British Women during the First World War
- Aug 20, 2010
- Posted By: Annette Fulford
- 0 comments
- Tags: none
What did your mother, grandmother or great grandmother do during the First World War? Was she one of the millions of women who worked in the many war related organizations like the land army, or as a cook for the Women's Royal Air Force, or a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse for the British Red Cross. Many others worked in war related industries like munitions factories or offices. Here are a few ways to learn more about what they did in WWI.
Do you have a picture of them in a uniform? Could it be from one of the following organizations:
British Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse (VAD) http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/Who-we-are/Museum-and-archives/Resources-for-researchers/Volunteers-and-personnel-records
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) http://www.fany.org.uk/page/2182
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later known as the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/waac.asp
Women's Forestry Corps
Women's Land Army
Women's Legion
Women's Royal Airforce (WRAF) http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/ww1airwomen.asp
Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/wrns.asp
Did they receive a medal for their WWI service?
WWI Campaign Medals http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=10&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1
Death of a War Bride
- Aug 16, 2010
- Posted By: Annette Fulford
- 0 comments
- Tags: war bride, wwi
While the majority of war brides that came to Canada as a result of the First World War survived the journey to North America. Sadly, a number of these women perished while on their voyage or shortly after arriving on Canadian shores. Among the number was Lily Palmer.
Buried At Sea
Toronto World, November 19, 1918, 4
Mrs. S. Palmer, a young English bride traveling on the Olympic to make a home for her soldier husband, Sergt. Palmer, now serving with the Canadian Veterinary Hospital, died and was buried at sea.
Lily was on her way to Toronto to setup a home for her new husband and his young children, Madge, Roy and Reginald.
Lily May Young married British-born Canadian Expeditionary Force soldier Samuel Palmer in 1918. Their marriage was registered in the September Quarter 1918 at Stoke upon Trent, Staffordshire. She left from Southampton, England on the Olympic on November 3, 1918. The ship landed at New York on the 10th.
The Olympic war diaries say she died of Broncho-pneumonia and septicaemia on November 8, 1918 and was buried at sea on the 9th. Lily was only 23 years old. Her name on the manifest is crossed out and has "Died at sea" beside it.
Samuel's first wife Beatrice Malkin died in June 1914 of Phthisis Pulmonalis (tuberculosis). Samuel married again in 1924 to Ruby May Cunningham, a nurse. Sadly, his daughter Madge died in 1925 of PulmonaryTuberculosis at age 18.
War Bride's Story Adds Chapter to Book
- May 31, 2010
- Posted By: Annette Fulford
- 0 comments
- Tags: none
Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Times, August 31, 2007
War bride's story adds chapter to book
In 1919, Grace Clark boarded the ship Melita with her Canadian husband, bound for a new home on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Her husband John Clark, stationed in England during the First World War, was a farmer from Saskatchewan before being drafted. The Canadian solider arrived in England in August 1918, in southern England, before ending up in north Yorkshire, at the Ripon base.
After arriving at Ripon, John and Grace (born Gibson) met, fell in love, and married at a Presbyterian church in Sheffield on April 15, 1919. They journeyed to Canada together in September on the Melita, which was carrying Canadian soldiers, war brides and civilians.
The ship set sail from Liverpool on Sept. 17, 1919, and the newlyweds arrived at the Port of Quebec eight days later.
Granddaughter Annette Fulford has found out all about the war bride's journey to this vast country through an account of her adventure, which she wrote in a letter of more than 68 pages on a notepad. Fulford has typed that letter up, and it totals 14 pages.
The letter sparked an interest in First World War brides in Fulford, who has been researching her family history since 1992. She has written a chapter on First World War brides for historian Melynda Jarratt's new book, called War Brides: The stories of the women who left everything behind to follow the men they loved.
"It's a part of Canadian history that there's very little information about," she said, adding that it's a part of history that's been overlooked.
According to Jarratt, the book is the first publication of its kind, which covers the history of war brides from the First World War.
While there's plenty of information about war brides from the Second World War, Fulford said information about war brides from the First World War was much less plentiful.
"When I started to look, I couldn't find information," she said.
Information about war brides from the First World War wasn't catalogued as such, instead listed under "pioneer" in library catalogues.
But now, she's started to find out more about them, from newspapers, on the web and other sources.
One day, there could be a book's worth of stories, but she said she's only been at it for two years.
Besides the chapter in Jarratt's book, she also has put up a display at the Maple Ridge Library, and is putting the finishing touches on a second display.
Some of what Fulford has learned about war brides of the First World War can be read at http://www.cefresearch.com/phpBB2/index.php.
Fulford's posting on the war brides is available at www.cefresearch.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1622.
And a direct link to her grandmother's letter is at www.canadianwarbrides.com/clark-grace.asp
http://www.canada.com/mapleridgetimes/news/story.html?id=f85b7625-6aa8-442b-9814-4805716d608d
Note: My grandfather was Hugh Clark, not John as indicated in the article.
War Bride Presentation
- Mar 19, 2010
- Posted By: Annette Fulford
- 1 comment
- Tags: wwi war bride presentation
CANADIAN WAR BRIDES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
with family historian Annette Fulford
Thursday, April 22, 2010
7:30 pm
St. Andrew’s Heritage Church
22279 116th Ave, Maple Ridge, BC
Presented by the Maple Ridge Historical Society
Members free, visitors $2.00
Canadian War Brides Blog
- Sep 18, 2008
- Posted By: Annette Fulford
- Tags: first world war, war brides, world war one, ww1, wwi
For more information about WWI war brides, check out my blog Canadian War Brides of the First World War at http://ww1warbrides.blogspot.com/ .