Page 23 - QARANC Vol 14 No 9 2014

THE GAZETTE QARANC 21
English Heritage was approached some years ago by Sue Light, an ex- QA, to honour Dame Maud with a plaque at her Chelsea Home, and it is fitting that the plaque has come to fruition in the centenary year of the start of World War One. Ronald Hutton, Chair of the English Heritage Blue Plaques Panel, stated at the unveiling ‘This blue plaque honours a remarkable woman who brought immense care and medical relief to the unimaginable pain and suffering of the Western Front. I hope this modest blue roundel will serve as a reminder that amid all the death on those crimson fields, there were those who devoted themselves to preserving life’.
Unveiling the plaque, Colonel David Bates, Director of Army Nursing, said ‘It is fitting that such an inspiring and dedicated nurse should be honoured a hundred years since the First World War broke out. She helped to professionalise the service and to make it what it is today’.
I felt very proud to be a QA at the unveiling ceremony, and it was a fitting reminder that we serve in the proud tradition of QAIMNS. As modern QAs we are united with Dame Maud “Under the White Cross’, and certainly on the unveiling day, we all felt the hand of ‘Friendship’ reach across over one hundred years as we remembered all
those Army Nurses who have served and especially those who have died in the service of their country.
The Blue Plaque scheme is run by English Heritage and links well known citizens to the places in which they lived in order to honour their contributions to society. After recent uncertainties over funding the scheme, it is now supported by David Pearl, the Blue Plaques Club, and members of the public. More information on the Blue Plaque scheme and a list of the
plaques is available on the English Heritage website. (https://www. english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue- plaques/) The unveiling of the plaque was reported in the national press, both in the UK and Australia.
Photographs and paintings of Dame Maud can be seen at the Imperial War Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
Alison Spires
Major (Rtd) QARANC