Page 64 - The Gazette Autumn 2024

64 The Gazette QARANC Association
OBITUARY
Carolyn loved nursing and was proud
of her Welsh heritage
Carolyn Jane Smith (nee Evans) supported the West Country branch as a long time Vice Chair and committee member and regular attender at Branch events.
Carolyn Jane Smith (nee Evans) was born in Dudley on 15 June 1944 to an English mother and Welsh father. An only child, the apple of her father’s eye, Carolyn identified with her Welshness and was very much a lifelong Welshee.
The family lived initially in Cheltenham and later in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol. Carolyn started school in Bristol and later, at age 14 she went to boarding school in Sherborne, Dorset. Significantly it was at age 14 that Carolyn set her heart on becoming a nurse. Her parents were reluctant so at 16 Carolyn left school, lived with a family in Paris for six months and then returned to attend a secretarial course in Oxford.
She eventually won over her parents, with her father’s stipulation that she attend London’s finest teaching hospital, The Middlesex. This she duly did and undertook her nurse training February 1963 – 1966. On completion of her general training Carolyn remained in London, completed CMB Part 1 in 1968 and worked at Guy’s Hospital before moving to start a post as a School Nurse in Leatherhead, Surrey.
Along the way she was drawn to military nursing, possibly the discipline and high standards, and was commissioned into the QARANC in April 1970. Her family recall stories of Carolyn telling of how her officer group laughed their way through ‘square bashing’ as they were taught to march by a bemused Sergeant Major.
Carolyn served from 1970-1974 and achieved a lot during this time. Her first posting was the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich, where she recalled nursing soldiers injured in Northern Ireland. On promotion to Captain, she was posted to BMH Munster as a Paediatric Ward Sister, and really enjoyed Army life.
In 1973 Carolyn returned to UK and undertook the Neurological Nursing Certificate at Southampton. The only military nurse on the course she came first. Another significant event took place in 1973, Carloyn met her husband, Tony. They were engaged at six months and married in September 1974. In accordance with the rules of the time, Carolyn resigned her commission on her wedding day, reluctantly.
Nursing continued to be Carolyn’s passion and she worked in the NHS, as a senior nurse in Basildon, managing most departments at the same time! She continued to work whilst raising a family of three children and was hugely proud of all three and their achievements.
When the children were grown and flown Carolyn and Tony relocated to Chepstow, Wales, the Welshee rising to the fore. They loved being in Chepstow
Along the way she was drawn to military nursing, possibly the discipline and high standards.
and became active in the Rotary Club and Carolyn supported Tony in his work with SSAFA, IMB and the Army Benevolent Fund. Throughout Carolyn maintained her links with her nursing background, regularly attending Middlesex reunions and attending QARANC Association functions.
In 2013, Carolyn was diagnosed with cancer. Following treatment, she and Tony moved back to Bristol to live in the same area that Carolyn’s parents had retired to in the early 1990s. There they made many lovely friends, enjoyed many social activities, and volunteered with St Peter ’s Hospice; Tony continues as a volunteer there today.
In May of this year, following an afternoon of fun with friends in Chepstow Carolyn slipped on wet ground and fractured her femur. Following surgery, she had every intention of getting back on her feet