Who Do You Think You Are?
Friday 17 May 2013
| As Queenswood archivist I often receive requests from peopleasking for information about relatives who had some relationship with the school. I am going to tell you about some of them and their fascinating histories. |
One of these was from Mr Wood looking for information about
his grandfather, Thomas Wood. He had found some documents that showed Thomas
had served as an orderly for the Red Cross during the First World War. While
studying photographs in the Imperial War Museum Mr Wood had come across a
photograph of a motorised Red Cross ambulance being used at a field hospital in
Salonika (Greece) from 1915-18. He was surprised to see it had Queenswood
School written on the side. When Mr Wood then discovered that his grandfather
lived in Clapham Park before he left for Salonika, he decided to contact me to
find out if I had any records about the Queenswood ambulances. Queenswood girls
raised money to buy two Red Cross ambulances during WWI and these served in
Egypt and Salonika.
I contacted the curator of the Imperial War Museum who had
written the book in which the photograph appeared. An expert on Salonika, he
has written numerous articles and book chapters on the campaign. I sent him
copies of contemporary references to the Queenswood ambulances in the
Queenswood Chronicle and he sent me a photograph of one of the ambulances in
the field. He was very interested in it and asked me to write an article on the
ambulances for the Journal of Army Historical Research. I am now writing the
article and at the same time I have set up an exhibition in the library
entrance for you all to see.
I never did find proof that Thomas Wood accompanied the
Queenswood ambulances to Salonika, but I have a feeling he did. In any case, Mr
Wood can be proud of his grandfather’s contribution to the war effort.
I also discovered just how many Queenswood girls went to the
front to help the soldiers as V.A.D
nurses and in some cases as doctors. This they were encouraged to do by
their teachers and families. It was their duty. They were brave and willing,
but unprepared for what they found. Some became ill, particularly from malaria,
some died, both of illness and in the fighting. They also saved many lives and
offered comfort to the suffering soldiers. Their names are in the exhibition.
They are forgotten names, but perhaps some day their relatives will come
looking in the Queenswood Archives for information about them.