War memorial in Kilkenny, Ireland, listing Matron Elizabeth Kelly Parker (QAIMNS) among First World War deaths; she died of illness contracted while serving in Egypt in 1916.[2]
Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corps traces its heritage to Florence Nightingale, who was instrumental in lobbying for the support of female military nurses.[3] The Army Nursing Service, which had been established in 1881, and which from 1889 provided Sisters for all Army hospitals with at least 100 beds,[4] had only a small number of nurses in its employ. In 1897, in an effort to have nurses available if needed for war, the service was supplemented by Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service Reserve (PCANSR). Nurses registered for the service and by the beginning of the First Boer War the reserve had around 100 members, but swelled its membership to over 1400 during the conflict. PCANSR eventually became the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.[5] On 27 March 1902,[6]Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was established by Royal Warrant, and was named after Queen Alexandra, who became its president.[7] In 1949, the QAIMNS became a corps in the British Army and was renamed as the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. Since 1950 the organisation has trained nurses, and in 1992 men were allowed to join.[4]
The associated Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association is a registered charity. Queen Alexandra was president from 1902 until her death in 1925. The following year she was succeeded by Queen Mary.[8]
Five early members of the Army Nursing Service trained at The London Hospital under Eva Luckes, and went onto become Superintendents.[10] They also later served in the QAIMNS.
May Russell, joined in 1885, promoted in 1893.[11]
Ann Garriock, joined in 1886, promoted in 1899.[12]
Ethel Hope Becher, GBE, RRC and Bar, Principal Matron, 1903, Matron in Chief, War Office, 1910-1919.[20]
Ann Garriock, RRC, Matron, 1903, Principal Matron - South Africa, 1907-1910.[12][21][22][23]
Emma Maud McCarthy, GBE, RRC & Bar, DStJ , Matron, 1903, Principal Matron War Office, 1910-1914, Matron in Chief, British Expeditionary Force (BEF), 1914-1919.[24][25]
Sarah Elizabeth Oram, DBE, RRC, Matron 1903, Principal Matron -South Africa, 1911-1914, Nursing Inspector and attached to BEF 1914-1915, and Matron in Chief (Acting ) Eastern Mediterranean Force 1915-1919.[13]
The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was originally formed to staff the territorial force hospitals at home, and the majority of its members spent their service during World War I in the United Kingdom, not only in the 25 territorial hospitals, but also in hundreds of auxiliary units throughout the British Isles. Within a short time they were also employed in the eighteen territorial hospitals abroad, and alongside their QAIMNS colleagues in military hospitals and casualty clearing stations in France and Belgium, Malta, Salonica, Gibraltar, Egypt, Mesopotamia and East Africa.[30][31]
The Territorial Army Nursing Service (TANS) was formed in 1920, when the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army. It existed until 1949, when both regular and reserve nurses joined the QARANC. Territorial Army nurses served alongside QAIMNS nurses all over the world, and in all campaigns during World War II.[30]
The initial ranking system used by the QAIMNS was as follows.
More information QAIMNS rank, Equivalent Army rank (from 1941) ...
The Colonel in Chief is The Duchess of Edinburgh GCVO GCStJ CD. The Corps has two Colonels Commandant, Colonel Andrea Lewis RRC, who was appointed in 2023, and Colonel Kevin Davies MBE RRC OStJ TD DL, who was appointed in 2017.[35]
In January 2016 a new post, Chief Nursing Officer (Army), replaced the role of Matron-in-Chief and the Director Army Nursing Services.[35]
Colonel Karen J Irvine (January 2016 – January 2018)[35]
Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons'? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders: 1880–1919' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)
The War Office records for Ann Garriock do not appear to have survived. Ann Garriock, see: Boer War Nurses Database [Available at: http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/pcansr/Research/research, accessed on 14 October 2024].
The War Office record for Caroline Hutton Potts does not appear to have survived. Caroline Hutton Potts, Military Nurses 1856–1994; transcription by Sue Light [Available at: www.findmypast.co.uk, accessed 18 March 2018]
Matrons Annual Letter, No.1, Matron's Annual Letter to Nurses, 1894–1916; RLHLH/N/7/2, No.1, May 1894, 9; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
The Minutes of the Fourteenth Nursing Board, 21 January 1903; Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service: Proceedings and Reports; April 1902–March 1903; WO243/20, Vol.1, 113; The National Archives, Kew.
Accepted as Matron: The Minutes of the Sixteenth Nursing Board, 11 February 1903; Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service: Proceedings and Reports; April 1902 – March 1903; WO243/20, Vol.1, 124; The National Archives, Kew.
"Obituary: Miss M. E. Russell, RRC". The Nursing Times: 684. 10 July 1937 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale.
The Minutes of the Thirty-eighth Nursing Board, 16 March 1904; Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service: Proceedings and Reports; April 1903 – March 1904; WO243/21, Vol.2, 193; The National Archives, Kew.
The Minutes of the Twenty-seventh Nursing Board, 30 September 1903; Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service:
Proceedings and Reports; April 1903 – March 1904; WO243/21, Vol.2, 76; The National Archives, Kew.
Bentley, Hannah. "Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service: A study of female active service during the First World War" (PhD dissertation, University of East Anglia, 2021) online
Fell, Alison S. Fell and Christine E. Hallett, eds. First World War Nursing: New Perspectives (Abingdon, 2013)
Hall, Coryne. Princesses on the Wards: Royal Women in Nursing through Wars and Revolutions (The History Press, 2014).
Hallett, Christine E. Containing Trauma: Nursing Work in the First World War (Manchester UP, 2009)
Hallett, Christine E. Veiled Warriors: Allied Nurses of the First World War (Oxford UP, 2014)
Hawkins, Sue. Nursing and Women’s Labour in the Nineteenth Century: The Quest for Independence (2010)
Hay, Ian. One Hundred Years of Army Nursing (1953)
McEwen, Yvonne. In the Company of Nurses: The History of the British Army Nursing Service in the Great War (2014)
Noakes, Lucy. Women in the British Army: War and the Gentle Sex, 1907-1948 (2006)
Piggott, Juliet. Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Pen and Sword, 1990)
Piggott, Juliet. Famous Regiments: Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Leo Cooper Ltd, 1975)
Summers, Anne. Angels and Citizens: British Women as Military Nurses 1854-1914 (2000)
Taylor, Eric. Wartime Nurse: One Hundred Years from the Crimea to Korea 1854-1954 (2001)
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