I have been researching nurses who were awarded the Territorial Force Nursing Service medal. As there are over 200 nurses who were awarded the TFNS medal, I decided to concentrate on those with unusual names (easier to research!) and/or have an interesting story within their records. Gertrude proved to have such a story.
There
is a lot of online information on the service, which came into effect
following the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907 and I have
added some useful links below.
Gertrude fulfilled the qualifications to join the TFNS - she had over three
years' nursing experience at a recognised hospital and was over the age
of 23.She was called up in August 1914. Part of the contract that she
signed confirmed that she would be willing to go overseas if necessary.
Born in 1875 in Middlesex to Stephen and Maria Eeles who will feature later, Gertrude had several siblings. The 1901 census shows that Gertrude, by the age of 26, had decided to become a nurse. She was training while working at the Poplar and Stepney Asylum and by 1904 she was a registered nurse.
Poplar and Stepney Asylum 1905
Gertrude had enrolled in the TFNS in 1909 and as the terms of her engagement were that she would serve her country in the event of war, she was called up in August 1914. She initially served in a military hospital in Portsmouth but on 30 October she arrived at the military hospital in Salonika.
Between 1915 and 1918, British troops were part of a multinational
Allied force fighting against the Bulgarians and their allies in the
Balkans. Although disease and the harsh conditions took a heavy toll,
they eventually brought the campaign to a successful conclusion.
LInks for more information on the campaign are below.
Hospital ward, Salonika.
I have found entries in Gertrude's records that state that she was suffering from "shell shock" due to her experiences in the bombing of the hospital where she worked in Salonika, in March 1917.
Gertude's record showing her to be suffering from "shell shock".
This is the first time I have seen the condition of "shell shock" attributed to the experience of a nurse in the War. It is especially interesting to see it noted officially by a medical board within Gertrude's notes.
I have found a contemporaneous account of the same raid from a a VAD nurse. It is really interesting because a lot of the account
tallies with Gertrude's exprience.
In March 1917, Nurse G., a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, was on duty at 29 General Hospital in Salonika, Greece, when the hospital sustained its second air raid in a week. According to the matron of the hospital, “in the next tent to where she was on duty a bomb was dropped, completely wrecking the tent and causing several casualties.” The tent in which Nurse G. was working “was perforated … all over.” Upon her return to her home outside of Dublin in 1919, Nurse G. reported to her doctor that she was suffering from “nervousness, waking with a start” and ongoing tremors, conditions that rendered her incapable of working.
Damage in the ward of a British Red Cross Hospital caused by air raid
carried out by 1st German Air Squadron Salonika, 4th March, 1917. Three
people were killed. IWM
Gertrude was given three months' sick leave and repatriated to England where she was able to stay at a nurse's hostel to enable her to recuperate. Correspondence on her records seem to show that the authorities took great care of the nurses who were in some way damaged either physically or mentally during their service.
Nurses were not expected to pay for their accommodation
After three months she was deemed no longer fit for overseas service. She was sent to the 5th Southern General Hospital in Portsmouth to resume her nursing duties where she worked until being discharged on compassionate grounds in 1919. The grounds for her discharge were that the war office had received a letter from Gertrude's father stating that beause the eldest daughter who had been looking after them had married, they needed Gertrude to take her place. Hence she left the service at the beginning of 1919. She had been in the TFNS for 10 years. I find the letter from her father describing his situation very touching but it also demonstrates the sense of duty; so many unmarried women were expected to step in and look after family members. Gertrude had spent 10 years serving her country and in 1920 stepped in to look after her parents.
Gertrude's father's letter asking that his daughter be
discharged from the TFNS
There is a letter from Gertrude in her file in which she also asks to be released from the TFNS because of family responsibilities. I was pleased to note that she has been offered a job with the London County Council which will enable her to work from 9am to 4.30 pm and to be able to live with, and care for, her aged parents.
Gertrude's letter advising of her new post with the LCC
I don't know how long Gertude lived with her parents but by 1939 she is
living with her brother and sister in Guildford. Ever proud of her
profession, she notes under "occupation" that she is a "professional
nurse: retired"
I have found Gertrude's service records interesting in many ways. It is the first time I have seen a nurse with an acknowledged diagnosis of "shellshock" . There are many official letters on her file and they seem to show genuine concern for Gertrude's health. The authorities acknowledge her parents' situation and also allow her to take up a post which I hope she found fulfilling.
Gertrude perfectly demonstrates the sense of duty of women in the early years of the 20c when they not only served their country, but in so many cases took on the caring responsibilities for their parents. This, of course, remained for the rest of the century (and especially in 1939 when the country called upon them once again) and indeed often still remains.
Thank you for your service Gertrude - one of 1000s of unremembered women who served their country. She certainly deserved her medal!
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/the-salonika-campaign/
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/salonika-campaign
https://salonikacampaignsociety.org.uk/2017/03/04/march-1917-air-raid/
https://nursingclio.org/2017/12/07/listening-to-women-accessing-womens-pain-from-first-world-war-pension-records/
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