Page 8 - QARANC Vol 17 No 1 2019

6 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Colonel (Retd) Margaret Roberts (nee Moynihan) RRC
100th Birthday Celebrations
Margaret celebrated her 100th birthday on 16 December at her care home ‘Woodlands’ in Fleet, Hampshire surrounded by family and friends. Relatives over four generations had come from as far away as Australia and many more from Ireland, and the UK. It was a wonderful occasion and Margaret was delighted to have so many family members around, helping her to celebrate this auspicious event. She proudly showed off her birthday card from HM The Queen, her letter from The President of Ireland and with floral bouquets and greeting cards from many.
Margaret was born in Duarigle near Newmarket, County Cork, Ireland on 17 December 1918, shortly after the end of WW1. The first born of a family of ten, she grew up on the family farm, and attended school at the local convent. She had always wanted to be a nurse and in 1936 she left her native shores to undergo nurse training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Rochester, Kent. Soon after qualifying she joined the QAIMNS, and so a life of adventure began for her; travelling worldwide with the QAs, she had postings in the UK, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya, and the Canal Zone. It was while she was here, she met Robbie, a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force and ex-Battle of Britain pilot, who was later to become her husband.
Margaret completed a full career and retired in 1975 in
Margaret meeting the Pope Paul V1 in 1975
the rank of Colonel, her final posting being Matron at the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot, where she was a bit of a ‘trail blazer’! She was the first Colonel QARANC to
Margaret and her family and friends at her 100th birthday party