Haslar Royal Naval Navy Hospital

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Many members of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps were posted to Haslar. RN Haslar History Prior to Haslar Hospital medical care for sailors in the Gosport area was very basic and took place in a variety of places. The lucky ones received care at the privately run Fortune Hospital at Lees lane whilst those less fortunate would ne cared for in ale houses or aboard ships that were in anchor at the harbour. The Admiralty submitted plans to King George II for a Naval Hospitals and the building was given permission. The site for Haslar hospital was purchased in 1745. The area was farmed and was called Haslar Farm though this was spelt Hasler Farm at the time. The site was an unusual location for a hospital because it was surrounded by the Gosport Creek with no readily available access. The area was chosen to prevent sailors who had been press ganged, ie taken against their will by a gang of sailors and kept locked aboard ship until well at sea and then made to work for the Navy, from absconding. Building work started in 1746. Haslar hospital was designed by Theodore Jacobsen FRS, the surveyor was James Horne and a master carpenter from Portsmouth Dockyard. Builders were also press ganged by sailors and this delayed the building work of RH Haslar as new builders had to be found. Royal Hospital Haslar was the largest brick building in England and indeed Europe. The hospital was semi-completed seven years later and the first patients admitted to RN Haslar was on the 23 October 1753. Building work of two more wings continued for another nine years. A Physician of note in the early years of Haslar Hospital was James Lind who was nicknamed the Father of Nautical Medicine who publiched his clinical trial about the effects of lime and lemon juice on the disease scurvy. Help Needed: Qaranc.co.uk would like to add a page about the QA lanyard but need some help. Can anyone please help with a photo of the lanyard on the uniform and a photo of just the lanyard? It would also be helpful if anyone can give some tips on how to site and fit the lanyard. Please use the e-mail address on the contact page. Thank you! Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story by Nicola Tyrer is an account of the QAs during the two World Wars. It includes first hand accounts of the Queen Alexandra nurses who were in the dressing stations, casualty clearing stations and field hospitals of Dunkirk, D Day, the fall of Singapore and many more locations where the QAIMNS served. Buy Now. Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story is also available as a talking book read by the actress Barbara Flynn and Sian Thomas. Buy Now. View More British Army Nursing Books - with free delivery available. Haslar Hospital Design Over the centuries little changed to the design of the building - it was a three storey plain building of strong construction and even survived the Luftwaffe bombing 200 years later. It is thought that the Germans intentionally did not bomb the area because they were using the tall water tower as a navigation aid for their bomber planes to reach Portsmouth. The architect designed an attractive frontage and quadrangle which added character to the hospital. High and large windows encouraged natural light. Navy Patients In the early days of Haslar Royal Naval Hospital patients had to be transferred to the hospital by rowing ship from the Navy ships at the harbour because there was no bridge. It is thought that the phrase "Up the creek" may have originated from sailors who knew that if you were rowed to Haslar you were in trouble. Patients would then be taken to the hospital wards and departments in cradles on wheels which were basic carts. As the hospital developed a rail track was built to make transferring patients easier. A bridge was eventually built over Haslar Creek by 1795. This was replaced by another more substantial bridge in 1835 which gave access to Haslar Hospital and the town of Gosport. Haslar Hospital has always been run like a ship with nurses and patients using Navy terminology such as heads for the toilets and deck for the ward. A hospital Chapel was built by 1762. This was called the Hospital Church of St Luke. For a comprehensive history of the QARNNS written by Kathleen Harlan, a former Matron in Chief read the book History of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service Napoleanic Years During the Peninsular Wars in 1809 Royal Hospital Haslar treated patients from Portugal and Spain who were allied with Britain during the Napoleanic War of 1808 to 1814 against France. This included in campaigns like Trafalgar, Corunna and Waterloo. Military dead were buried at Haslar in the paddock to the south-west of the hospital. It is thought that over 10,000 servicemen are buried there and that this is the densest burial area in the UK. Royal Naval Hospital (RNH) Haslar In 1902 the title of the hospital become the Royal Naval Hospital (RNH) Haslar and the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) were formed. Prior to this and from 1884 nursing sisters at Royal naval Hospital Haslar were civilian nurses who were attached to the Royal Navy (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott). World War Two During World War Two RNH Haslar nursed military casualties back to health. The nearby ports were a target for the German Luftwaffe bombs and though it was thought that they used the Haslar Water Tower as a navigational aid the hospital did suffer from air raids and the nurses would evacuate the patients to the basements. Patients who were bed bound with limbs in plaster of Paris and elevated by pulleys on their bed frame were issues with a knife that was stored within easy reach. In the event of a bombardment they could cut the cord of the counter weight to free themselves so that they could get to the relative safety of the cellars of Haslar hospital. In the book Combat Nurse by Eric Taylor he cites the nearby port of Portsmouth as having in the first 11 months of the Second World War 792 air raid warnings and 65000 bomb damaged homes. Air raids were so frequent that the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) set up an operating theatre in the cellars. This was increased to six theatre tables to cope with the increased surgery from wounded troops arriving straight from Normandy. Though relatively unscathed by bombings the Museum at Haslar was destroyed and many specimens and artefacts collected by Navy Surgeons over the centuries were destroyed. Normandy Landing Wounded and Injured During Operation Overlord, the D Day Normandy Landing of June1944, members of the QARNNS were deployed to the frontline. Eighty navy nurses and 140 nursing members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) joined the Haslar detachment. Their numbers were swelled by other hospital staff including pharmacists who were quickly given sick berth attendant training by the nurses. They were led by Matron Matilda Goodrich who went on to become a Matron in Chief of the QARNNS. Those nurses left at Royal Naval Hospital Haslar worked ceaselessly to care for the wounded and injured from Normandy who were initially transferred from the French beach straight to Haslar where they underwent emergency operations and treatments before being moved to inland hospitals throughout England. Penicillin was used for the first time and saved many a life, especially when combined with anti-gas serum for those infected with gas gangrene. Many limbs were saved from amputation from these three hourly injections by the hard working and dedicated nurses. Far East As the war in Europe drew to a close the war with Japan in the Far East remained ferocious. More nurses and doctors were needed to care for the wounded and injured. Nurses from Haslar were once more deployed to locations like Burma at Casualty Clearing Stations and a newly set up field hospital at Herne Hill Hospital in Sydney were it was quicker and safer to evacuate servicemen who were injured defending the Pacific Island and Burma from the Japanese Army. The book Combat Nurse by Eric Taylor has many recollections and memories of nurses who served at Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Gosport during the Second World War including those sent to Normandy and the Far East. An Hour with Jon Pertwee In his audience with radio broadcast called An Hour with Jon Pertwee the actor who played Worzel Gummidge, Dr Who and Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in the Navy Lark talks about his time at Haslar Hospital. He was hit by shrapnel during a bombing at Portsmouth and was thought to be dead. The Officers Mess larder fridge was being used as a temporarily mortuary and Jon Pertwee was put in there and woke up later when part of a body fell on him. He surprised the guard when he banged on the temporarily morgue and was taken to Haslar to recover from his wounds. In 1954 Haslar Hospital officially became the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar. During the 1960s the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar started to care for local patients of the Gosport area. The Falklands Conflict In 1982 members of the Royal Naval Medical and Nursing Service serving at Royal Naval Hospital Haslar were deployed at short notice to care for the wounded during the Falklands Conflict Royal Hospital Haslar In 1996 the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar was renamed the Royal Hospital Haslar during defence cuts when it became a tri-service hospital with RAF and Army personnel serving or being treated at RH Haslar. As part of the medical defence reforms of the late 1990s Haslar Royal Naval Hospital was closed down to navy, army and Royal Air Force personnel. It was purchased by the Portsmouth National Health Trust (NHS) Trust and now treats the local Gosport community as Royal Hospital Haslar. Military personnel continued to serve there during a long handing over period. The hospital was renamed The Royal Hospital Haslar. In 2005 the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit (MDHU) Portsmouth was opened at nearby Queen Alexandra Hospital. On Wednesday 28 March 2007 retired members of the VAD and QARNNS joined serving members of the QARNNS and the QARANC and other members of the Defence Services were lead by the last Commanding Officer of Royal Hospital Haslar, Surgeon Captain James Campbell, on a parade from the gates of Haslar Hospital, over Haslar Bridge to the Timespace on the Millennium Promenade in Gosport. The band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines played the March. There was a short service and a ceremony during which the Freedom of the Borough was formally extended from RH Haslar to include the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit, Portsmouth. The casket party then marched along the promenade and through Gosport High Street and took the official salute at the Town Hall by the Mayor of Gosport, Councillor June Cully, and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Rear Admiral David K Bawtree (CB DL). Haslar Hospital is now part of the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust whilst there is still a Navy, Military and Air Force medical and nursing presence at nearby MDHU Portsmouth. There are still some Navy, RAF and Army service personnel working at Royal Hospital Haslar unit it closes in 2009. Power To The People On the evening of Monday 21 May 2007 at 9pm BBC 2 broadcasted a documentary about former soldiers, sailors and airmen who were injured or disabled during their service career. The presenter was journalist Tim Samuels and he set out to bring to the attention of BBC2 viewers the after care of these servicemen and servicewomen, some of whom had served in The Falklands Campaign, The First Gulf War and during peacekeeping roles in Belize and Iraq. They included former Ghurkhas. The episode was called The Battle of Trafalgar Square. Together the veterans formed a platoon with the mission to erect a statue of the face of a wounded soldier at Trafalgar Square in London, in front of Nelson's column. The former war heroes and soldiers wore army fatigue combats and the respective berets of their former corps or regiments. Part of the filming took place in Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport as the last military to close in the UK. Other filming took place at Selly Oak NHS Hospital in Birmingham which now treats service personnel. The Abandoned Soldier The statue was named The Abandoned Soldier and this original art work can be seen at the care home of Combat Stress which is a charity that supports soldiers who are physically and mentally scarred by the effects of war. Their website can be found at www.combatstress.org.uk The sculptor of The Abandoned Soldier statue was artist James Napier. He also produced a bronze statue of The Abandoned Soldier which he hopes to erect permanently somewhere in London. Miniature copies of The Abandoned Soldier can be purchased from their website at www.theabandonedsoldier.com and profits will be donated to charities that help former soldiers. The sculptor of the Abandoned Soldier was modelled on Daniel Twiddy who was wounded in Basra by friendly fire in 2003 and sustained many injuries including facial wounds from shrapnel. Royal Hospital Haslar Haslar Road Gosport Hampshire PO12 2AA A British Army Nurse In the Korean War A newly published book about the QARANC is A British Army Nurse In the Korean War by Elizabeth Jilly McNair. QA Sister McNair saw active service in Korea and Japan and this book is based on her letters home and photographs she took during her 18 months spent nursing at the British Commonwealth General Hospital in Kure, Japan and the British Commonwealth Zone Medical Unit in Seoul, Korea. Buy Now! 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. 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. 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