The Spike Heritage Centre in Guildford :Reblog

 

I was pleased to be asked to blog about my favourite museum for Mainly Museums.

Please follow the link to read more.

https://mainlymuseums.com/post/896/the-spike-museum/

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.

Remembering Australian soldiers in World War One

Vernon Ware AIF on the right

I first wrote this blog early in 2014 when people began to look back 100 years to the stories of ordinary soldiers who fought, were injured or died in World War One.  Four years later I have added new pictures to the account.

The only member of my family, whom I know died during the first world war, was my great uncle, Sergeant Vernon Ware, who having fought in the Boer War, then went to live in Australia. As soon as war was declared in 1914 he joined the First Australian Light Horse as a Sergeant and his army number was 2.  He landed at Gallipoli and was later given the task of taking a prisoner to Egypt.  Once in Egypt he contracted Enteric fever and died in the military hospital age 36 on 3rd April 1916. He is commemorated at Cairo War Memorial cemetery.  His medals were sent to my grandfather in England as he was next of kin. Below you can see the Princess Mary tin he was sent for Christmas 1914 and the medals sent posthumously to his brother, my grandfather.

For this reason I am particularly interested in the Australian soldiers who travelled all the way to Europe to fight alongside British and Canadian soldiers.  While researching for the St Luke's Hospital Heritage Project in Guildford I discovered a little more about 3 Australian soldiers who were treated at Guildford War Hospital in 1916 and 1917.

Private William Windress of the Australian Imperial Force was admitted to Guildford War Hospital on December 29^th 1916, suffering from trench fever.  He had been evacuated from service in the Somme via the hospital ship HMS Warilda.  While recovering in Guildford he met Hannah Sepple, whose husband, Private Albert Henry Sepple of the 2^nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, had died of wounds in October 1915.  Private Sepple had spent the first months of 1915 in the trenches south of Armentieres. It is not known when Albert was wounded, but he died in Norfolk War Hospital.  He is remembered on the Charlotteville War Memorial in Addison Road, Guildford.  

William Windress had been born in Guisbrough, Yorkshire in 1876, the eldest son of Daniel Windross or Winders, a miner.  In 1879, Daniel and his wife Elizabeth took their sons William aged 4 and John 1, to live in Queensland, Australia, where their other 8 children were born. 

On 13^th September 1915, William enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces. According to military records, he was 39 years 9 months, 5 foot 3 and a half inches high and weighed 135 pounds. He was of dark complexion with blue eyes and dark brown hair. His right leg was slightly short and there was a scar on it.  He was attached to the 9th Battalion AIF (Queensland) [3rd Infantry Brigade]. William was a member of the 13th Reinforcements which departed from Brisbane, Queensland on the "Kyarra" on 3 January 1916 and disembarked in Alexandria, Egypt transferring to another vessel before disembarking in Marseilles, France.

Hannah Sepple had been born Hannah Louisa Roden at Mersham Hall, Mold in Wales in 1875, where her father was a coachman.  She became a maidservant and by 1911 Hannah was working as a parlour maid to a family living in Semaphore House on Pewley Hill, Guildford, while her 2 year old son lived as a nurse child in Bedford Road, Guildford with Annie Jones, the wife of George Jones, a driver of a scavenger van for the borough council.

William Windress & Hannah

On his recovery, William Windress was detached to the Australian Army Medical Corps at the Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, Kent.  But he returned to Guildford to marry Hannah at Holy Trinity Church on 28^th May 1917.  Their son Daniel William Windress was born at their home, Sexton Villas, 8 Suffolk Road, Dartford on August 28^th 1918.  Finally, on July 12^th 1919, William and Hannah embarked on the, “Indarra,” accompanied by both of Hannah’s sons, arriving in Australia on September 9^th. 

The family settled in Queensland and lived happily there until Hannah passed away at the age of 71 on the 12^th November 1946, being buried at North Rockhampton Cemetery, Queensland. William Windress survived Hannah by a little over 3 years, dying on the 8th January 1950, aged 74 at 'Eventide' Nursing Home, Sandgate North,Queensland and he was buried at Lutwyche Cemetery, Chemside, Queensland.

Private Francis Arthur Boyle of Queensland Australia was not so lucky.  He enlisted with the 17th Battalion on the 18^th January 1916 and embarked from Sydney on HMAT Ceramic on April 13^th.  He fought in Belgium and France in the same year but sadly on November 9th he was severely wounded by a bullet to the left hand side of his forehead.  By the time he reached Guildford War Hospital on December 4^th he was dangerously ill. Sadly, he died of his injuries on Sunday 31^st December 1916 and was buried at Stoughton Cemetery four days later. The sister in charge of the ward where Boyle lay was Linda Bell, and this is what she said of his last days:

” He was unconscious for days before his death and died quite peacefully, his sister-in-law present. He was buried with full military honours in the Stoughton Cemetery, his sister-in-law attended. As I hope to leave for Australia and come from the same town as the late Pte Boyle, I intend to call and see his people…”

Her letter shows the compassion shown by the nursing staff at the hospital.

Robert Gay, a miner from Boulder in Western Australia registered at Kalgoorlie before formally enlisting at Black Boy Hill Training Camp, Gooseberry Hill, on 21^st February 1916, aged 18. He trained with the third reinforcement of the 51^st Infantry Battalion but was transferred to the 44^th Battalion with whom he was sent to France in November 1916.

After six months frontline service, on 9^th June 1917 he suffered a, “gunshot wound and fracture to the right foot,” at the Battle of Messines.  Here, despite appalling conditions, the 44^th and 48^th Battalions successfully recaptured and held southern positions lost to the Germans on the battle’s first day.   The 44^th Battalion casualties were severe; nearly half of the 700 engaged, including Bob, were killed or wounded. He was taken to Guildford War Hospital where he was promoted to Lance Corporal.

Pool of Peace at Messines

After a full recovery he rejoined his depleted Battalion in Belgium on 27^th October 1917. In his absence the 44^th had suffered more casualties in operations around Ypres. They fought in Belgium rotating in and out of the frontline until the last great German offensive in March 1918. His Battalion was rushed south to France to help stem the German drive towards the vital railway junction of Amiens.

Robert then participated in the Allied offensive that signalled the end of the War. This involved heavy fighting in the advance towards Peronne and the successful assault on the formidable Hindenburg Line starting on 29^th September 1918. The exhausted and depleted Battalion, normally 1028 men, could only muster 220 for this assault. It was the Battalion’s last action of the War. Bob was killed on the first day in a desperate action trying to force their way into the Line near the village of Bony. When relieved on 2^nd October 1918 only 80 men marched out. Sadly Bob wasn't one of them.  He is buried at Bellicourt British Cemetery in Picardie.

Sources

www.museum.wa.gov.au

 www.awm.gov.au

www.ancestry.co.uk