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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: Lizalex on Saturday 12 July 14 17:48 BST (UK)
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My grandmother, Agnes Allan, was one of Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps and was sent to France. I have some photographs of her in uniform and her medal record, but have found it very difficult to find out much more about the corps because the records were destroyed. Can anyone recommend any publications or sources which might help? Is there even a place where anyone has a collection of old photographs, or even a memorial to them? The more I search, the more I feel that these women were some of the forgotten heroines of WW1.
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The Imperial War Museum has a factsheet on line and suggests that research among their collections may be fruitful. The factsheet says that many of the surviving records were transferred to the National Army Museum. The National Archives website suggests that at least medal cards and some personnel records are available. Looks like an interesting line of research: best of luck.
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I have found the national archives in Kew very helpful on WW1 Nurse information and some war records are available if you know your relations date of birth. if you know the hospital she worked or trained in it may be possible to access their records in a records office near to that hospital - eg nurses record books etc - very interesting.
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Many thanks for replies, GillyJ and Graham. I have been to Kew, where I found her medal record, but they had nothing else. I will try the Imperial War Museum, though. I know that she was one of the few who were on the Western Front, but there is not much information available anywhere.
Liz
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I recommend getting in touch with Sue Light - she seems to have more on WW1 nurses than any archive! Post a query on the Great War Forum (http://"http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showforum=113") and she will almost certainly respond.
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Thanks for that, Newberrychap. I'll get onto it right away. :)
L
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Check out Sue's website - there is lots of fabulous information there.
http://www.scarletfinders.co.uk/
She's on twitter too...how modern :)
https://twitter.com/Scarletfinders
Milly
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Thanks, Milly. I found her on The Western Front Association and have left a message, but her website looks fantastic.
Much appreciated all.
L
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Members of the women's army - Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and later Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps were not nurses, nor did they work directly in hospitals. They were employed in army camps to take over jobs previously done by men, to release them for military service, so clerks, orderlies, storewomen, drivers, waitresses, telephonists, cooks - anything that needed doing.
Most of their service records were later destroyed, and only a small percentage (about 10%) have survived. Those are at The National Archives in Class WO398 and can be searched online and downloaded for a fee if you're lucky enough to find who you're looking for:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/womens-army-auxiliary-corps.htm
In addition, quite a few members were later transferred to the Women's Royal Air Force, and there is also a run of records for them in class AIR80, though the information in those is quite brief:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/airwomen-ww1.htm
Other than that, there are no service records and little chance of finding official mention of the women. However, the Imperial War Museum have an extensive and fully-searchable range of documents relating to the WAAC/QMAAC within its 'Women's Work Collection.' It's held online at the IWM, and can be accessed via their computer terminals there. Not sure now it's been re-hashed if things are the same, but before the closure you could just walk in any time and find a spare computer on the first floor and sit there for as long as you like. The documents are mainly organisational and administrative records, but some are very informative and interesting to help get some idea of what life was like in France. It's also worth checking out the photographic collection which can be accessed online - just be inventive with the keywords you use for a search and you'll find a fascinating collection of images.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search
If you put something like 'WAAC' in the box, and when you get the results up use the filters on the left - e.g. click on 'subject period' and then 'First World War' etc.
Sue
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Hello Sue,
Sorry not to have got back to you sooner - I've been out of Wi-Fi reach. Many thanks for your information on QMAAC. You have actually confirmed much of what I already suspected. I did not think that my grandmother had been a nurse, but there is so little information available on them that I thought it was worth trying here. I think I already have all the information that Kew can give me - I went up and asked them to help me and they were superb, so have her medal record and demob record, but no more. However, I do know that she was injured while in the trenches and have managed to source a book about QMAAC through the library service. However, the only available copy is in Trinity College library, so am waiting my turn to borrow and read about it. I am hoping to be able to find out a bit more about their general movements in order to begin digging further.
I am so grateful for your reply. I think I said before - QMAAC are unsung heroines of WW!.
Lizz