Page 36 - QARANC Vol 18 No 2 2020

34 The Gazette QARANC Association
Corps Heritage Matters
Heritage became a Zoom and on-line activity during lockdown as we were not permitted to enter Robertson House to work on the Association Heritage Collection. However, work has continued apace at home and online and with the National Archives providing access and free downloads of the Army Nurse records it holds, we have been able to research a number of nurses to add to the British Army Nurses data base, and to continue work on a proposed publication about First World War Army Nurses. We are now beginning to gain access to Robertson House on a limited basis and the Museum of Military Medicine is likely to open its doors to volunteers at some stage in the Autumn.
I have been researching the life of Queen Alexandra and have been amazed at the number of things named after her and have marvelled at the amount of charity work and patronage that she carried out. Only half a mile away from Robertson House in Camberley there is an Alexandra Avenue, sited next to an Edward Avenue! One item I have not been able to source is a Queen Alexandra Rose, so if anyone knows where I can get one, or has one growing in their
garden, I would love to hear from you.
The Heritage collection has recently acquired a very fine water colour of an Army Nurse during the Sudan War painted by
WH Truscott in 1885. It depicts Sarah Jane Ireland who was the Superintendent Sister, Army Nursing Service, in Suakin, Sudan. This was before Army Nurses wore any insignia, but on the left side of her tippet is a Maltese Cross shaped badge or medal which is likely to be the RRC awarded to her in 1885. She was also mentioned in despatches (along with other Army nurses) by Sir Gerald Graham for her excellent service and unremitting care and attention rendered to the sick and wounded of the operations on the Nile and Suakin.
Sarah came from Down in the North of Ireland, and in 1891 she married an RAMC doctor, Lieutenant Colonel Oswald Gillespie Wood. Sadly, both she and her husband died in the Boer War, Sarah in 1901 and her husband in 1902, leaving their two young sons as orphans. Her first son, Oswald Ireland Wood, was born in Jhansi, Bengal on 24 May 1892, and later joined 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment dying on
the Somme on 3 October
1915. Her second son, John Gillespie Wood was born on 7 May 1996 in Bengal, and died in London in 1948.
Our memorials and the Book of Remembrance only cover Army nurses who died from the First World War onwards. It is fitting that we also remember those Army nurses who died as a result of their service prior to this, and this painting will certainly help to fill that gap.
The painting will be sent for cleaning and conservation, and we will publish a photo of it when it returns from the conservators.
The Heritage Committee welcomes information and photographs about any Army nurse, and likewise we are always interested in learning about paintings and other objects connected with Army nursing.
Alison Spires Member Heritage Committee
News from the Museum of Military Medicine
Since the start of lockdown in mid- March 2020 the museum operation at Keogh Barracks has been on hiatus in large part, with the museum being closed to visitors and staff working from home. The museum shop remains open for online orders, and military personnel are welcome to attend in person on Mondays and Thursdays. We have had to stand the volunteers down during this period, given that most of the work they were undertaking was collections focused and they need to be present at the museum.
The lockdown has meant that the planning application on the Britannia Quay site has not yet been considered by the planning committee at Cardiff Council. It was originally due to be heard in March, but then all committee meetings were suspended. They have now resumed electronically, and we are
waiting to hear when the application will be rescheduled (most likely in late August, or mid-September). Once the planning consent is obtained, we will be able formally to launch our fundraising campaign. In the meantime, we have engaged Cardiff- based PR agency Working Word to field media enquiries and to execute a media campaign, giving a positive message on what we plan to achieve with the new facility. Concurrently, we engaged branding agency isobel, based in London, to work on our proposition. This work is timely, since we received an approach from CAMUS (The Corps of Army Music) at the end of 2019 regarding the future of the Museum of Army Music. There are ongoing discussions about their joining our project in Cardiff.
We have had interest in the project from potential investors, which we are currently exploring, and
work continues with Swansea and Cardiff Universities on joint projects, while a formal Memorandum of Understanding has been agreed between ourselves and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board about veterans’ health and wellbeing provision. Clearly there is much work still to undertake, but the groundwork has continued over the spring and summer while much else is in abeyance.
Jason Semmens Director
Editor’s note: An interesting article on the proposed museum appeared in the BMJ earlier this year. Do take a look if you have the opportunity. https://militaryhealth.bmj.com/ content/jramc/early/2020/03/05/ jramc-2019-001305.full.pdf?ijkey= 10QEvPJzhgPr47E&keytype=ref