This photograph of a Voluntary Aid Detachment was taken at least 100 years ago and my research suggests that it was taken circa 1911-1913.
This is not an ‘off the cuff’ group photo, this is a professionally arranged group of nurses all in pristine new uniforms and I consider that it has important relevance to the history of the Scottish Red Cross who were unable to offer any assistance or identify the location.
The background to my research is that in 1909 the Government launched a scheme for the organisation of Voluntary Aid in England and Wales for the British Red Cross Society to assist the Government by providing Voluntary Aid to the Territorial Medical Service to meet the needs of war. This scheme was adopted by Scotland in December 1909.
The only positive identification so far is the young officer on the Matron’s left. He was Captain James Johnstone Dykes, King’s Own Scottish Borderers who was killed in action in Gallipoli on 12th July 1915. Why he was an Infantry officer was probably his personal choice as he was a qualified Doctor and Dentist which is relevant to my query.
Regarding the Elder officer on the other side, I enlarged his image to identify his decorations and he is wearing a Neck Badge that is almost certainly a Knight Commander of the Bath. I also checked the medal ribbons on his left breast and the first one that appears black has a small image in the centre which, if this was a colour photo, would obviously appear Maroon with a small Bronze Cross in the centre indicating a Victoria Cross. I am therefore 100% sure that this is Field Marshal, Lord Roberts.
I may well be wrong but I have chosen Lanarkshire as the location for the following reasons. BRCS Archives have advised me that in the Lanarkshire Branch between 1911 and 1916 a Mrs W.A. Dykes was Vice-President at Hamilton Detachment and Mrs Lee Dykes was Vice-President of East Kilbride Detachment. Also Captain Dykes’ hometown was Westfield, Dumfries. Whether there was a family connection in unknown but they were certainly within comfortable travelling distance.
So were these two ladies responsible for the formation of a Voluntary Aid Detachment in Lanarkshire and was Captain Dykes, a qualified Doctor, responsible for the medical supervision of the training of the VAD Volunteers? More importantly, was this the first Voluntary Aid Detachment formed in Scotland and the reason for the presence of Lord Roberts whose mother incidentally was born in Edinburgh?
I am sure that there must be at least one more copy of this photo in Scotland from which a family descendent can identify any of the nurses? This would almost certainly confirm the location and the purpose of the photo.
I would be most grateful for any suggestions that may solve this problem particularly as the WWI Centenary Commemoration is on the horizon.
Tony
