Page 10 - QARANC Vol 14 No 12 2016

8 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Corps Heritage Matters
The work of the QARANC Association Heritage Sub- Committee continues to gather momentum, and we are beginning the task of enhancing our knowledge of Corps history for future generations to learn about and benefit from. I would particularly like to thank the Association members who sent in photographs of Commonwealth War Graves of British Army nurses. Col Sheena Davies, sent photographs of the grave in Jerusalem War Cemetery of Sister Charlotte Berrie, QAIMNS, who died aged 32 on 8 January 1919. Col Sheena visited the cemetery when she was in Jerusalem in September 2015, and laid a posy of flowers and a cross on Sister Berrie’s grave. Lt Col (Rtd) Olivia Neely TD visited Calcutta (Bhowanipore) Cemetery, Kolkata, while on a recent trip to India and sent photographs of two graves, that of Sister Mary Morgan, QAIMNS, who died on 13 June 1944, and of Sister Margery Woodhead, QAIMNS, who died on 17 May 1942. The photographs have been uploaded to the website together with some supporting information. Please take a look.
The success of the artworks and memorials project will in part be dependent on Association members, so please do find the time to take a look at any churches or art galleries and museums in your local area to see if there are any memorials, windows or Army nurse related artworks. Col David Vassallo, L/RAMC, kindly altered me to a stained glass window in memory of a QA in the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady Queen of Heaven (111, Portsmouth Road, Frimley, GU16 7AA; Tel: 01276 504876). This church is on the opposite side of the road from Frimley Park Hospital, near Frimley centre, and although I have worked at Frimley Park and been a patient there, I had no idea this memorial window was there, so it was a pleasant surprise to learn of its existence. Col David also alerted me to the QA pew-end plaques in the Royal Memorial Chapel and in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Christ the King at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The plaques in the Royal Memorial Chapel are of carved wood to match the hundreds of regimental plaques that adorn the pew ends. The plaque that can be found in the Chapel of Christ the King is of beautiful engraved glass and complements the many others, including that of the RAMC, in the chapel. Because RMA Sandhurst is ‘behind the wire’, so to speak, it is not easy to get to see them if you do
not have military ID, so if you wish to visit please contact the RMA Chaplaincy to make arrangements. However, both chapels are open during the RMA Annual Heritage Day, which will be held on 19 June 2016. I will be there, singing with Sandhurst Military Wives Choir, so do come and listen, and say hello! I fully intend to see the stained glass window in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church the next time I am at Frimley Park. My thanks to Col David Vassallo for his permission to publish the photographs.
The committee continues to try and place Army Nursing history firmly on the UK’s nursing history map, and to this end, we will be starting on our oral history project in the next few months. The Association Trustees very kindly agreed to the purchase of two voice recorders to support this project, and this will certainly go a long way of helping us achieve our aim of creating an oral history archive. Please do let us know, through RHQ, of any retired QAs who would be willing to give us a few hours of their time to record their Army nursing experiences. We will treat all information sensitively, and will work to a defined protocol, where consent is freely given to the recording and can be withdrawn at any time.
The annual research colloquium of the United Kingdom Association for the History of Nursing will be held on July 11 in the Rawlinson Hall, Robertson House, Camberley. The colloquium provides the opportunity for those researching nursing history to present their completed work or work in progress to an audience of like-minded people. The theme for the colloquium this year is ‘Nursing in Times of Conflict’. If you are interested in presenting a paper, or attending, please contact Lt Col (Rtd) Keiron Spires: keiron@britisharmynurses. com for more information.
Finally the committee would like to record its thanks to the outgoing Director of Army Nursing, Col David Bates, ARRC, L/QARANC. Without his initial and on-going support and his enthusiasm for our Corps history, the Heritage Committee would not have come to fruition. We wish Col David good luck in whatever he chooses to do in his retirement from the Corps, and we sincerely hope he will continue with his historical interests and continue to support the Heritage Committee in its work.
Please visit our website: www.britisharmynurses.com. The site is updated regularly as more information becomes available. For more details of British Army nurses buried or commemorated in Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemeteries please visit: www.cwgc.org You can search for a named individual or a cemetery.
Major (Retd) Alison Spires TD
QARANC Association Heritage Committee
Stained glass window in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church, Frimley in memory of Mary Alice Harris QAIMNS and QARANC TA. Photograph courtesy of Col David Vassallo L/RAMC and used with his permission.