A Red Cross Hospital in Wales

From the Brecon & Radnor Express, 17th October, 1918.

PENOYRE RED CROSS HOSPITAL.

Sir,—Our first convoy of 30 patients since the re-opening of the Hospital, arrived on Saturday evening, 12th.  We offer most grateful thanks to Col. Kennard, Miss Williams (Penpont), Rev. H. Church Jones, Messrs. Nott and Co., and Miss Nancie Jones, who lent cars to fetch the patients from the station.  Owing to an accident on the line the train was an hour late, and the patients arrived very cold and hungry, so it was all important they should be brought swiftly to warmth and food.  We also offer thanks for following gifts:— Sack of potatoes from children of Llandilorfan Council School, grown in the playground by the children; 2 rabbits, Miss Davies. Penwern; 4 gallons milk. 5 lbs. butter, Mrs McClintock; 2 lbs. honey, Mrs Stubbs, per Miss Best; tomatoes for men, Mrs Raikes.  We hope our kind friends who have sent us vegetables, eggs, etc., will remember our wants.

ALICE M. de WINTON,
Commandant.

[Earlier in the war, Miss de Winton ran the War Clothing Depot in Brecon, and issued regular requests for local knitters to produce socks, mittens, etc.  In fact, she was still doing that, while also, as this letter shows, running the Penoyre Red Cross Hospital.] 

Help For British Prisoners of War

From Woman’s Weekly, 12th October 1918.

HELP FOR BRITISH PRISONERS.

A Very Useful Article, Telling How to Inquire After the Soldier who is in Enemy Hands.

MUCH time might be saved, and trouble avoided, by going about a thing in the right way.
At the request of your Editress, therefore, I am going to tell readers who are anxious to ascertain information of the missing, or to send parcels to prisoners of war, the best way to go about it.

THE FIRST STEP. 
IN the first instance, write to The British Red Cross Society, 18, Carlton House Terrace, and do not fall into the common error of stating that "your son or husband is missing" without giving his Christian name and regimental number, or even the name of his regiment.  Remember that in the majority of cases dozens bear the same surname, and the omission causes unnecessary trouble and delay.
Should you hear from Carlton House, or from some other source, that he is a prisoner of war, your next step would be to call at or write to

Central Prisoners of War Committee, 
Records Dept., 
4, Thurloe Place, 
London, S.W. 1, 

giving information received, with a view to sending him food.  The entire record, as far possible, of every prisoner, and details, can be had from the above address.  However, many regiments have their own care committee, and the Central Prisoners of War Committee—which is a branch of the Red Cross—only pack for a certain number.
If you want to send a parcel to a British prisoner, you can send it through the committee.

STANDARD PARCELS. 
HEREWITH two standard parcels, costing about 10s.

(A)

One pound of beef, one pound of vegetables, one pound of rations, half a pound of cheese, quarter of a pound of tea, half a pound of milk, half a pound of sugar, half a pound of dripping or margarine, one pound of jam, one pound of biscuits, one packet of Quaker oats or milk pudding, fifty cigarettes or one ounce of tobacco, one tin of sardines, and one tablet of soap. 

(B)

One pound of beef, one pound of bacon, one pound of baked beans, half a pound of tea, half a pound of ham or veal, or beef dripping, one pound of biscuits, one pound of rations, one pound of dripping or margarine, one pound of Quaker oats or Grape Nuts or milk pudding, one tin of sardines, one pea-soup roll, fifty cigarettes, and one tablet of soap. 

NO assistance is afforded by the Government in any way, the institution being entirely supported by voluntary contributions.  This being the case, surely no one with a conscience will seek assistance without doing their utmost to help.
Of course, there are genuine cases of poverty.  The mother with a large family of growing children, struggling bravely with her inadequate separation allowance, can do little, if anything. If, however, she frankly states her case to the secretary of the committee, the prisoner will be as well looked after as those whose relatives are able to provide for him.

WHAT THE PRISONERS WRITE. 
HERE is a typically grateful letter, culled from a large number of similar ones, which the committee has kindly given me permission to publish:
(Extract from Pte. E. May's letter.) 

Rifle Brigade, 

Lager Lechfeld, 

May 13th, 1918. 

You will be glad to know that we are regularly receiving our parcels from the British Red Cross, and we are truly thankful for the same.  What we should do without them I dread to think.  Life would not be worth living.  They contain an excellent assortment of foods, and the best quality at that.  In addition to our grocery packets we receive bread parcels, each containing two loaves of pure white bread.  So you can rest assured that we will not starve while we have a British Red Cross Society.  May their good work continue to the end!  
The Red Cross sends all we need. 

With regard to the bread mentioned in the letter, as soon as the committee know the camp at which the prisoner is, a wire is instantly despatched to Copenhagen, and the society's agents begin to send him weekly supplies of bread.

HOW THE COMMITTEE WORKS. 
DIFFERENT sections deal with different regiments.  Directly information is received from the secretary relating to any particular captured man it is taken to the right quarter, and two cards are written for him.
One is for the camp-room (containing all particulars and source of information), the other for the records.
The latter are filed in boxes alphabetically arranged.  Fresh information is added from time to time, so that the committee is in a position to supply in-quires with all particulars.
The splendid work done by the Red Cross—of which the Central Prisoners of War Committee is a branch—needs no comment. Even those who have grown somewhat weary and sceptical of war charities must surely be in sympathy with it.
Every penny sent for the help of the prisoners of war is spent on them, and on them alone.  I am in a position to unhesitatingly assert this.  There is no reduction for working expenses, or anything of that sort.  Our brave lads get the full benefit of your generosity and self-denial.
I must not omit to mention that officers are cared for in the same way as the men and the relatives of both receive the same courteous consideration from all who have the great work at heart,
FREDA ELLIOT.

Red Cross Workers Wanted

From The Times 17th September 1918. 

RED CROSS WORKERS WANTED.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—May I ask leave to plead in your columns for further aid for the Central Workrooms?  During the three years of our existence we have, through our working parties, home workers, and workers in the Central Workrooms, been able to supply over 30 million garments and hospital necessaries to the joint stores of the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John in Pall-mall, and to Red Cross hospitals in all the fighting areas.  It is, however, in the Central Workrooms at Burlington House that help is primarily needed.  Whenever a sudden demand for any special necessary arises it is to these rooms that the stores department first turns.  For instance, a thousand sand-fly and mosquito-proof sleeping suits were urgently needed in hospitals in Mesopotamia.  These were made by our workers at the rate of 250 a week.  Many such examples could be cited, and now that the autumn is here and the sick and wounded are daily increasing in number, we need more and more ladies to come and help us.  Machinists are especially welcomed, but all who can help are invited.  May we ask that many will volunteer for a certain number of days or half-days each week, remembering that this is an urgent national work, for the wounded will not be restored to health without the necessary comforts and appliances? 
Yours, &c.,
LOUISE GOSFORD.
British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John, Headquarters Central Workrooms, Royal Academy, Piccadilly, W.1.

Gifts to Penoyre Red Cross Hospital

From the Brecon County Times, June 6th 1918.

PENOYRE RED CROSS HOSPITAL.

To the Editor of the COUNTY TIMES.

Sir,—We offer most grateful thanks to all the following kind friends for gifts:—Collected by Miss Best, May 24th, 20 eggs and parsley, May 30th ½lb. butter, 12 eggs, rhubarb and 12 spring cabbages; Miss Price, Newmarch street, vegetables; 1 hamper, Mrs Garnons Williams; 1 hamper Miss A. deWinton; 2 hampers, Capt. Evans; 2 hampers lettuce, Mrs Gray; 2 hampers, Lord Glanusk (l omitted from last week's list); 182 eggs, per Miss Llewelyn Davies, collected from districts of Devynock, Sennybridge, Senny, Llandilo'rfan; Blaenwysg and Cray; fruit, Mr Hyatt Williams; 35 eggs, Mrs Pugh, Closcede; 1 whole sheep, Mr Howell Powell - a most generous gift.  We also offer grateful thanks to the artistes of the Music in War Time Red Cross Concert Party, who came to the hospital on Friday, May 31st, and gave us a most splendid entertainment.  We wish all our kind friends could have come and enjoyed the first-rate music and ventriloquism.
ALICE M. DEWINTON,
June 3rd, 1918.      Commandant.

[From the start of the war, Miss de Winton had been in charge of the Brecon War Clothing Depot, and issuing requests for knitted articles and very terse patterns for mittens, socks and so on - for instance, here.  By now, she had evidently diversified into running teh Red Cross hospital.]

Red Cross Sale

From The Times,  November 29th 1917.

BUSY RED CROSS WORKERS.

BIRTHDAY SALE OPENED BY THE PRINCESS ROYAL.

The Princess Royal, with whom were Princess Maud and Lady Gosford, president of the work rooms, opened yesterday afternoon the birthday sale of the Headquarters central work rooms of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John, at the Royal Academy.  The Princess was received by the Dowager Countess of Jersey, Lady Bland-Sutton, Lady Jekyll, Sir Arthur Stanley, and Mrs. Philip Turner (hon. matron), and a little girl, Doreen Gow, dressed as a Red Cross nurse, presented a bouquet of red roses.  The workers in their blue overalls had a holiday, and were either buying or selling at the stalls.  The Princess bought at nearly every stall, and chose a Cardigan made on a machine by one of the workers who knits socks on the same machine at the rate of half-a-dozen pairs a morning.  She also bought from Mrs. H. G. Wells, one of the workers at Burlington House, copies of "The Soul of a Bishop" and “Mr. Britling Sees it Through,” signed by the author.

The produce stall, which contained butter and eggs, home-made cakes and fruit, was cleared out before 1 o'clock and had to be re-stocked.  Many friends and workers of the Red Cross came in to buy during the afternoon, among them the Duchess of Rutland, Lady Acheson, Lady Mary Ward, and Lady Constance Butler.

Since the opening of the work rooms on October 22, 1915, the members have made 83,830 garments, 5,210 knitted articles, 235,000 bandages, 177,200 surgical dressings, and as patterns (in correct hospital materials) for work parties, home workers, &c, 2,030 garments and 4,050 bandages.  The home workers registered with the work rooms have, in the same time, supplied 191,314 garments and 169,882 surgical and hospital requisites, making a grand total of 868,516 articles sent to the Red Cross Stores Department.  This total is exclusive of the supplies sent in by registered working parties, which exceed 10 million articles.  The demands from the hospitals are so great that more workers are wanted, and those ready to help should apply to the secretary, Miss L. C. Smythe, at the Royal Academy.

Appeal for 500 Small Knitted Caps

From the Brecon County Times, 1st February 1917.

WAR CLOTHING DEPOT. 

Miss deWinton thinks the workers for the Depot will be glad to know that about 1,200 articles—shirts, socks, comforters, &c.—have been sent in the last two months to the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Battalions S.W.B. [South Wales Borderers], and have been very much appreciated.
She now wants 500 small caps knitted in as short a time as possible.  They don't take long to do!  The wool is at the Depot, 89, The Watton, Brecon; the pattern is as follows :—

CAPS-RED CROSS PATTERN.
Two needles, 7 or 8.
Cast on 44 stitches.
Knit 15 rows, 2 plain, 2 purl,
Knit 30 double rows plain
Knit 15 rows, 2 plain, 2 purl.
Cast off loosely; fold in half; sew up the sides, and fasten the top corners down to the top of the ribbing.

Miss deWinton is sure her Breconshire helpers will work hard again.  Caps are winter wear, wanted at once, please.

[At the start of the war, Miss de Winton appeared frequently in the Brecon newspapers, asking for various items to be knitted.  But before this appeal for caps, I had not found any communication from her since this one in February 1915.  It's good to see that she was still busy, and publishing extremely terse knitting patterns.]     

Gifts to the Penoyre Red Cross Hospital

From the Brecon & Radnor Express, 23rd March 1916.

PENOYRE RED CROSS HOSPITAL.

Sir,—We wish to thank very gratefully the following kind friends for gifts sent to the Hospital:-- Sheets, pillows and bolster cases, and towels, from Cefn Ladies' Working Party, sent by Miss Violet Jones, Cilsanws; scarves sent by the Misses Jones; eggs and apples from Mrs Jones, Tyfry, Llanfrynach; eggs from Mrs Cole-Hamilton, Llangattock Rectory; vegetables, Mrs Garnons Williams; eggs and vegetables, Cantref Parish, Mrs Saunders Jones; eggs, Mrs D. Williams; eggs, Mrs Davies, Groes; bread, eggs, jam, books, Miss Vaughan; potatoes, Mr D. Phillips; chicken, Mrs Vaughan; two chickens, Mrs T. Jones, Llwyncelyn; eggs and jam, Mrs Price Jones; milk and apples, Miss Griffith, Battle End; milk and eggs, Miss Morgan, Ynismoch; eggs, Miss Davies, Cwmwysg, collected in Sennybridge and Aberyskir district; eggs, Corporal Evanson; apples, 1½ lbs. butter, eggs, collected in the market by Miss Best.

Chickens are the greatest help for the sick and we are extra grateful to our friends who send them.

Mrs Graham Clarke very kindly came up and sang for us on Friday, and the patients and staff think it was very kind of her and Lady Pelly to come up on such an arctic day.

Yours, &c.,
ALICE M. deWINTON,
March 13th.
Commandant.

[I partly included this letter because I had wondered what had happened to Miss deWinton, last heard of in February 1915, asking for socks to be knitted for the Brecon War Clothing Depot.  Being in charge of a hospital looks like a step up.  It seems that the hospital was having  to rely on charity to supply all the food for the patients, as well as medical supplies, perhaps, although it was presumably treating sick or wounded soldiers, and so I would have expected that it would get support from the War Office.] 

Guide For Needlework Helpers

From The Times, Friday March 5, 1915. 

GUIDE FOR NEEDLEWORK HELPERS.

WANTS OF THE SOCIETIES.

The special needs of Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, the St. John Ambulance Association, the Indian Soldiers' Fund, and the British Red Cross Society for the coming week are as follows:—

Queen Mary's Needlework Guild.—Cardigans and sweaters, flannel day and night shirts, towels, feather pillows, locks, slippers (large size), handkerchiefs (coloured), vests and pants (preferably woven), bandages, women’s stockings, children's jerseys and stockings, babies' long clothes, boys' shirts and clothing of all sorts. No more belts are required. Shirts and socks are urgently needed: socks should be stitched together in pairs. All parcels should be addressed "Q.M.N.G., Friary Court, St. James's Palace. S.W." with list of contents and name and address of sender securely fastened inside each package.

St. John Ambulance Association:-- Dressing gowns, night-shirts, flannel and cotton, pneumonia jackets, handkerchiefs (especially coloured), blankets (coloured and white), towels and sheets, household cloths, cigarettes, bandages (many-tailed), ditto (“T”), lint (boric and plain), cyanide gauze. All parcels should be addressed “St. John Ambulance, 56, St. John’s Square, Clerkenwell, E.C." Information respecting patterns, &c., can be obtained from the West-end Depot, 35, Park-lane.

Order Of St. John of Jerusalem, Indian Soldiers’ Fund.— Socks, gloves and mittens, sweaters, flannel belts, shirts, and pyjamas, undervests and drawers, pillows, tea, tobacco, spices, and sweets. All hospital things are much needed, including night-shirts, bed-jackets. gauze, lint. boracic lint, cotton wool, bandages, &c., pneumonia jackets. &c.  All parcels, with list of contents inside, should be sent direct to the Secretary. Warehouse Committee. 29. Somerset-street, W. marked on the outside. “Indian Soldiers' Fund,"

British Red Cross Society. -- Vests and pants (woven or flannel, as per Red Cross pattern), cardigan jackets, knitted waistcoats, flannel shirts, flannel nightshirts and pyjamas, socks, tablecloths and napkins, tray-cloths, white counterpanes, blankets, towels and sheets, suitable games (chiefly draughts), hair brushes, shaving brushes.  No more paper or straw pillows of any kind are needed, as they are considered undesirable by all hospitals.  For the present no more kneecaps or empty kit-bags are required.  Special Medical Requirements.—Iodoform gauze, boric and plain lint.  No more triangular bandages, eye bandages, or splints are required at present.  All parcels should be addressed to the Manager, Stores Department, British Red Cross Society, 83, Pall-Mall, S.W.

At A Mobile Army Hospital

From the Halifax Courier, 27th February 1915. 

“SPLENDID TO NURSE”

A TRIBUTE TO THE BRITISH SOLDIER.

Sister Fox (daughter of Mr. C.J. Fox, Trimmingham Villas), who is in Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Servicer, is home on six days’, leave from “somewhere in France.”  She left Halifax on August 20 for mobilisation in Dublin, and shortly afterwards went to France.  She left duty on Monday, arriving home on Tuesday, and she returns on Sunday.  During winter the weather, similar to here, has been awfully wet, but happily Sister Fox has had good health all the time.  She has been on duty in a mobile British Army hospital, and the nurses here are all British.  All wounded who have passed through the hospital where she is located have been British, including contingents of Indians.  The men stay at the mobile hospitals two or three days, where their injuries receive attention, and then they are entrained either for the base hospital or for the boats to be brought to England.

 Sister Fox speaks in terms of the highest praise of the soldiers.  “They are,” she says, “simply wonderful in their cheerfulness, and are splendid to nurse.  You never hear them grumble, but all are anxious to be quickly better are to resume their duties.  They never seem to tire of the old cry, ‘Are we down-hearted?’ and then through the hospital comes the response ‘No.’  In the early stages of the war the men were in a bad condition, through lack of clothing and they came in fearfully tired thorough long duty in the trenches.  These things have now been improved, and everything is much better.  With the reduced hours in the trenches the men are not as tired when they come in, and you couldn’t have anyone better to nurse.  The British Tommies are a happy and contented lot.”

Though convoys from the trenches arrive every two or three days, Sister Fox, strangely, has not in all the months come across a Halifax man, though she has made inquiries from every contingent.  When the men are not seriously injured, instead of being sent to the base hospital or to England, they go to convalescent camps in France.

Sister Fox desires, through us, to express thanks to many friends who have kindly forwarded gifts to her for the soldiers.  Every gift thus received has been promptly given by her to men in need – usually to those who have been going to convalescent camps and have thus had no chance of coming home for comforts.  The recipients have been glad to have them, and have expressed appreciation of the kindness of their unknown friends.  During the severe winter, woollen goods have been particularly welcome, and indeed, all the things sent have been extremely useful.  “I don’t know what we should have done, if we had not had all these gifts sent,” added Sister Fox, who was kind enough to suggest that the majority were due to the publicity given by the “Courier,” which some months ago quoted extracts from a letter sent home by her, in which she stated the need of the men, little expecting there would be such a quick and splendid response.

Pattern for a Nightingale

From the Brecon County Times, 7th January 1915.

DRESSMAKING AT HOME.

By SYLVIA.

A Nightingale or Bed Jacket.

Now that so many of our brave fellows are unfortunately in hospital, wounded more or less seriously, the demand for articles for their use when under treatment is very great.  As some of the cases are serious, and the men are unable to wear ordinary garments, owing to wounds, which make it difficult or, perhaps, impossible to move the arm, the garment which is always associated with its inventor, the woman to whom our splendid nursing system is due, Florence Nightingale, is the one generally favoured. 

The wrap, known as a "Nightingale," is one of the simplest possible to make up, but one of the most suitable and comfortable possible for the purpose for which it is designed.  It is sketched in No. 1,847, with the addition of a pocket, which will add to its utility where a masculine wearer is intended, though the wrap can be worn by invalids of the other sex, and I know one now—a Belgian refugee— who is experiencing the comfort of such a gift, and was loud in praise of the comfort and practicality of a garment she had never seen before.

To Make Up.

Simplicity of the most extreme kind characterises the making-up of the wrap, which consists of one long strip, pleated in a box-pleat midway of its length, which comes to the centre of the back. The corners of the length are secured together for a few inches to form cuffs, the point of the corner being turned up to give a smartening touch to the wrap, which is merely hemmed all round and ornamented with feather-stitching, or binding if preferred. 

The collar is an addition which gives a more finished effect, and possibly a more masculine touch to the wrap, and this must be put on afterwards.  In the original design, however, this detail is usually omitted.  As to materials, flannel and flannelette are those selected either in red, khaki colour, or grey, and homespun in the latter shade makes a very useful wrap for hospital purposes.  The making, as I have said, is of the simplest, and about 2¾ yards of material will be needed for a full-sized wrap. 

[There are frequent mentions of nightingales in lists of garments made by volunteer groups for hospital, and in Red Cross appeals, but this is the only description I have seen of the garment. It is, as Sylvia says, extremely simple to make.  There was a pattern that readers could send off for, but a pattern hardly seems necessary.] 

Hospital Clothing Wanted

From the Brecon County Times, 7th January 1915

War Clothing Depot.

Miss deWinton has received a letter of most grateful thanks from the Colonel commanding 7th Battalion S. W.B. [South Wales Borderers] at St. Leonard's for the gift of 250 pairs of socks sent him.  Hospital garments for the wounded are now much needed.  Miss deWinton wants made 100 flannelette nightshirts, also flannel nightshirts and bedjackets, and has materials in stock for making them.  Slippers also are much wanted, as many men are suffering from frost-bite.  Socks are still much needed.  She hopes all requests for materials may be sent to her by Monday, the 10th, as she may be away for a fortnight after that.  She finds the helmets asked for will not be needed until January 29th, when she hopes all possible will be sent to the Depot.

[We have heard from Miss deWinton before - for instance here.  She doesn't waste words in issuing instructions, but to be fair she had issued an earlier warning on 31st December that she would be  asking for hospital garments: “Miss de Winton is now sending garments to Talgarth Asylum for wounded. She may ask working parties to make some hospital garments at short notice.”

 She does seem to be away from Brecon a lot - inconvenient for her volunteers as no-one else is allowed to issue materials for making garments.]

Work Amongst the Women

From the Huddersfield Examiner, 26th November, 1914

[Extracts from a much longer article.]

WORK AMONGST THE WOMEN.

MUCH ACTIVITY CENTRALISED AT THE PAROCHIAL HALL.

...The members of the Huddersfield and District Women’s Committee for the Sick and Wounded Soldiers and Sailors arranged to be “at home” at the Parochial Hall on Tuesday and again to-day.  At the first of the series of four “At Homes” which took place on Tuesday afternoon, the Mayoress (who is president of the Women’s Committee) presided over a very large gathering of ladies. .....

A VAST UNDERTAKING

Mrs. Demetriadi read the report [of the work of the Committee].... She invited all present to inspect the work rooms below, particularly the Belgian refugee clothing room, where a capable lot of workers, under the supervision of Mrs. Crowther and Miss Willans, had done an enormous amount of work.  From that room more than 320 Belgian refugees now in Huddersfield had been clothed.....
In the main rooms an enormous number of garments had been cut out, despatched to the various work centres, and returned made up.  Mrs. Marshall and Mrs. Guy Crosland had cut out and arranged the work, and Mrs. Kaye had searched Huddersfield over in buying wool for socks, mittens, etc.
Goods had been sent all over the British Isles, to the army in France, to the navy, and to all the Red Cross societies, British, French, and Belgian, and to the St. John Ambulance Society.  She hoped that many ladies would undertake to knit jerseys, for which Lady Jellicoe had appealed on behalf of the men in the navy....  
The committee hoped that the energies of the ladies would not be relaxed.  The women could not fight, but they could see that the men were well provided with the necessities of life, to prevent as much as possible death from pneumonia, exposure, and cold.

STITCH, STITCH, STITCH

Miss Hickson [reported on] the work of the Needlework Guild Sub-committee. She stated that forty districts, extending as far as Holmfirth, Marsden, and Delph, were working in conjunction with the guild, and material for making garments had been distributed amongst 400 individual workers. Very valuable assistance had been given to the committee by several clothing firms, whose employees had cut out the garments. Gifts averaged about 1,000 weekly. Difficulty had been experienced in obtaining knitting wool, and the only way of obtaining sufficiently large quantities had been by ordering direct from wholesale firms. All flannel, etc., and as much wool as possible, had been bought from local tradespeople.  The needlework depot had been opened as a receiving and forwarding agency for the front and the Navy, and in connection with that department a sixpenny fund had been started in order to buy wool for mufflers and mittens for the soldiers and sailors.  The total number of articles sent away was 22,644, consisting of 6,650 bandages, 3,519 pairs of socks, 2,292 flannel shirts, 202 mufflers, 261 dressing gowns, also bed-jackets, helmets, mittens, etc., but such things as cigarettes, writing paper, postcards, etc., were not included in the figure.....  The Needlework Committee was still working as enthusiastically as ever, and was prepared to continue as long as there was need, and they hoped to receive the same generous support as in the past.

FOR THE REFUGEES.

Miss Willans read the report of the Belgian Refugee Clothing Committee... Parcels of all sizes and descriptions had poured in containing a tremendous assortment of clothing of every description, from a baby’s cap to the contents of the lockers of a large golf club.  Splendid gifts of cloth had been received from various manufacturers, as well as special articles of clothing, boots, etc., from manufacturers and various shops in the town.  The contents of the parcels had either been given away to the refugees in the town or sent away.  Altogether twelve consignments of clothing and two rolls of cloth, amounting to 8,224 garments, had been sent away either to the central depot in London or to other towns....

GIFTS FOR TERRITORIALS

Mrs. Cooper read a report stating that on the mobilisation of the 5th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment the wives and relatives of the officers decided to raise funds to provide underclothing for the non-commissioned officers and men of the battalion.  A committee was formed to carry out the work from the recruiting area, viz., Huddersfield, Mirfield, Kirkburton, Shepley, Holmfirth, and Meltham...
The committee has already dispatched 1,299 flannel shirts, 1,495 pairs of woollen socks, 1,007 pairs of canvas shoes, and various articles, viz., helmets, towels, body-belts, scarves, mittens, etc.  There was another consignment at the Drill Hall ready to be forwarded, consisting of 1,117 flannel shirts, 1,106 pairs of woollen socks, and various other articles...

Afternoon tea was kindly given by Mrs. F. W. Sykes, and the decorations of the hall were provided by the lady members of the Lindley Golf Club, who have also sent 240 garments to Lady Jellicoe for the use of the men in the Navy. Miss Nancy Dyson, in costume, recited a topical composition by Mr. Arnold W. Sykes, entitled “For the boys at the front.”  The ladies were also “At Home” in the evening.

[The Women's Committee had evidently expanded the scope of their work from Sick and Wounded Soldiers and Sailors to include sailors at sea, soldiers at the front, soldiers in training (the Territorials), and Belgian refugees.]   

A Nurse at the Front

From the Cleckheaton Guardian, 13th November 1914. 

MISS WINIFRED EVERS AT THE FRONT.

By the kindness of the Vicar of Liversedge we are enabled to give the following extracts from a letter from his sister, Nurse Winifred Evers, who is on Red Cross duty at the front:

“I wish you could see me now in my little bell tent.  It has never ceased to rain all last night and all to-day.  Water is coming in all round; nothing is on the floor that I can put on my bed or chair, otherwise it gets wet; and there is a steady trickle across the floor.  I sit on my camp bed.  I’ve got the tent to myself, as my companion is on night duty….

One poor boy I was nursing died, I grieve to say, only 20 years old.  His people seem so nice, I have had splendid letters from them.  It is sad to see these young lives go….

The bugle calls are all so pretty.  The first goes at 5.30 a.m., and then after that for meals, etc., and for letters, the one we love to hear…..

It is bitterly cold here.  I love my jersey.  I have a nightly pilgrimage up the field after our evening meal for hot water – right to the other end of the field to my tent boiler….

All our letters are censored by the Matron, so it entirely prohibits our writing much of what we would…

We hope to be moved when it is safe, so that the men will not have so far to travel.  I have been busy all day in the surgical tent, and have dressed forty wounds – bullet wounds through the arms, legs, and back.  We have some such sad cases.  Last Sunday a poor boy of nineteen died in my tent.  He had his leg amputated. I wrote to his mother as I promised him I would do, and told her all about him.”

[This is the complete set of extracts as published in the paper.]   

Clothes for the Wounded

From The Times, 8th November, 1914

CLOTHES FOR THE WOUNDED.

ADVICE TO WOMEN ANXIOUS TO HELP.

.. The {British Red Cross] society has received an immense number of offers of assistance.  There are upwards of 1,900 voluntary aid detachments, with a total personnel of some 60,000.

Many ladies have come forward anxious to serve as nurses, but it is pointed out only trained nurses can attend troops in the field.  There is, however, much good work which can be done by women who have not these qualifications.  Foremost is the provision of clothing, hospital requisites, medical comforts, and foods.

The Queen has given a splendid lead in the work of cooperation with existing societies which understand the needs of the sick and wounded in the matter of clothing. ...   Women who are forming sewing parties would be well advised to follow Queen Mary’s example and apply to the Red Cross Society for their patterns.

The foolish waste by overlapping and the absence of any necessity of forming new societies ... is one of the points emphasized by the British Red Cross authorities at Devonshire House.  Ladies who do not belong to any society should find out what is being done in their district and join or form a local class for sewing work at once.  The Primrose League for the time being is non-political, and the local branches who will provide themselves with a supply of Red Cross patterns can be joined by any woman who is anxious to help.  ...Pyjamas are most wanted and next to them dressing gowns.

Old sheets, unbleached calico, and old linen suitable for bandages are wanted, but not old clothes.  Invalid women could help by making bandages.  Offers of food, invalid delicacies, &c., ..offers of household utensils suitable for hospitals, of blankets, of beds, &c., are being listed, and gift and promises of money are, of course, most important.

Women with good recipes for economical cooking should make them public.  An Italian woman of good family, who has been living on 3s. 6d. a week since the first mention of danger, is giving recipes to her friends of new ways to cook vegetable marrows and of making nutritive pea-pod stew in use in parts of the South [of Italy] where meat is rarely seen and butter unknown for cooking purposes.

[I think the last paragraph is the best.  I like the way that we are told that she is 'of good family', i.e. she doesn't have to live on 3s. 6d. a week, but has chosen to out of patriotic duty, or because she's the sort of person who enjoys economising, and especially the opportunity to tell other people that they ought to be living on 'nutritive pea-pod stew' and vegetable marrows.]   

Smoke Less, Buy Knitting Wool

From the Holme Valley Express, November 7th 1914.

LESS TOBACCO; MORE COMFORTS

The various branches of the Red Cross Society in the district are rendering invaluable service.  In this connection the Rev. P. L. Snowden, vicar of Hepworth, makes a suggestion to the men: -- “There is a great demand for wool to knit, and as the men at home are able to do little practical work for the nation, it has been suggested that they should only smoke half as much as usual, and give their savings to the fund.  They can drop their money into an ornament on the chimney piece until they have got enough, and then send it on to the Vicarage, or Mrs. J. W. Swallow, by a child, if they don’t want to bring it themselves.”

[This amused me, partly because of the assumption that men are no use to the country at all, unless they have joined the army  - they can't knit, all they can do is cut down on their smoking.  I also like the detailed instructions for how to collect the money, in an ornament on the chimney piece - men are so useless, they have to be told even that.  The Vicar obviously knows his parishioners.]  

Halifax Lady Workers

From the Halifax Courier, 31 October 1914. 

MAYORESS'S LADY WORKERS' COMMITTEE

WEEKLY REPORT.

To D Company, 2nd Batt. W.R. Regt., [West Riding Regiment] British Expeditionary Force: 150 shirts, 72 pairs socks, 48 scarves, 36 pairs cuffs, 48 handkerchiefs, 60 belts, 2 pairs pants, meat lozenges, cards, bootlaces, &c.

To 6th Batt. W.R.R., Captain Andrews: 144 shirts, 144 pairs socks, 132 belts, 132 helmets, 96 pairs mittens, 96 handkerchiefs.

To 6th Batt., Captain Fleming: 120 shirts, 120 pairs socks, 120 scarves, 54 pairs mittens.

To 6th Batt., Lieut. Sykes: 123 shirts, 123 pairs socks, 123 scarves, 48 pairs mittens, 17 helmets.

To Anglo-French Red Cross Society: 24 helpless shirts, 24 nightshirts, 12 bed jackets, 24 nightingales, 48 handkerchiefs, box of bandages.

Royal Halifax Infirmary: 50 bed jackets, 48 nightshirts, 24 helpless shirts, 24 triangular bandages, roller bandages, pads, bed socks, old linen.

To Nurse Fox, France, 12 helpless cases, 6 housewifs, 12 pairs bed socks, 12 scarves, 12 nightingales, 48 handkerchiefs, 12 pairs cuffs, 2 pairs slippers, tobacco, cigarettes, soap, cards.

[If all these had been produced in one week, the Mayoress's lady workers had been very busy indeed.  

The 2nd Battalion of the West Riding Regiment was part of the pre-war army, and was already in France with the British Expeditionary Force.  The 6th was a Territorial Battalion, still in training in this country for active service overseas. 

Nurse Fox was from a Halifax family, and had written a long letter published in the Courier earlier in October, about her work in France, and conditions there for nurses and wounded soldiers.  She had asked for things for the men she was looking after, especially cigarettes. The consignment to her is presumably in response to that, and perhaps further letters to her family.  The 'housewifs' may be for the nurses, rather than their patients - little sewing kits, pronounced (and sometimes spelt) 'hussifs'.  

Part of Nurse Fox's earlier letter follows.]

From the Halifax Courier, 10th October 1914 

We have had a very heavy day, and the men want a lot doing for them.  They have been in the trenches a fortnight, and come in very quiet, but soon buck up after a night or two’s rest and good food.  We caught a German spy last night near our duty room, and he is now in irons, with a guard over him.  If any one offers you anything either for the men or us, grab and address it to me quick.  If only all of you knew

HOW MUCH THE MEN WANT COMFORTING,

"Woodbines' and sweets cheer them wonderfully.  Writing materials, papers, handkerchiefs, and things like that are needed.  When the men arrive they have lost everything except uniform.  They are good boys, and deserve all they have given.  You never hear a murmur except when the nerve has quite gone from them.  As we came along we saw a lot of French sick on a platform, and they looked famished.  We asked them if they were hungry, with the result all our grub was handed over, and we raided a Red Cross place, and got some bread and fruit. 

A Crocheted Invalid's Slipper

From Woman's Own, 3rd October 1914.

Quickly Worked Invalid's Slipper

Two and a half ounces of J. & J. Baldwin's 3-ply White Heather, Grey Wheeling, or a 4-ply Beehive Scotch Fingering.  No. 10 hook.   Work firmly throughout.

Commence with 7 ch., turn, miss the 1st chain, 1 d.c. into each of the next 5 ch., 3 d.c into the 6th ch., then work down the opposite side of the ch., making 1 d.c. into each stitch. Turn. Make 1 ch. to turn each row, and be careful not to miss the 1st stitch in each row which is directly under the hook. Always pick up the back thread nearest forefinger.

2nd row:  1 d.c. into each stitch of previous row. Work forwards and backwards, making 3 d.c. into the centre stitch of every other row until there are 42 stitches in the row.

To make a firm edge, insert the hook through both threads when working the last stitch of each row.

Now commence the side. Work d.c. into d.c. on the first 11 stitches of the front, and continue working forwards and backwards (11 stitches) for 5 ridges, then increase 1 stitch at top edge in every 5th row until you have 14 stitches.  Work 14 stitches to the row until the centre of the back is reached.  The second half of the sides is worked to correspond, decreasing at the top edge to 11 stitches in the row.  Join neatly to the front of slipper, and s.-s. on the right side of the work around the lower edge. With a coloured wool make 4 rows of s.-s. round the top edge.  When working the s.-s. do not pull the loop upward as in d.c, but draw it towards you.

Fleecy soles can be purchased for a few pence, or ⅛-inch-thick leather can be bought at a saddler's. Stand a man's slipper on a piece of felt or leather, pencil round, and cut to the pencil mark, sew a piece of flannel inside, and stitch with thick thread the crocheted slipper to the sole, putting the needle backwards and forwards closely, an eighth of an inch from the edge of the material.

Send your garments when finished to Stores Dept., British Red Cross Society, 83, Pall Mall, London, S.W., or to your local branch of the British Red Cross Society.  A list of contents should be placed outside each parcel sent.

[Do these instructions make sense?  Not to me, just reading them through, but then I haven't very much crochet experience, and they might make more sense if you were working through them. But it would make more sense still to buy professionally-made slippers for the sick and wounded. It would be hard work to sew leather soles onto a crocheted upper by hand, with ordinary sewing tools.  Amateurs would be slow, and would be likely to get poor quality results, I think.]  

Guide to Needleworkers

From The Times, 12th September 1914. 

NEEDLEWORK HELPERS' GUIDE.

The official weekly list of requirements issued by Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, the St. John Ambulance Association, and the British Red Cross Society states that no more nightingales or helmets are required.  The following articles are needed by the societies named:—

QUEEN MARY'S NEEDLEWORK GUILD.—Dressing gowns, babies' clothing, pyjamas, towels, vests, and pants.

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION.—Cholera belts, dressing gowns, nightshirts (ordinary), slippers, and socks.

BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY.—Dressing gowns, pyjamas (flannel if possible), slippers, towels (face), vests, and pants.

N.B.—(a)—A sock with 11 in. foot is the size most required, but a smaller number of 10½ in. foot and 11½ in. foot are also needed.
(b)—The public are earnestly requested to adhere to standard patterns for hospital garments, as unauthorized and fancy shapes are unpractical, and lead to waste of time and material.
(c)—The public are also warned against the very dangerous practice of inserting matches in clothing of any kind.
(d)—No perishable goods of any description, such as game, fruit, &c., should be sent to 83, Pall-mall.  Any persons wishing to present such gifts should apply to the Stores Department, and a list of hospitals containing sick and wounded soldiers and sailors will be immediately forwarded.

[This was one of the weekly statements promised at the end of August (here), to co-ordinate the efforts of volunteers.  It seems to be asking a lot of the local groups - they were expected to switch their efforts instantly to match a list like this and to provide the things asked for this week.    

"No more nightingales or helmets are required".  Volunteers evidently liked making (Balaclava) helmets - the statement of weekly requirements on 31st August also said "No helmets are required at present".   Perhaps the local groups were not as compliant as they might have been. 

A nightingale was a sort of bed-jacket (invented by Florence Nightingale, allegedly).

I wonder why people had been sending matches in parcels of clothes?]   

The Co-ordination of Effort

From The Times, 31st August, 1914.

THE CO-ORDINATION OF EFFORT.

A WEEKLY MEETING AT ST. JAMES'S PALACE.

"With the approval of her Majesty the Queen it has been arranged that a meeting of one representative of each of the Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, the St. John Ambulance Association, and the British Red Cross Society shall be held every Wednesday afternoon.... in order to ascertain what garments and articles have been received by each Society, and what are the special requirements for the following week.

"A statement will then be issued to the Press... Great confusion and much unnecessary work has been caused by unauthorized statements appearing in the Press.  The workers for all three Societies named above are earnestly requested to note that this weekly statement will be authoritative, and no attention should be paid to any others.

"Those who are so kindly giving garments to the societies are earnestly recommended to pay for the work to be done by women who would otherwise be unemployed.
....
The Societies wish to draw attention to the following matters :—

• Many questions have been asked as regards flannelette.  The Societies are not refusing garments made of this material, but flannel is greatly to be preferred.  
• Width and length of bandages should be clearly marked on each roll.  
• No helmets are required at present.  
• All socks other than bed socks must be made with heels.

The special requirements of each Society for the coming week are as follows:—
QUEEN MARY'S NEEDLEWORK GUILD.

• Cotton twill nightshirts.
• Pillowcases, 20in. by 30in.
• Handkerchiefs.
• Dressing gowns.
• Drawers.

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE SOCIETY.

• Drawers.
• Vests.
• Pillowcases, 20in. by 30in. 
• Dressing gowns. 
• Towels.

THE BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY.

• Flannel day shirts. 
• Handkerchiefs. 
• Cardigan jackets. 
• Socks (made with heels).

[When I read this attempt to sort out the confusion over who should provide what, I thought 'about time too' - until I remembered that the country had been at war for less than a month at this point,  so it was understandable that it would take a while to get organised.

The QMNG is catering here for the sick and wounded - clearly that was always the remit of the other two societies.

Flannelette is a brushed cotton fabric, to imitate flannel (wool).  Flannel was more expensive but officially preferred - for instance, uniform shirts for the Army were made of flannel, even for summer wear (I believe).

'Helmets' means Balaclava-type helmets, either to wear on cold days or for sleeping in.

There had been several letters in the press from private individuals (for instance, here)  suggesting that socks made without heel shaping had several advantages - they would fit any size foot and would wear better, because the heel of the man's foot would not always be in the same place.  The societies reported here obviously felt that this idea should be firmly suppressed.]

British Red Cross Society

RED CROSS WORK

PROVISION FOR SICK AND WOUNDED.

The Executive of the British Red Cross Society (Scottish Branch)  [requests] that all medical and surgical stores, such as bandages or bandage rollers, dressings, or crutches, be sent to 137 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.  Everything else, such as cardigan jackets, caps, flannel, gloves, handkerchiefs, etc. should be sent to St Andrew's Halls, Glasgow.

It is necessary here to point out that according to the Geneva Convention the Red Cross Society can only provide for sick and wounded—those soldiers, in fact, who have ceased to be combatants.  The society cannot provide clothing, food, and comforts for troops in the field.  There has apparently been considerable misunderstanding with regard to this point in some quarters, for such supplies have been sent to the society.  Provision for combatants will, it is understood, be made by-the Regimental and Territorial Force Associations, and these will shortly make a public announcement with regard to the acceptance and forwarding of clothing and comforts for combatants.....

Some criticisms have appeared in the press of those women who are helping the Red Cross Society to provide comforts for our wounded soldiers instead of paying their unemployed sisters to do such work.  Such criticisms, however well intended, show an inadequate consideration of the facts of the case.  This voluntary work is not a substitute for paid work, but an addition to it.  It can provide at most but a fraction of the articles required.  Many of these must be and are purchased for or by the society.  These are the product of paid labour.  It is of course open to anyone who desires to do so to organise paid working parties.  The society's primary duty is to organise voluntary help in general, and it is impossible for the Central Executive to attempt the arrangement of these smaller details.

(Glasgow Herald, 20th August 1914.)

[I chose this piece because (a) it lists the kinds of things that volunteers were sending Red Cross and (b)  it says clearly that the Red Cross is only providing for non-combatants - all the men's clothing that they were collecting was destined for sick and wounded soldiers.  Many people were evidently confused about that - indeed, a booklet produced by the Red Cross (available here) contains knitting patterns that could be equally useful for men at the front (gloves, mittens, cardigans, a cap-scarf,...), so the confusion is perhaps understandable. 

There was a lot of confusion too about the roles of volunteers v. paid workers, not just in making things for the Red Cross, but also in providing comforts for men on active service   - several later posts will be about this too.  The last paragraph above doesn't help at all in clearing up the confusion, to my mind.]