Personal experiences of volunteer nursing during the First World War

The St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital in Étaples, northern France, was perhaps the most significant initiative of the British Order of St John during the 20th century. The hospital, which was bombed twice, contained 525 beds, caring for 35,000 patients from 1915 to 1918 and was staffed mainly by volunteers.

One of these was 31 year-old Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse Veronica Nisbet who enlisted at the Order of St John’s London HQ for duty in France in 1917. She would keep a vivid record of her years at the hospital, enlivened by her skill as an artist. Her scrapbook, with cartoons and sketches, as well as photographs, is the basis of this project that commemorates the heroic efforts to care for the wounded and the sick in a war zone.

The project will also enable the museum to provide wider access to its First World War records including war diaries and other documents. In so doing it will pay tribute to the 45,000 St John volunteers who answered the call to assist the armed services throughout the First World War.

Hannah Agass, Learning and Access Officer at the Museum, said: “Veronica’s scrapbook provides a moving insight into everyday life in a theatre of war and offers and a unique opportunity for St John Ambulance Cadets to learn more about the wartime legacy of the charity they volunteer for.”