Surgeons

[michaeldr]

Fevyer & Wilson's book "The 1914 Star to the Royal Navy & Royal Marines" provides a list of the 47 staff of this hospital who were awarded this medal. There are 7 surgeons listed there, including H.S. Souttar FRCS, the 'Surgeon in Chief.'

What caught my eye (says he, trying hard not to sound too much like an old MCP) is that the majority of the surgeons were women

Miss E.M.D.N. Baker

Miss A.M. Benham

Miss L. Foster

Miss D.M. Maude

Was this typical of the British hospitals in F & F?

Regards

Michael D.R.

[Sue Light]

Michael

Do these women have any initials attributed to them that might signify they are in fact surgeons e.g. M.R.C.S., or is the term 'surgeon' used in a general way to signify 'doctor' ? There definitely were female surgeons working on the Western Front - because of the lack of medical staff generally, the recruitment of women was encouraged, but of course there were not that many of them [relatively speaking] in the country, and a lot of their male colleagues were not over impressed with them being there. None of these women were part of the R.A.M.C., most of them being employed by the Red Cross hospitals, but some were definitely attached to the R.A.M.C. in the field. Some were working in independent units such as the one run solely by women at Wimereux, and of course the Scottish Women's Hospital. I have a picture in front of me of a female doctor assisting a male surgeon at No. 32 Stationary Hospital at Wimereux - Wimereux was obviously a place to avoid for all those of the MCP persuasion!

I tend to think that they must have been a formidable lot to even qualify as surgeons - still mighty difficult for a woman today - let alone working on the battlefield.

Regards - Sue

[michaeldr]

Sue,

Many thanks for your reply

It had also occurred to me that their rank 'Surgeon' may signify nothing more than the navy's habit of referring to all of its doctors as surgeons. In fact the other two (making up the complement of 7) bear the physicians honorific; Dr E.R. Hoyle & Dr C.F. Pedley, as does the hospital's 'Commandant' Dr. J. Hartnell-Beavis. Alas, apart from Mr Souttar, none has any indication of any professional qualification which they might have held at that time.

Fevyer & Wilson have produced an excellent book about the medal and those RN/RM personnel who qualified for it, however it is not a history nor does it quote from diaries etc. therefore I can give few further details. It is not even clear to me exactly where this hospital was.

As well as those already mentioned the staff included

Nursing Sister in Charge: Miss K. Parminter

Nursing Staff: Miss C. Page-Roberts

19 Nursing Sisters

6 Dressers

12 Lay Staff

One of the Lay Staff was a Belgian subject, Mme M. Sindici

One Nursing Sister, Miss M. T. Bryant, is noted as "Not entitled"

Against the name of another Nursing Sister, Miss E.M. Long, is noted "Now Mrs Beavis" suggesting a war-time romance with the hospital commandant (?)

Although none were entitled to the Clasp, one was in fact issued to Dresser Mr. J.H. Secker

while two applications for clasps were refused (Nursing Sister Mrs M. Chapman & Lay Staff Miss E.M. Dickinson)

I certainly agree with your last statement Sue. Not just the surgeons but all the medical staff must have been formidable. They have my particular thanks as my grandfather was hospitalised several times; to Malta from Gallipoli and then various places, including Wimereux, from the WF

Thanks again for your thoughts on this

Regards

Michael D.R.

[Sue Light]

While continuing a trawl of Sussex papers for local casualty reports today, I came across several references to a lecture tour in October 1915 by a Miss Kathleen Burke - 'recently returned from France', whose subject was 'Women's Field Hospitals in France and Serbia.' She stated that:

'The doctors were chiefly Scotswomen, because they had more largely taken up medical studies.....'

So the 'formidable ones' were mainly from North of the Border - is this another pointer to the origins of the phrase 'Ladies from Hell' !!

Sue

[michaeldr]

Sue,

That's an interesting thought, that most were probably Scotswomen. Perhaps it shows that the northern schools of medicine were more open to new female talent at that time and not so hide bound or prejudiced as their southern counterparts.

I am one of those half-breed mongrels born close enough to the border so that I can pick and choose my allegiances. I don't know about 'Ladies from Hell' but it could certainly give a new slant to Knox's "Monstrous Regiment of Women!"

Regards

Michael D.R.