| |
| |
|
 |
 |
|||||||
|
» Site Map » Home Page Historical Info » Family History/Trace Nurses » History » QAIMNS for India » QAIMNS First World War » War Graves Memorials Nurses » Book of Remembrance » QA World War Two Nursing » Africa Second World War » War Diaries Nursing Sisters » Belsen Concentration Camp » Voluntary Aid Detachment » National Service » Korean War and the QARANC » Gulf War » Royal Red Cross Medal » Colonels In Chief » Director Army Nursing Services (DANS) » Colonel Commandant » Matrons In Chief (QAIMNS) » March » Motto » QA Memorial National Memorial Arboretum » Army Recruitment Posters » Museum » QA Association » Army Standard » QA and AMS Prayer » Books Former Army Hospitals UK » BMH Cowglen Glasgow » CMH Aldershot » Colchester Military Hospital » DKMH Catterick » Ghosts » Hospital Ghosts » Haslar » QA Centre » QAMH Millbank » QEMH Woolwich » Musgrave Park Hospital Belfast » Netley » Royal Chelsea Hospital » Royal Herbert » Tidworth Military Hospital » Military Hospital Wheatley France » Ambulance Trains » Hospital Barges » Hospital Ships Germany » BMH Berlin » BMH Hanover » BMH Hostert » BMH Iserlohn » BMH Munster » BMH Rinteln Cyprus » TPMH RAF Akrotiri » BMH Dhekelia » BMH Nicosia Egypt » BMH Alexandria China » BMH Shanghai Hong Kong » BMH Bowen Road Hong Kong » BMH Mount Kellett Overseas Old British Military Hospitals » BMH Gibraltar » BMH Malta » BMH Nepal » BMH Singapore » Belize Hospital 
|
Royal Victoria Military Hospital NetleyInformation and history about Netley Royal Victoria Military Hospital: 
After the Crimean war Queen Victoria ordered a military hospital to be built in the UK. Its purpose was to
train army nurses and doctors and to treat military patients to ensure their swift return to duty. Netley was chosen as
the site because it was near to Southampton so that hospital ships from around the British Empire could
safely dock and disembark patients.
The book Sub Cruce Candida: A Celebration of One Hundred Years of Army Nursing 
has a collection of photographs of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley.
As can be seen from the photograph of Royal Victoria Hospital Netley above it looked magnificent and was considered to be the largest military hospital in the world at the time. Though the view from inside was different. Patients and staff had a view of the coal bunkers and other out houses because the wards faced North east. The architect did not allow for isolation units nor an adequate provision of fresh air. This was later addressed in later military hospitals such as the Cambridge Military Hospital. Those who worked in the administration blocked did however enjoy a stunning view across the Southampton Water. Foundation Stone The foundation stone, a 2 tonne Welsh granite stone, was laid by Queen Victoria on 19 May in 1856. Queen Victoria arrived at Royal Victoria Hospital Netley by Royal Yacht. The Jetty by the hospital was specially built for her visit and a scarlet carpet covered the walkway. This occasion was marked by the firing of a Royal Salute. Unfortunately one gun fired prematurely and two sailors were killed outright whilst others were injured. The laying of the foundation stone ceremony still went ahead. Beneath the stone a copper casket containing the plans of the hospital, the first Victoria Cross, a silver Crimea medal with all four campaign bars and coins of the realm were laid. An inscription on the stone said: This stone was laid on the 19th day of May in the year of our Lord, 1856, by Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the foundation stone of the Victoria Military Hospital intended for the reception of the sick and wounded soldiers of her Army. 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.
Building Information The design of Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley was by the War Department architect Mennie (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S)  by Juliet Piggott).
The site was purchased at a cost of £15,000 and building costs were £350,000. It was the largest military hospital in its day with 138 wards housing about 1000 beds. The brick building was about a ¼ mile long (1,424 feet) and set in 27 acres of grounds. As can be seen in the photos of Netley Hospital on this page there was a central dome with two brick wings that had Portland stone dressings. There were three floors to the Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley. Florence Nightingale had wanted to help design the hospital but plans had already been drawn and construction started before her return from the Crimean War. She did try to appeal to Lord Panmure and then Lord Palmerston the Prime Minister to have the plans of Netley Hospital altered but this would have cost an additional £70,000 and building work had already started. She was however able to help write up military nursing regulations. First Patients 
The first patients admitted to the Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley was on the 19 May 1863. The first patients and war casualties arrived by boats and ships to the purpose built 170 metre long pier
at Southampton Water. This is how Queen Victoria would arrive for her regular visits to the hospital. During such
visits she awarded medals to the soldiers which included three Victoria Crosses. These VCs' were awarded to
Private Frederick Hitch of the 24th Regiment in recognition for his bravery at Rorke's Drift (the Zulu War) in 1879, Piper Findlater of the
Gordon Highlanders and Private Vickery of the Dorset Regiment for actions in the Tirah Campaign on the North West
Frontier of India.
The pier remained in use for a further five years until a railway line was built in 1900 which linked the hospital with the Netley main line and a connection to Southampton Central Station. Ambulance trains made the transfer of patients much easier from Southampton to Netley Hospital. Army Medical School The Army Medical School moved to Royal Victoria Hospital in 1863 from Fort Pitt in Chatham where it had originated in 1860 (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).
The Army Medical School then moved from Netley to London in 1902. For the first few years is was in temporarily premises and moved to Millbank in 1907. Miss Jane Stewart Miss Jane Catherine Shaw Stewart was the first Superintendent of Female Nurses for the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley. Miss Jane Shaw Stewart moved to Netley on the 25 May 1868 (cited in the book Sister Janet: Nurse and Heroine of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879  ).
She was supported by six Nursing Sisters from St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Miss Jane Stewart had been a Nursing Sister during the Crimean War.
She had an unusual approach to her colleagues and it was reported that she shouted at the nurses and argued with the doctors. She was passionate about nursing and
worked hard to improve the lives of army nurses. She was also in the post of Superintendent General of Female Nurses at the newly built
Royal Herbert Hospital.
Mrs Jane Deeble Miss Stewart left Netley hospital in 1869 (though some sources state May 1868) and was succeeded by Mrs Jane Deeble, the widow of an army surgeon who died at Abyssinia. Six more nurses were employed at the same time and these were Ann Clark, Lucy Emm, Jane Kennedy, Jessie Lenox, Rebecca Strong and Lucy Wheldon. Before 1869 nurses would wear a uniform of a starched apron worn over a brown dress. Mrs Deeble introduced the grey ward dress with short scarlet cape that are now worn by QA officers. Mrs Deeble was later promoted to Matron and in 1879 she went to the Zulu War with 14 nurses to care for the wounded at Pietermaritzburg and Addington in Natal. They went aboard the ship the Dublin Castle from London to Cape Town along with reinforcements to the Anglo Zulu War. The Dublin Castle would then return to Britain with wounded and sick who would then be taken to Netley Hospital (cited in the book Sister Janet: Nurse and Heroine of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879 ).
Miss Deeble retired as the Lady Superintendent of Netley Hospital in the year 1889 and was replaced by Miss Norman (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).
Matrons of Netley Hospital Other Matrons of Netley Hospital were: Miss H Campbell Norman (RRC) Dame Maud McCarthy Dr John Watson Netley Hospital even went into the fictional history books for training Doctor John Watson, the friend and partner of Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes. These references can be read in the first book by the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which was A Study In Scarlet. The National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War The National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was set up in 1870 after the outbreak of the Franco Prussian War. They provided funding to train nurses at Netley Hospital who would then continue to serve at military hospitals for two to three years whilst being paid by the National Society. There is more written about them and their terms of service in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott.
For example their probation pay was twelve pounds and would rise to thirty pounds a year during their two year period at a military hospital.
Three of these National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War nurses transferred to the Army Nursing Services after their 3 year service and two served in Egypt in 1884. The National Society stopped providing nurses in the year 1885 and had provided 12 nurses by this time. German Brooches Sister Beardsmore Smith, who later became a Matron-in-Chief of the QAIMNS and another QA Sister nursed a Staff Surgeon of the German navy called Dr Kunze when he had a bad case of pleurisy. He was serving on the German Emperor’s yacht the Hohenzollern. In January 1908 the German Emperor presented brooches to the QA Sisters for their skilful nursing and each nurse was given permission by his cousin, King Edward VII, to wear the brooch (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).
First World War 
Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley was fully operational in the First World War with an estimated 50,000
patients treated. The bed capacity of the hospital was doubled to 2000 with the building of Red Cross huts in one
of the surrounding fields. One of their most famous patients was the poet Wilfred Owen who was treated for shell shock
at Netley before he was transferred to Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh in Scotland. Here he met
fellow war poet Siegfried Sassoon.
Another important role of the doctors at Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley was research. During this time a vaccination against typhoid was discovered by Sir Almoth Wright professor of pathology. Second World War Mobilised members of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, the QAIMNS(R) and the TANS (Territorial Army Nursing Service) reported to Netley Hospital when they had the call up in 1939. During the Second World War the Muster point for Number 4 British General Hospital (BGH) was at Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley and their destination was La Baule (cited in Quiet Heroines: Nurses of the Second World War  ) by Brenda McBryde.
To left is pictured Josephine (Jo) Lyndon and other QA's at Netley Hospital before she went to Africa during World War Two.
An account of nursing Sister Marjorie Bennett who was posted from Netley Hospital to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France during World War Two in January 1940 is included in the book Women Who Went to War  by Eric Taylor. Her account includes the voyage aboard a troop ship, setting up a hospital in a casino and the methods that the QAs used to keep themselves and their patients warm during the harsh winter.
In 1939 No 11 General Hospital formed at Netley and were deployed to Le Havre. During the Dunkirk evacuation all the equipment, except one typewriter, was destroyed. No 11 General Hospital were evacuated from Cherbourg to England (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).
Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley once again saw its bed strength increase at the outbreak of another World War. During the Second World War it treated casualties throughout the war which included patients from the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. Between September and October 1943 Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley admitted the first exchange of Prisoners of War with Germany for medical examination and treatment before the British troops went onto a well deserved period of leave. Some of the servicemen had had to have amputations of limbs whilst under the care of German doctors and were now able to have fitted prosthetics at Netley Hospital. The hospital was handed over to the United States Military (Army and Navy) in 1944 during the Second World War. Over 68,000 patients were treated for the remaining year and a half of the war which included patients from D Day and German Prisoners of War (POW). The American troops must have thought the quarter of a mile corridor to be too long to walk because they used to drive their jeeps along the ground floor (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).
After World War II the Americans handed the hospital back to the British Army in July 1945 and it continued to treat British Forces personnel. First Military Asylum Mental HospitalThe first army asylum was built at D block, Victoria House at Netley. It opened in 1870. Prior to the opening of Royal Victoria Military Hospital psychiatric patients would be cared for at the Hospital for Lunatic Patients in Great Yarmouth, England. D block, Victoria House at Netley treated over 15000 patients during WWI and famously treated the deputy of Adolf Hitler, Rudolf Hess, during WWII after his flight from Germany to England and his parachute jump from the plane and capture. From 1950 an E block was added and the army psychiatric facility was renamed Albert House. It continued to treat army personnel with psychiatric illnesses and alcohol dependency problems. From 1960 Navy personnel was also treated at Netley. Closure Netley HospitalRoyal Victoria Military Hospital Netley closed in 1958 because of the high cost of maintaining the hospital. The building remained unused for several years and was badly damaged in a fire in June 1963 and then sustained further damage when pipes froze and burst in the winter of 1963. Sadly this damaged the structure of the hospital building and caused the eventual demolition of the main hospital building on the 16 September in 1966. However the psychiatric hospital remained open during this time and did not close until 1978. The closure of the hospital was marked by a parade through Netley village and a ball and firework display at the Officers Mess. Netley Chapel 
The Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley grounds and building were purchased by Hampshire County Council in
1979. The grounds were developed and in 1980 were opened to the public. The area was renamed as the Royal Victoria
Country Park. None of the original building or facilities remains except for the Royal Chapel and the Officers Mess
building. Netley Chapel is now a museum (photograph above) whilst the Mess was converted into luxury apartments.
Netley Military Cemetery
Netley Military Cemetery can be found at Cemetery Wood. It was opened in June 1864 and closed in 1978. During this time
the hospital buried patients as well as staff and their families in the cemetery. The graves include over 700
graves from World War One and 37 from World War Two. Such graves include German POW's. The military headstones are
maintained by the War Graves Commission.
Royal Victoria Country ParkThe Royal Victoria Country Park is open to the public and still features some of the original buildings that were not destroyed by the fire. For example the YMCA Building which was built in 1940 using 100 different timbers donated from all over the British Empire is now the park office, function room and public tea rooms. Netley Military Hospital had a ghost. Read more about it on the Ghosts Page. Drawing of Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley The drawing of Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley near Southampton by E. Duncan from 1863 can be seen in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott.
Copper Casket In 1966 the two and a half ton Welsh granite foundation stone of Netley Hospital was lifted and a smaller Bath stone was found. This was inscribed with the words Victoria Military Hospital 1856. Beneath this was found a copper casket that contained a set of coins including a groat and crown from the year 1853. It is thought that these were a proof set because none had been minted during the years leading up to the laying of the foundation stone. There was also a Victoria Cross medal which is thought to have been a prototype given to the Queen before the VC was founded in 1857. Another medal in the copper casket was the Crimea medal with four clasps of Sebastopol, Inkerman, Balaklava and Alma. The copper casket also contained the plans of the Netley Hospital building. The copper casket had been opened by the officer commanding of the Royal Victoria Hospital (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).
D Day Preparations 50th Anniversary The D Day preparations 50th anniversary was held in the grounds of the Royal Victoria Country Park, what would have been the site of the former Netley Hospital on the 27 May 1994. A Drumhead Service and Parade took place with International participants of all Services and Veterans of the Second World War and Operation Overlord. This included servicemen and servicewomen of countries like America, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Britain. Civilian organisations from WWII also took part in the D Day preparations 50th anniversary. This included the Air Raid Precautions (ARP), Land Army, Observer Corps, civilian nurses, Salvation Army, St John's Ambulance Service, Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS). Displays included a history of the Military Hospital in Netley and equipment that would have been used by the nursing staff. Present members of the QARANC dressed in present and World War Two uniforms which included from WW2: No 2 Uniform (Captain Jo Cottrell and Captain Nicky Thompson-Wells ), Battledress (Sgt Linda Smith) and from the present day: Ward Sister Uniform (Major Tricia Conway) and Combat Uniform (Cpl Bernie O'Neill). QAIMNS veterans of the D Day landings included Lt Col Maureen Gara RRC and Miss Gill Basant MBE. 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. |
Present Day » Become An Army Nurse » QARANC Junior Ranks » QARANC Officer Ranks » Abbreviations » Nicknames for QARANC » Tank Driving Ministry of Defence Hospital Units » Duke of Connaught Unit Northern Ireland » MDHU Derriford » MDHU Frimley Park » MDHU Northallerton » MDHU Peterborough » MDHU Portsmouth » RCDM Birmingham Field Hospitals » Camp Bastion Field Hospital and Medical Treatment Facility MTF Helmand Territory Southern Afghanistan Territorial Army » TA Field Hospitals and Field Ambulances Photos » Photographs QA Uniform » Why QA's Wear Grey » QARANC Beret » Cap Badge » QA Corps Belt » QARANC Officer's Cloak QARANC Events » Armed Forces Day » Army Reunions » Corps Day » Remembrance » AMS Carol Service » QARANC Association Pilgrimage to Singapore and Malaysia 2009 » Doctors and Nurses at War » War and Medicine Exhibition » QA Uniform Exhibition Nothe Fort Weymouth Famous QA's » Dame Margot Turner » Dame Maud McCarthy » Military Medal Awards To QAs » Sean Beech Nursing Events International Nurses Day QARANC.co.uk Info » Search » Site Map » Contact » Military Websites Help Needed: QARANC.co.uk would like you to share your memories of serving in the QA's, your fondest memories of military hospitals you may have served in or perhaps share any photographs and have them appear on the QARANC website. Any thoughts, articles and photos can be e-mailed or sent in the post using our contact details. » Find QA's » Jokes » Merchandise » Pin Badges » Wall Plaques » Fridge Magnet » Tank Paintball Battle » Spy Academy | ||||||
 |
 |
| © Site contents copyright QARANC.co.uk 2006 - 2010 All rights reserved.
Privacy/Disclaimer Policy |
