Royal Herbert Hospital

Sidney Herbert

Captain Douglas Galton

Queen Victoria

Second World War

At the outbreak of the Second World War six of the empty wards at the Royal Herbert Hospital were re-opened to help cope with victims of air raids and the evacuated war wounded.

In the book Sub Cruce Candida: A Celebration of One Hundred Years of Army Nursing the authors cite Sister Furze of the QAIMNS(R) describing events during air raids in Woolwich, London. The staff of the Royal Herbert Hospital would seek refuge in the basement with their patients.


German Prisoners

During World War Two the Royal Herbert Military Hospital admitted civilian patients when the Woolwich Arsenal was bombed by the German Luftwaffe. Any downed pilots and navigators were taken as a Prisoner of War (POW) and treated for their injuries at the Royal Herbert. A separate Luftwaffe officers ward and NCOs ward were set up.

Most of the German airman settled into hospital and prison life whilst a small majority were determined to still die for Germany and the Fuehrer. They would pull out their intravenous drips in an effort to bleed to death from the opened vein. Nurses had to be watchful for these suicide attempts and sadly some of the German airman did die.

An advantage of having Luftwaffe as patients is that their comrades stopped bombing the area of the Royal Herbert hospital for fear of injuring or killing their captured comrades.

In his book Wartime Nurse Eric Taylor describes how some nurses like Margaret Mulvenna and Winnie Cunnane fell in love with the POWs and were dismissed for fraternization with the prisoner of war patients.

In another of his books, Combat Nurse, Eric Taylor cites 800 marriages taking place between British women and German prisoners of war.


As the Second World War progressed the Royal Herbert Hospital surgeons operated on civilians in conjunction with The Brook Hospital which was located adjacent to The Royal Herbert.



Post War Years

The hospital admitted civilian patients under the emergency bed service list from the nearby community to help the NHS during the severe winter of 1962 and 1963.

Qaranc.co.uk was delighted to hear from former QA Stephanie Lowe who nursed some of the victims of influenza during a similar national emergency in 1957 and recalls the time:

I have been reading about the Royal Herbert Hospital in Woolwich, and how the unused wards on the top floor were opened up at the outbreak of war, and again in the severe winter of 1962/3. The wards were once again used for emergency in 1957.

I was nursing there in 1957, at the time of the Asian flu epidemic which killed 30 000 people in the UK, and has been unequalled since. At the beginning of October it became clear that sick bays in barracks were totally inadequate to cope with rapidly increasing numbers of flu victims, and thus one morning the matron sent for four registered nurses from the wards and asked us each to open up a disused ward at the top of the hospital.

We took the keys and opened up - wards which had not been used for a great many years, and were thick with dust and cobwebs, and the window panes all yellow with grime. We each had a team of three or four RAMC medical orderlies and got busy scrubbing and polishing at once. Even before we were halfway through this the deliveries began - palliasses, ward linen, cutlery and china, drugs and general ward equipment. Fortunately we had started the scrubbing in the linen room.

Almost immediately the patients began to arrive, and soon the beds were filled, and so more beds were squeezed in, and then some down the centre of the ward. It was basic nursing care, because any patient developing severe respiratory problems was transferred downstairs for more intensive care. But it was chaos all the same, we had our meals on the ward, brought up by the ACC, and nobody even asked about off-duty. When Matron did her rounds - usually such a dignified occasion - she rolled up her sleeves and helped with bed changing or bed baths! Just keeping water jugs full and emptying bottles seemed to be a full time job. This strain of the flu virus left patients very weak for several days after their temperatures dropped.

Nursing staff had had flu injections, but they were not 100% effective, and quite a few orderlies became patients themselves, stretching staff even more.

I left the services mid November, so I don't know just how long the wards were kept open, but things had certainly started to quieten down by then. Stephanie Lowe



Military Maternity Hospital

Richard Challoner is seeking help to answer some questions about his birth. His birth certificate records the place of birth as 'Military Maternity Hospital Woolwich'. Can anyone e-mail Qaranc.co.uk if they know if this was a Unit within the Royal Herbert Military Hospital, Woolwich or a separate Unit?




The photograph above was taken in the Maternity Hospital a few days after his slightly premature birth in March 1962. It features his mother and himself with a Matron and two Sisters. Richard would like to identify the Matron and the Nurses in the photograph. His mother told him how wonderful and kind they were during a very difficult birth and he would love to know if any of them are still alive, so that he can contact them and thank them personally. He would also like to find out the name of the surgeon who delivered him. His mother told him that he was Russian or of Russian origin. If you can help please contact Qaranc.co.uk

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Qaranc.co.uk heard from a former RAMC nurse from the 1970s who told us:

When I served as a Nurse at RHH, there was a Military Maternity Hospital which was situated almost opposite the Artillery Barracks on a side road coming from the town. Just further up the road was the Academy where some of the Nurses lived and where the Garrison Swimming pool was located.


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Qaranc.co.uk were delighted to hear from a Royal Navy nurse who trained at the Military Maternity Hospital and told us:


In my third year of training, May 1973, I was seconded to the army at Woolwich to do three months obstetrics. I remember this time very well as I come from London (Kennington) and used to nip home for a bit of mum's cooking now and then!

We lived at the Royal Military Academy in Academy Road and were taken each day, by minibus, to breakfast at the Royal Herbert Hospital on Shooters Hill. We were then transported to the Military Maternity Hospital which was on Woolwich New Road and locally known as the Millie Mat. At lunch and supper time we would be transported back up the road as there were no catering facilities for the staff on site. When we worked nights there was a civilian night domestic who would cook us a meal.

The maternity hospital was a single storey building with one ante natal and one post natal ward, a nursery, a delivery room and an operating theatre. There were smaller outbuildings that accommodated the antenatal clinic, baby clinic, school of nursing/obstetrics and common room. The floors were mostly wooden and they clattered under our leather soled shoes. There was almost a temporary feel about the buildings although they had been there for some time.

Our tutor was Major Sproston and I recall her horror at the milk bottle on the table in the student common room when we were having our coffee. I was duly despatched to buy a milk jug, 'and don't forget the receipt'!

There were six students, four army and two navy and we all had to witness so many births before we could do a supervised one ourselves. I can't remember how many (it was a long time ago!) but I do remember us all crammed into the delivery room on several occasions. One afternoon, Madge, one of the army nurses and I had stand off and were due back at 1700 but we got a call at about 1500 to say there was a birth imminent so we dashed off down the road on foot from the Academy (in starched apron and butterfly cap) to try and catch it. We were between bus stops when a bus came into sight and we ran to try and get to the next stop in time. We were most surprised when it pulled up between stops to pick us up. We explained our hurry and not only did he drop us as near to the hospital as he could, he refused to take any fare! We were just in time, hot and panting, to witness the birth.

I have attached a word document containing a map from an old London A-Z with the Academy, Millie Mat and Royal Herbert, before the area was redeveloped.




I have fond memories of my short time at the Millie Mat, I even went on to train as a midwife when I left the navy. Margaret Blanchard (nee Small)


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We also heard from David Doughty who was a 15 year old soldier at Woolwich in the Royal Artillery and remembers the nurses of the Royal Herbert Hospital fondly for their care when he became ill with Glandular Fever. He says:

I was a serving soldier in the 1960's and I know for sure that at the back of St George's Church, the one that was destroyed by a bomb in 1944, was a hospital manned by QARANC nurses for the sole purpose of delivering Babies and nothing else went through the doors. I know this because my daughter also was born there. David Doughty


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The Military Maternity Hospital Woolwich was situated on Woolwich new road opposite the Artillery Depot. I believe that the midwives lived in the Garrison mess and not in the Royal Herbert Mess. There was always a QA other rank on duty from the Herbert at Nights. I was married to a QA OR and our first son was born in the military maternity unit in 1966. Bob Atkinson


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St George's Church

During the Second World War St George's Church, the church for the RA was hit by a flying bomb on 13 July 1944. Only the apse remains which holds the Royal Artillery Victoria Cross Memorial.


The centenary celebrations of the Royal Herbert Military Hospital took place on 12 November 1965.

Wounded soldiers from Northern Ireland were flow to the Royal Herbert Hospital and transferred to the care of QAs on the helicopter pad (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).

The Royal Herbert Hospital closed in 1977 when the new military hospital the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital was opened in nearby Stadium Road.

The book Sub Cruce Candida: A Celebration of One Hundred Years of Army Nursing cites the date of the closure of The Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich as being the 25 June 1977.


Notable Nurses Of Royal Herbert

Notable members of staff at the Royal Herbert Hospital include Superintendent of Nurses Miss A.E. Caulfield (some sources spell her surname as Caulfeild) who was on the 1883 Board of Inquiry that examined the medical care of troops during the 1882 Egyptian Campaign. From her recommendations and that of Nurse Miss C. Lloyd and Matron Mrs Deeble of Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley the Army Hospital Services Committee recommended that the Army Nursing Service be expanded. Miss A.E Caulfield retired in 1894. Upon the retirement of Miss Caulfeild the position of Lady Superintendent at Woolwich was withdrawn (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).

Royal Herbert Pavilions

The Royal Herbert remained boarded up and not used for many years. In 1990 the site was purchased by a property developer and developed into 228 luxurious flats and apartments called the Royal Herbert Pavilions. Many of the original features of the Royal Herbert Hospital were retained because of the Grade II Listing status. The historic building offers a blend of history with modern luxury which includes a lounge bar, a heated swimming pool with spa, sauna and steam room.


Ghost of Royal Herbert Military Hospital

Over the years there have been sightings of the ghost of the Royal Herbert Military Hospital by nurses and patients. Here is one account that was e-mailed to www.qaranc.co.uk:

Re ghostly goings on!!

In early 1965, I was a private in the QARANC, working at the Royal Herbert Military Hospital in Woolwich. I had already completed civilian training as an orthopaedic Student Nurse, and so, felt that "I`d seen and heard it all....!" horror stories and hospital ghosts notwithstanding....so with the arrogance of youth, I felt quite smug towards my colleagues, as they told of feeling "spooked "doing Night Duty in most wards of the hospital.

For most of our 12 hour duty we worked alone, with hourly visits from the Nursing Officers....

At about 3 am ,as I was quietly reassuring a young soldier recovering from a collapsed lung ,we both heard soft footsteps approaching the ward. I promised him a cup of tea once the visit from the expected Captain was over, and left his bedside to greet her.

As I reached the ward door, I saw that it was closed, but the measured tread seemed to pass me and continue into the ward itself. I`d love to claim that I bravely followed , but I stood rooted with terror to the spot. The spell was broken by the young soldier's strangled yelp, and I ran to his bedside (disobeying, of course, every rule about running , except in Fire or Haemorrhage! ) The unfortunate young man, gasping for breath told me that "The Sister" had come to his bed, but was "now vanishing"...His distress was acute, and I feared for his condition. The noise awoke the patient in the next bed, who put his light on, and my young soldier was able to draw long, if rasping breaths.

The atmosphere relaxed a little and whilst we did our best to reassure the poor soul, we were all very shaken. I stayed with the two (fortunately the rest of the ward remained asleep.) My soldier was convinced that he was dying , and that the event had been a forewarning. The minutes dragged by as I desperately tried to find the courage to go to the office to call for help and at the same time try to leave the soldier's bedside since he was clutching my hand and begging not be left alone!! It was with mixed feelings that we three heard the approaching footsteps, of what we all prayed were those of the Duty Officer (incarnate! )

My abiding memories of the Commissioned Qaranc were of their total dedication to the high principles of good nursing and the genuine care and concern with which they treated we Students. This officer was no exception, listening to each of us, accepting our distress and most importantly told of many others who had experienced the same thing in this ward and telling my young patient that all who had "been visited" by the spectral nurse recovered well and did not die.

As false dawn approached the Sister rang round the other wards to advise she was needed in ward four for some time yet and then went to make us all a cup of tea. She worked with me throughout, washing, changing bedpans and serving breakfast and she cheerily checked on the soldier, his neighbour and myself from time to time.

I was offered a new ward to transfer to in the morning, but felt that I didn't want to leave my young man again to face any further "visitations!" on his own. So said I`d stay if allowed in ward Four until posted elsewhere.

After the story spread like wildfire around the hospital, I learned of so many others who had differing experiences (and severe shock!) whilst working in many departments and wards. The Officers and Children's wards one floor up seemed to be particularly lively at night, I heard.

Guess where my next duty was? That spooky cavern like huge building had many "cold spots" and I was to sense several presences, rather than see, over a few more months on nights. Still, the R.H.M.H. has a place in my affections of happy times and I am proud to have been a member of the Corps, if only briefly. Incidentally, I have memories of ghostly goings on whilst at PTS in Stanhope Lines, Aldershot, in 1964 but these seemed of a rather more sinister nature...

Does the ghost still haunt the Royal Herbert Pavilion flats at SE18 4PE? I you have a ghost story to tell qaranc.co.uk or have any photos then please contact us.



Another ghost sighting of the Victorian nurse at the Royal Herbert Hospital in Woolwich was from someone on the children's ward.

As an ex-patient at Royal Herbert Hospital during 1965 to 1966 I would like to add a story of my own about the ghost nurse. I was in Ward 32 and as a treat I got the use of a wheelchair to roam about the ward between the playroom and the toilets/bathroom but on one particular day I was banned from using it and told to stay in bed. You see, I had a habit of speeding up and down the ward in my wheelchair and as you can imagine the width of the ward passage and should a nurse emerge from one of the rooms and seeing this little boy in a supercharged wheelchair speeding down the passage.

But while in bed I got bored and needed to go to the playroom to see if I can find a book to read but I couldn't get hold of a nurse - even though I did shout. So, I decided to carry out a secret mission and to go and get a book myself hoping that I don't get caught. I used one of my crutches to pull my wheelchair closer to the bed as it was placed out of reach, as soon as I got a hold of the wheelchair I eased myself inside and crept slowly towards the door, nobody to be seen, I then turned left and headed for the playroom. As I reached the playroom the toilets and bathroom were on the right and I heard footsteps in that area so, I quickly entered the playroom and got two books. As I left the playroom I looked to the right and I saw a nurse standing with her back to me.

What made me stare at her and found unusual was that she was not wearing a QARANC uniform but she was wearing a dark grey skirt which went down to her ankles, a lighter grey coloured shawl around her shoulders and a white bonnet style of hat which ended in a triangle shape down her back just about below her shoulders. She was just standing there. I zoomed out of the playroom and back into my room and in bed before she could see me. Later years I've learned that she was dressed like a Victorian nurse. I didn't mention this nurse in grey to any of the nurses because I wasn't supposed to be out on my wheelchair but I have heard the nurses chatting to one and another about seeing this nurse in grey. Alan



One ghost sighting at the Royal Herbert Pavilions was reported to Qaranc.co.uk by a mother whose nine year old son has seen a nurse wearing a white bonnet type of hat on her head. The ghost always appears in their hallway holding a candle. She and her husband have not seen the nurse ghost but both have sensed that someone or something is in their hallway since they moved to the building in September 2007. Their son has spoken to the lady and the ghost acknowledged him and spoke with him. She said her name was either Elaine, Ellen or Helen. The hallway would have been situated in the Royal Herbert Hospital Pavilion F, Ward 32, now the Panbro House.

The nurse ghost at the Royal Herbert has not been seen or felt anywhere else in the flat, just the hallway. The family have spoken to other residents of the Royal Herbert Pavilions and some have described that there have been previous ghost sightings and supernatural feelings. If you can help with any further information then please contact us.


I have been reading the ghost tales experienced at the Royal Herbert. In the mid fifties my sister was Manageress of the NAAFI at the Herbert, she told me of something that happened late one night after the NAAFI had closed. She was courting one of the Despatch riders who called there regularly and they did their courting in the rest room at the back of the building. She says that one night, very late, the soldier was asleep with his head in her lap and his legs stretched out in front of him on the floor. He was woken by someone stroking his hair in a 'comforting' way, he looked back and my sister was also fast asleep but with her arms folded. Both of them were terrified and he always maintained that he could feel someone else in the room and he wasn't the type to scare easy. Bert



Below are a collection of memories from former staff of the Royal Herbert Military Hospital, Woolwich:

At the Royal Herbert I recall that the female accommodation blocks had dense thorn bushes planted around them - it was rumoured that this was to make life painful for anyone jumping out of the window to escape a snap inspection of female quarters. I, of course, have no knowledge of whether this was effective or not! (Ken RAMC)


Read more about the history and development of the building with photographs and historic pictures at the Royal Herbert Pavilions website at www.royalherbert.co.uk



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


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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.