VAD help needed please Options

[madg1cal]

Hi my great gran Hilda Mary Clarke was born in Portsea Hampshire but was living in London when the war started, is supposed to have served as a VAD in France in the first world war, although she is supposed to of married 3 times I can only find records for the 3rd although this does state she is a widow. I did a search on google books and her name is mention in the List of personnel compiled by the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John (6th Edition, 1917) but i also know that other hilda clarkes served I cant find any other reference to her I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction please? apparently she had burns or scars up her arms which she said were from mustard gas? she also used to wear a large badge on her uniform in later years which was a silver star like the st johns star but with a red cross in the middle about 3" across i havent been able to identify that either although i dont have a very good pic and all i am going on is the description by my mum anyone got any ideas please
confused??
madge

[royalredcross]

Can't see the reference in the BRCS Roll. There is an H.M. Clarke but she's Helen May. Have you tried asking the BRCS archives if they have any record ?

NGG

[Sue Light]

Madge

Was Clarke her maiden name, or if not, is it the name she would have served under during the war? And what year was she born (even roughly)? There is no medal index card at The National Archives for a Hilda Clarke, which makes it unlikely, but not impossible, that she served overseas during the war. And when she did get married for the third time?
As mentioned, there is a good chance that there will be some record of her service held by the British Red Cross Society, and the contact address is on this web page, but you'll need the correct surname:

British Red Cross Society personnel records

But what interests me is that you say 'on her uniform in later years' - did she train as a nurse after the war? If not, what uniform is it? I can find a Hilda Mary Clarke who trained as a nurse from 1921 to 1924 at the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital in Plymouth could this be her?
(And you thought you were asking all the questions!)

Sue

[madg1cal]

hi, thanks NGG no i havent checked the brcs yet. and Sue , Hilda was born in 1894 and is my brick wall in the family tree she was supposedly married 3 times, she had 2 children i know who she said the fathers were but cant find any proof she was married to either of them. I am pretty sure she didnt marry the first as he was married to someone else lol as to the 2nd i am unsure it is possible they married overseas as he was in the RAF. The 3rd she didnt marry until the 50's. I do know tho that even if she wasnt officially married to them she still took their names and kept them all by the 3rd marriage she had a treble barrelled name. Anyway the 1st name she adopted was SUTHERLAND my gran was born in 1913 and was registered under CLARKE altho she always thought she was a sutherland, her half brother was born in 1920 altho i can find no record of his birth? and the 2nd name she adopted was CLIFT. Hilda was known by the name SUTHERLAND-CLIFT but I am not sure what year she adopted any of the names. As for nursing training we are not sure? she worked at either a hospital or a convalescent home in Southampton after the war and some time in the early 20's moved to CORNWALL and then SOMERSET where she ran her own homes looking after old servicemen and also babies, some of whom she adopted. Oh and just to make things more complicated she also used to drop the e on the end of CLARKE seemingly whenever she felt like it! Sorry this is rather complicated!
Madge

[Sue Light]

Madge

It does look hopeful that you know she was in Cornwall in the 1920s and there was a nurse of the same name training in Plymouth in the early twenties. It looks as though the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital (now Plymouth General Hospital) has quite extensive archives at the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office and it might be worth an enquiry to them to see if they have any further information (01752 305940). And it she did train there, it was under the name Hilda Mary Clarke, which then perhaps makes it more likely that she had used that name as a VAD. Although it does beg the question what had happened to your gran and her brother in the meantime - during the war and nurse training - as nurse training with children in tow was not really an option then. And with so many complications, I'm not absolutely sure that I'd understand the answer

Sue

[madg1cal]

<br />Madge<br /><br />It does look hopeful that you know she was in Cornwall in the 1920s and there was a nurse of the same name training in Plymouth in the early twenties. It looks as though the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital (now Plymouth General Hospital) has quite extensive archives at the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office and it might be worth an enquiry to them to see if they have any further information (01752 305940). And it she did train there, it was under the name Hilda Mary Clarke, which then perhaps makes it more likely that she had used that name as a VAD. Although it does beg the question what had happened to your gran and her brother in the meantime - during the war and nurse training - as nurse training with children in tow was not really an option then. And with so many complications, I'm not absolutely sure that I'd understand the answer <img src="style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> <br /><br />Sue<br />

<br /><br /><br />
Sue, I know that my gran lived with her gran when she was little as to what happened when her brother was born I am not sure. They moved to Cornwall about 1923?ish. I believe by this time Hilda was going by Sutherland-Clift but on the other hand would you of had to show proof of your identity (birth certificate?) to train as a nurse?
Madge

[madg1cal]

I have just found this book online fully digitised don't know if you have it already but its defo worth a read
BRITAIN S CIVILIAN
VOLUNTEERS



AUTHORIZED STORY OF BRITISH VOLUNTARY

AID DETACHMENT WORK IN THE

GREAT WAR



BY

THEKLA BOWSER, F.J.I.

Serving Sister of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem




TORONTO

MCCLELLAND, GOODCHILD & STEWART, LTD.

1917
heres the link if you are interested or dont already have it
http://www.archive.org/stream/britainscivi...wsuoft_djvu.txt

[Sue Light]

would you of had to show proof of your identity (birth certificate?) to train as a nurse?

I'm sure it varied from place to place, but quite honestly who would know if you stretched the truth. Her age was itself was no problem and if the name varied all you had to do was either say you were widowed, or perhaps that you were born with one name but bought up by step-parents/foster parents and adopted another name.
Re the book - it's also been reprinted recently and is available from Naval and Military Press. It's quite an interesting account, although Thekla Bowser's view does always seem very rosy, with everyone happy and all well with the world. Unfortunately she died not that long after it was published.

Sue