Dying of flu – Another tragic consequence of World War One

The flu pandemic of 1918, which killed more people than the First World War, was wrongly named Spanish Flu.  Research by a team from St Bartholomew's Hospital and the Royal London Hospital suggested the troops and hospital camp at Etaples were the centre of the virus.  Records revealed last year suggest that influenza may have arrived with the 96 000 Chinese labourers who were brought in to work behind the lines on the Western Front.  But it was the movement of troops travelling home at the end of World War One which ensured its spread around the world.

Many of the victims were women, particularly those who were nurses. These were three of them.

In the War Plot of Old Stoke cemetery in Guildford can be found the grave of 29 year old Staff nurse Elizabeth Annie Challinor, who after training at Manchester Royal Infirmary, had joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service.  She was sent to work at the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot where in 1918 she contracted influenza which lead to pneumonia and death.  Her father, a widower, had moved down to Guildford from their home in Lancashire and so he arranged for to be buried in the town rather than at Aldershot.  The will she had written when joining the service left everything to her sister Edith.  This amounted to three pounds nine shillings and sixpence after her board and washing had been deducted.  No funds were provided for her funeral as she was considered to be a civilian dying at home.

In the same month, also at the Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot, two young VAD nurses died.  Dorothy Jeanette Squire had been born in Bedfordshire in 1888, the daughter of a farmer.  By 1911 she was living in Ramsgate, Kent with her widowed mother.  Her fellow VAD Muriel Edith Elizabeth Forde Tichbo(u)rne came from Ireland where she was born in 1893.  Muriel's father was a Canon in the Church of Ireland and after she died, he arranged for a memorial stained glass window to be erected in the church of St Marks in Armagh.  Both Muriel and Dorothy were buried in the military cemetery in Aldershot.

Sources
www.redcross.org.uk

Commonwealth War Graves

www.Ancestry.co.uk

Matron of a War Hospital. Agnes Withers 1875-1952

When Guildford War Hospital was established in the Workhouse at Warren Road, Guildford in 1916, its first Matron was Agnes Harriett Withers.  Miss Withers who was 40 at this time, had been born in Somerset, the daughter of a dairyman, and trained as a nurse at the General Infirmary and Gloucester Eye Institute.  On completing her training she continued to work in Gloucester as a Staff Nurse before moving to Brighton Hospital for Women as a Sister Midwife from 1901 until 1904.  After a year in charge of a private medical and surgical Home in Ipswich, Agnes was interviewed to join Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service.  She was recommended for a position at Louise Margaret Hospital in Aldershot and a year later she moved to the Military Family Hospital in Curragh.  In 1911 her breadth of experience was rewarded by appointment as matron at Shorncliffe Military Families Hospital in Folkestone.

Towards the end of 1913, the QAIMNS Reserve was prepared, ready for the event of war.  Agnes Withers was one of only 300 trained nurses in the Reserve, although by 1919 it was made up of 10,404 fully trained staff.  In September 1914, Miss Withers was told to prepare herself for travel to Malta but this was cancelled and she remained at Shorncliffe Hospital until her appointment as matron in Guildford on June 10^th 1916.  Agnes worked at Guildford war Hospital for 13 months before being posted to Salonika via France on July 26^th 1917.  Her duties establishing the Military Hospital at Guildford were recognised by the Royal Red Cross Second Class awarded to her by the King in April 1917 and she retained a link with Guildford, having her post sent to the Williamson sisters who lived in Epsom Road, Guildford.

Agnes continued as Matron in Salonika until the end of the war, receiving the Greek medal for Military Merit before being posted to Malta as Sister-in-Charge.  When she left Salonika in 1919 she was given a glowing report by Lieut-Col. Gates, the Officer in Charge.  He said that Miss Withers was, “of even and cheerful disposition and displayed great energy and zeal for the welfare and nursing of the sick and wounded.  Her tact and high standard of conduct have made her respected and liked by the whole staff of the hospital.”  He added that she was, “A good organiser and manager who obtains the best work from her staff with the minimum of friction.  Her determination and personality make her thoroughly capable of managing a large staff.”

In 1922 Agnes was finally allowed to return to England for a long leave which she spent with the Williamson sisters in Guildford before starting work at Chatham Military Families Hospital.  She was probably relieved to return to Louise Margaret Hospital in Aldershot in 1924, where she worked until her retirement in 1926.  She obviously continued to enjoy travelling as during her retirement Miss Withers can be found on the passenger list of ships to Gibraltar and Port Said and she also visited Switzerland.  Her residence from 1922 until at least 1945 was in Guildford and when she died in 1952 her funeral service was at Woking Crematorium.