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BMH DhekeliaInformation and history about the BMH Dhekelia in Cyprus BMH Dhekelia was one of several army hospitals in Cyprus. It remains open within the Dhekelai Garrison but in a much smaller capacity and is run as a maternity unit and MRS for British Forces Cyprus personnel and their families. BMH Dhekelia was opened in October 1958. The picture below is of BMH Dhekelia taken in 1958 (with thanks to QA Corporal Judith Lofthouse). 
There was an opening ceremony for BMH Dhekelia and a QA with an RAMC Sergeant held the tape that was ceremonially cut. The photo below is of the opening day ceremony at BMH Dhekelia in 1958. From left to right are Colonel Johnson, Cpl Judith Lofthouse QARANC, Lady Bower, Matron and Sgt. McEwan RAMC. 
The next photograph shows Lady Bower cutting the tape. 
The book Sub Cruce Candida: A Celebration of One Hundred Years of Army Nursing  has photos of QAs working in the wards of BMH Dhekelia, Cyprus.
Cyprus has always been seen as an exciting posting for the QAs and in the late 1960s and 1970s the Island was used in a recruitment campaign. A copy of the QA recruiting poster and leaflet can be seen below: 
Qaranc.co.uk were delighted to hear from Sue Simmons, the nurse in the recruitment leaflet entitled The challenge of Cyprus. Sue recalls working on the childrens ward which included nursing Cypriot children with Thalassemia. Sue kindly shared her memories: I believe the photo was taken in 1971 or 1972. I am now retired and live in France. I don't know why I was chosen to be in the photo for the QA recruitment leaflet of BMH Dhekelia, more than likely I just happened to be on the ward. At that time in the early seventies we nursed Greek and Turkish Cypriot children with Thalassemia, and every week on a given day, up to ten children would be infused with blood. I was rostered to look after the children in a separate area of the ward, it was a bit like a circus act at times, the one where plates are kept spinning on bamboo poles. No sooner had observations been taken it was time to start again, blood transfusions were regulated manually and it was a constant battle to keep everything on track. Having said that I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the ward, I got to know the children and their families very well, and I think all the hard work was a precursor for my chosen career in A&E. Sue Simmons More of these images can be seen on the Army Recruitment Posters page. Sadly none of the QARANC.co.uk team had a posting to BMH Dhekelia and would love to expand this page with more details about this former army hospital and include a photograph. If you are a former or serving member of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps we would love your help. If you would like to contribute any info, photographs or share your memories of BMH Dhekelia then please contact me. A QARANC wall plaque and shield is available to buy through Amazon. The QA shield is hand made and ready to hang on the wall. . Buy Now. 
Findextrawork 
Since leaving the QA's we have done an assortment of self employed work and jobs, some which only take an hour a week, others have been full time. We
have written about these at our other website Findextrawork at
www.findextrawork.co.uk
where we share the information for free to help others with information and resources about earning more money.
Visit Findextrawork for more information.
The two photographs of BMH Dhekelia below were taken in 1959 by Ron Bale whose memories of his time in Cyprus can be read on the BMH Nicosia page.   *********************************************** A reader has kindly provided some photos of her Aunt who was a cleaner at BMH Dhekelia. She is compiling an exhibition for the nearby village of Xylotymbou and would like to know the date the building was demolished. She would also like to hear from any Cypriot's who worked alongside the staff at BMH? 
Her Aunt is the third in the black and white photo and her name is Panayiota Panayi (Michael). Her niece would love to hear from anyone who remembers any of the people in the photo or has any photos of the nearby village of Xylotymbou which they can share with her or any other photos where her aunt is included. Please contact the QARANC.co.uk team and we will pass them on. Thank you. 
*********************************************** Vivienne Pearce is seeking information about her father who has recently died suddenly. He was either a Staff Sergeant or a WOII called Fred Pearce. He was the clerk of works responsible for the Dhekelia Military hospital construction. She would like to know any information about the construction of the Dhekelia hospital at that time or if any of his colleagues would like to share any memories or photos of his service life. Please contact the QARANC.co.uk team and we will pass them onto his daughter. Thank you. British Military Cemetery Dhekelia A reader is seeking the help of any nurses, servicemen or parents who were at BMH Dhekelia during the 1960s to help with information about the rows of babies headstones at the British Military Cemetery in Dhekelia. The graveyard is the resting place of servicemen who lost their lives during the troubles in the 1950s, in Cyprus, Suez and other regional conflicts, but also of over 56 babies’ graves in one small section of the cemetery. They are aged between one day and one month and died in 1963, 1964 and 1965 some on the same date. If anyone can help with information about what could have happened in Cyprus between 1963 and 1965 to cause so many infant deaths in such a small community could they please contact Qaranc.co.uk Thoughts include that it could have been an outbreak of cholera, meningitis or typhoid that caused this high infant mortality rate. Others think the high infant mortality rate may have been caused by the high rate of young married couples serving in the area at the time, over 40,000 British forces personnel and their families were based on the island, with camps in Famagusta, Dhekelia, Troodos, Akrotiri and Agios Nikolaos and Dhekelia was the only cemetery and bodies would not have been repatriated in those days. The Real Tenko The latest book about British Army nurses and nursing describes a dark chapter in the history of the QAs. The Real Tenko: Extraordinary True Stories of Women Prisoners of the Japanese  by Mark Felton is an account of the fall of the Far East to Japan. It comprehensively covers war atrocities performed by the Japanese troops to women stationed in places such as Singapore and Hong Kong. This included Sisters of the QAs who were stationed in hospitals such as
BMH Bowen Road Hong Kong and
BMH Singapore. Read the Qaranc.co.uk review or
Buy Now
with free delivery available.
View more British Army Nursing Books - with free delivery available. If you would like to contribute to this page, suggest changes or inclusions to this website or would like to send me a photograph then please e-mail me. The photos and pictures on this page have been kindly sent to us for inclusion on this page. If you would like to contribute photographs then please contact us. For the official Army QARANC webpage please go to www.army.mod.uk/home.aspx For the QARANC Association website please go to www.army.mod.uk/army-medical-services/qaranc/9884.aspx *********************************************** Help Needed A reader of Qaranc.co.uk is researching the exhumation of Heinrich Himmler in Luneberg, Germany circa 1945-46. He thinks that two nurses from the QAIMNS attended the exhumation due to the poor state of health of Walter Schellenberg. He would like to learn if any of the nurses kept a diary of the events leading up to the exhumation or sent any personal letters home to friends or family that may have provided an insight into Walter Schellenberg and the exhumation. Please contact Qaranc.co.uk if you have any information. Qaranc.co.uk have recently learnt about two former Military Hospitals that we would like to write about. These are the British Military Hospital at Wuppertal in Germany and BMH Benghazi. If you know any information, would like to share your memories or have photographs that we can use on the site then please contact Qaranc.co.uk A reader is writing an article about the demise of the Military Hospital for the RAMC Magazine and seeks some help. There was, in Kuala Lumpur, a hospital called BMH Kinrara. He would like to know when it opened and closed, what happened to the buildings and the staff. He thinks that Kinrara closed as Terendak opened and that the staff were transferred across to 34 Company RAMC? He would also like any information about the Military Maternity Hospital, Penang. If you can help then please contact Qaranc.co.uk There is a lovely photo of three QA Midwives from the 1960s about half way down on the Royal Herbert Hospital page. If you can help with information about the Maternity Unit in Woolwich or identify the QA Officers then please contact Qaranc.co.uk The BMH Dhekelia has new photos which includes a stunning picture of the demolition of the original building and some staff photos. The contributor would like some help with the date it was demolished and would love to hear from anyone who worked with her relative. |
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