XIII
MRS. FURSE, G.B.E., R.R.C., LADY PERROTT, R.R.C., AND THE VOLUNTARY AID DETACHMENT
Throughoutthe war the services of the Joint Societies of the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John have covered a vast area of work for the sick and wounded.
One of the most vital branches of the work has been that of the great army of untrained or part-trained women, who have been supplementing the limited number of trained nurses in the hospitals at home and abroad. Sir Alfred Keogh, the Director General of the Army Medical Service, has explained the scope of their work when describing the organisation of the Territorial Army nursing system. He says: “It was necessary to arrange for the dilution of the nursing services by women who had received some special training, though of elementary character, to afford assistance to the more highly trained nurses. This had been foreseen, for at the time of the formation of the Territorial Army, the training of the civil population to this extent was taken in hand, and voluntary detachments of women in possession of elementary certificates, but receiving continuous training, were formed in the country.Thus at the outbreak of war there were some 60,000 women in England who had received this training.”
For a long period of years the St. John Ambulance Association, under the ancient order of St. John of Jerusalem, had already controlled a large organisation of ambulance and nursing divisions, and may claim to have originated the teaching of first aid, which has now become the basis of all Voluntary Aid Detachment training. When the scheme was started, detachments were formed throughout the country, in answer to Queen Alexandra’s appeal, by the British Red Cross Society, the great new organisation inaugurated by King Edward VII. in July, 1905, and also by the Order of St. John. Many of the old-established St. John Nursing Divisions enrolled at once as Voluntary Aid Detachments, their composition being similar. Shortly after the outbreak of war, the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John decided to amalgamate their organisation and finances for the period of the war.
The administration of the Voluntary Aid Detachments throughout the country is largely local. Each county has its own system under the central offices in London, and the work of the women, from the county presidents to the humblest workers, has been one of the proudest records of the war. Some Voluntary Aid Detachments have been mobilised in their entirety for service in the auxiliary military hospitals, many of which have been almost entirely staffed and financed by individual detachments. Others are posting their members separately for hospital work elsewhere.
The work of theV.A.D.members besides nursing, includes cooking, storekeeping, and secretarial work,which are classed under the heading of General Service. This is the branch of work for which Mrs. Charles W. Furse, as Commandant-in-Chief of theV.A.Ds.of the Joint Societies, is now responsible. The posting of theV.A.D.nurses to hospitals at home and abroad also goes through her hands. Widow of the well-known painter, and daughter of John Addington Symonds, Mrs. Furse was for several years before the war one of the most interested and prominent ofV.A.D.workers. When Sir Alfred Keogh’s scheme for the organisation of voluntary Red Cross workers came into being in 1909, Mrs. Furse was one of the first women to enrol. In 1912 she became Commandant of the first Paddington Detachment, London 128. During the next two years she encouraged enterprise among the members by organising classes in cooking, laundry, and hygiene, in addition to the study of first aid and home nursing. By this time Mrs. Furse had become a member of several committees dealing with Red Cross andV.A.D.work, and was already recognised as an authority on these subjects. On the outbreak of war her services were at once commandeered by the British Red Cross Society.
For the first months of war Mrs. Furse undertook the management of the Enquiry Department at Devonshire House, which became the headquarters of theV.A.D.In September, 1914, she submitted a scheme to the War Office forV.A.D.rest stations on the lines of communication. In October she was ordered to go to France with sufficient members from her own detachment to start this work, which has been much extended, and has met a great need.
In January, 1915, Mrs. Furse was recalled from France, where the rest-station work was now established, to form a department for the co-ordination ofV.A.D.work, and to organise a continual supply of probationers for the military and other hospitals. A selection board was formed at Devonshire House to deal with all applications ofV.A.Ds.for service at home or abroad. Mrs. Furse’s duties also involve periodical inspections in France, where the work has been splendidly carried on by Miss Rachel Crowdy, the Principal Commandant in France. After one of her recent tours of inspection, Mrs. Furse reported: “The work of theV.A.D.members in France is a credit to the women of the Empire. Wherever I went I found the same anxiety to keep up the very high standard of work and behaviour set by the organisation.... No job is too small for theV.A.D.members, and they good-humouredly fill any gap which appears. The rules and regulations are very strict, and there is but little entertainment. The work is under war conditions, and the members try to show that they can wait till the end of the war for their play-time. Undoubtedly theV.A.D.organisation is proving that women can be trusted in the zone of the armies, and that they have realised the meaning of discipline and appreciate the necessity of discretion.”
Many girls who went to France early in the war as practically untrained workers now hold splendid records of service in hospital, and have risen to positions of considerable responsibility. In measuring the scope of what they have accomplished, it must not be forgotten thatV.A.D.members are drawn from very varied social positions, a large proportionbeing women accustomed to lives of luxury and ease, to whom the hard and often unattractive work has been a new and difficult experience.
Mrs. Furse’s great foresight into future needs during the earlier stages of the war, the untiring energy and patience with which she prepared for the time when these needs should be recognised, and, above all, her immense personal influence, have proved her to be one of the real leaders whom the war has brought to light. It is largely through her fine personal example of the spirit in which all work should be done that theV.A.Ds.have won for themselves such a good name for keenness and discipline.
Lady Perrott, the Lady Superintendent-in-Chief of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, is another outstanding woman amongst the small number of workers who had the foresight to prepare themselves and others in peace time for what then seemed the improbable chance of war. One of the most active pioneers ofV.A.D.work, Lady Perrott for five years before the outbreak of war worked under the War Office forV.A.D.development and improvement. In 1910 she was appointed Lady Commandant-in-Chief of the St. JohnV.A.Ds.By constantly holding meetings and inspections of detachments all through the country, she helped to standardise the training, and made herself acquainted with every detail of the work. Lady Perrott further performed a splendid service when she induced some of the principal hospitals, both in London and in the provinces, to give facilities for instruction toV.A.D.members. This experience in civil hospitals proved of immense value when war started. In 1913 Lady Perrottorganised a conference onV.A.D.work, which was held at St. John’s Gate and attended by large numbers of St. JohnV.A.D.officers from all over the country. The effect of this conference was to arouse widespread enthusiasm for the work. Her own personal and detailed knowledge of the detachments stood Lady Perrott in good stead in the stress of the early days of war. When the call came from the War Office forV.A.D.members to serve in military hospitals, the whole organisation for selecting and posting the St. John members was in her hands, and she carried out this work with marked success. She also went to France from time to time to inspect. From the beginning Lady Perrott toiled early and late at St. John’s Gate, and by her great powers of organisation, as well as by her personal influence and untiring zeal, she was able to initiate and carry out an enormous amount of work. Apart from all she has done for theV.A.D., Lady Perrott holds a fine record of achievement. To mention only one of her other activities, it was through her instrumentality that the Board of Matrons was appointed at St. John’s Gate for the selection of fully-trained nurses, one hundred of whom were sent out to Brussels in the first three weeks of the war by the Order of St. John. Lady Perrott has also been largely associated with the St. John Ambulance Brigade Hospital, one of the finest hut hospitals in France, for which she has collected a large sum of money, besides organising a special depôt for its supply of stores and comforts.
Lady Oliver is another untiring worker to whose keenness and energy much of the success of theV.A.D.activities is due. As staff officer to Lady Perrott before the war, she was responsible for alarge part of the detailed work. Since the formation of the Joint Department, Lady Oliver has worked with Mrs. Furse at Devonshire House. Lady Perrott, Lady Oliver, and Mrs. Furse have all been decorated by the King with the Royal Red Cross, and are also members of the Order of St. John, Lady Perrott and Lady Oliver being Ladies of Justice, and Mrs. Furse a Lady of Grace.