!
Rosy Hubbard Branch Secretary
War began. Mary would tell how a high explosive bomb penetrated the nurses’ home on 11 October 1940. 112 nurses were in the basement shelters, but nobody was hurt. However, none of the rooms could be used and the nurses had to sleep elsewhere.
Joyce Elizabeth Smith 1 May 1939 – 1 January 2020
The daughter of a pharmacist, Joyce was born at in Maesteg, South Wales, on 1 May 1939, the eldest of three sisters with whom she had a very loving relationship.
She moved to Kent at the age of 11 and attended Ashford Welsh Girls School. Joyce had wanted to be a nurse from an early age and was described by her younger sister as ‘the gentle one, who was born to be a nurse.
On leaving school Joyce returned to Cardiff, where she undertook her orthopaedic nurse training, subsequently followed by her general nurse and midwifery training.
In 1965 Joyce joined the QARANC as a Captain, where she had postings to Germany and Cyprus.
The QA years were Joyce’s adventure years; she learnt to alpine ski, water- ski, and travelled widely in the Middle East. She also learnt to enjoy the finer things in life - the Harrods Christmas crackers and fine champagne at Christmas time.
When Joyce left the QARANC she worked at the Royal London Hospital for many years, tutoring nurses and even writing a text book with a colleague, before retiring in the late 1990s. She then returned to Maesteg to be near her family. Her travel continued as she toured parts of Australia whilst visiting family. Joyce also enjoyed the outdoor life and joined the Ramblers Society.
She had a great fondness for dogs.
Described by her family as ‘an eccentric character who lived life at her
Mary Stevens (née Cronshaw) 26 April 1919 – 27 October 2019
Mary was born in Failsworth, near Manchester, the youngest daughter in a family of seven, to Sam and Charlotte Cronshaw. All the children attended St John’s Primary School, where their parents taught and their father was the headmaster. Later,
Mary attended Chadderton Grammar School, prior to commencing her nursing training at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) from 1938 – 1941, becoming a State Registered Nurse on 28 November 1941.
During this time, the second World