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Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital QEMH WoolwichInformation, photographs and the history of the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital QEMH Woolwich 
The Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital (QEMH) was located at Stadium Road in Woolwich. It was built on the land that formerly housed the Shrapnel Barracks, a veterinary hospital and stables for army horses. The QEMH was built to replace the QAMH Millbank and the nearby Royal Herbert Hospital on Shooters Hill which was falling into disrepair being build over 100 years earlier. The QEMH took five years to build at an estimated cost of £16 million. The foundation stone was laid in 1972. The military hospital was named after Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She officially opened the army hospital on the 1 November 1978, though the hospital had been up and running since 1977. The QEMH was a 400 bed capacity hospital. 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. 
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Though the QEMH was operational since 1977 the accommodation for the QARANC was not completed for some time and QAs were accommodated across Woolwich Common in the Royal Academy buildings. The Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital was predominately a military hospital for the care and treatment of soldiers and their families. However the hospital also treated National Health Service (NHS) patients from the local community such as those living in Woolwich, Bexleyheath, Eltham, etc. The nearest NHS hospital at the time was in Greenwich. The QEMH also treated Chelsea Pensioners and Far East Prisoner Of War Survivors (FEPOW). The hospital was large with several medical and general surgical wards as well as orthopaedic, psychiatric and rehabilitation wards. There was a paediatric department and ward in the early years but this had closed by the 1980s and forces children were treated at the twin teaching hospital of the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot. Though the QEMH had no active emergency or casualty department there was a large intensive care unit and several operating theatres. There was also a burns unit and oncology ward. The QEMH had a large outpatients department which included a sexual health clinic. Other departments included X-ray, cardiac rehab, pathology and full laboratory facilities. Army School Of NursingIn conjunction with the CMH the QEMH had a school of nursing and trained 100s of student and pupil nurses each year. Most QARANC nurses at the time will have been posted and trained at the QEMH either as a student or undergoing post qualification training as a staff or enrolled nurse. The hospital was self contained for the army personnel with accommodation for single junior ranks, sergeants and officers messes location at the rear of the hospital. The hospital had its own NAAFI (Naval Army and Air Force Institute), coffee shop, Red Cross facilities and canteens. Married personnel such as doctors, nurses, radiographers, etc had housing in nearby houses and flats which included the many floored Alanbrooke House. Noel Edmonds Hospital Visit On the 21 July 1980 Noel Edmonds made a hospital visit to ward 4 of the QEMH to see Captain Trudy Furness. She was a big fan of Noel Edmonds and his visit was arranged during her stay on the ward as a patient. The book Sub Cruce Candida: A Celebration of One Hundred Years of Army Nursing  has a photo of Noel Edmonds hospital visit along with QAs Capt Furness and the ward manager Major Finlay. The Assistant Matron Major Clements is also in the photograph.
Officers Mess The following photographs of the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital Woolwich and the QEMH photo at the top of this page, which was taken from the top of the Officers Mess, have been kindly provided by Phil Basford (Maj Retd RAMC): The Officers Mess: 
The Officers Mess at night: 
QEMH Orienteers The QEMH Woolwich had excellent ladies and men's orienteering teams during the 1980s. Pictured below are the QEMH Orienteers Ladies Champions who were from left to right Captain Hazel Blackstone; Major Margaret Russell; ? name of nurse; Capt Ruth Ligett, ? and Maj Miriam Freeman who was an anaesthetist. 
The photo below of orienteer Major Margaret Russell on her run in to the finish. 
Dressed in the QEMH Orienteers top is Major Jane Arigho who was the team coach and later became Director Army Nursing Services (DANS) and Colonel Commandant of the QARANC. 
Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital Closed The Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital was closed on the 29 September 1995 as part of the defence cuts and rationalisation of a more mobile Army Medical Services. The QEMH was rebuilt and became The Queen Elizabeth Hospital which now serves the locals of Woolwich, London. It is part of the Greenwich Healthcare Trust. The last Matron of the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital was Colonel M M Slattery RRC. The last Commanding Officer of the QEMH, Brigadier Guy Radcliffe L/RAMC, handed over the key to the hospital to Mr David Astley the Chief Executive of the Greenwich Healthcare Trust in a ceremonial handing over of the keys on the 27 Sep 95. The Union Fag was lowered and the Last Post was sounded. A final company photograph of the staff of QEMH Woolwich was taken and appeared in Vol 11 No 2 of The Gazette of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association. If you have a copy of the photo that we could use on this page then please contact qaranc.co.uk QEMH Ghost Sightings Unusually for a modern hospital the QEMH has had many ghost sightings. So many that I've had to put them on a separate page. Read about them, if you dare(!) on the hospital ghosts page. If you have experienced any supernatural activities then feel free to e-mail me details. 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
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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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