Following my blog about the the three
albums of Women’s Legion Motor Drivers’ experiences
during and directly after World War One that belonged to Muriel English,
I am continuing my research into the lives of some of the women who are named in
the photos. Those that are mentioned are usually only surnames or occasionally what appears to be nicknames.
I noticed that one surname was mentioned twice but had a different initial for the first name and I discovered they were sisters who enlisted jointly on the same day! I have discovered several brothers who enlisted together but never sisters so I was intrigued to discover more about them. This is the story of the McClelland sisters.
Alice Edith (b1892) and Florence Ethel McClelland (b1889) were born in Dublin. Their father William was headmaster of the Grammar School in Clonmel Tipperary. In 1910 he reported that the school had grown to have 13 boarders and 13 day boys. His daughters are with him in the 1911 census.
Clonmel Grammar School
© Tipperary Studies
I found the red cross records for both girls.
You can see from the reverse of the cards (not pictured) that they enlisted together and also spent two years together in France, before Florence left to serve in Italy.
I was very lucky to find a photograph that stated "A McClelland" underneath it.It was Alice! This was confirmed by the Red Cross card that stated her role was "chauffeuse"
This photo is of Alice and possibly her sister Florence
Alice's card stated she was " A very nice girl. A very good driver, and capable worker"and that she was a Section Leader and Qualified driver of 26th M.A.C..(Motor Ambulance Convoy) Alice served from November 1915 until August 1919 - the last period of time was spent in Italy. Her role in Italy was of Assistant Head Driver (Ambulance).
"F McClelland"
From October 1915 to June 1916, Florence was a quartermaster. However from 1916 until 1919 she was listed as an ambulance driver in France (rising to Second in Command on the Trouville Convoy). Her red cross record states that she was mentioned in dispatches in 1919 but so far I haven't found the official confirmation.
" Lining up for convoy"
After the War the sisters lived together - the 1939 register states that they are drivers in the WRVS so they continued their service to their country in time of war. They also spent some time in Kenya as I have found their names on an outbound ship in 1960. Florence lived into her mid 90s, dying in 1986. I have not found Alice's date of death.
It was very interesting to find two sisters who enlisted together, served for many years in the Red Cross together and lived together for many years after the War. For much of their time abroad in the Red Cross they did not draw any wages and they continued their dedication to their country right through WW2. I am very pleased to have been able to find out their story from a couple of photographs in a wonderful, digitised photo album.
(For information on the photograph album see my earlier posts).
There is a link giving more information about the MAC below,
Ancestry.co.uk
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/definitions-of-units/the-motor-ambulance-convoy/
Red Cross archives
