When war broke out in 1914, Dr Elsie Inglis, who had qualified in 1892, passing through both Edinburgh and Glasgow medical schools, went to the War Office to offer her services as a surgeon and was told to “Go home and sit still”! This she was not going to do and being fully involved with the suffrage movement Elsie proposed at the first Scottish Federation Meeting that they should offer to the Red Cross a fully equipped hospital staffed entirely by women to work at home or abroad. This led to the founding of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service.
The first unit, commanded by Dr Alice Hutchison was sent to Calais in November 1914, where an outbreak of typhoid had broken out among the Belgian refugees. Once the typhoid epidemic was over, the unit became superfluous and was disbanded in April 1915.
A second unit, under Dr Frances Ivens, was set up in Royaumont Abbey, as Hôpital Auxiliaire 301. Due to the proximity to the Western Front, the work was mainly surgical. Between January 1915 and March 1919. Royaumont and an ancillary hospital at Villers-Cotterêts treated 10,681 patients; of which 8,752 were soldiers. They also carried out research into gas gangrene.
A third hospital was opened under canvas in September 1915 in Troyes, France. Funded by the two Cambridge colleges, it became known as the Girton and Newnham Unit. It was commanded by surgeon Dr Louisa McIlroy and physician Dr Laura Sandeman. In December 1915, the unit moved to Salonica, accompanying the French Expeditionary Forces. Although under the sole charge of Dr McIlroy the work there was mainly medical as the area was plagued by malaria. In May 1918, on a new site, Dr McIlroy established an orthopaedic rehabilitation department, called the Calcutta Orthopaedic Centre.
Several other units were set up in Serbia and for Serbian refugees in Corsica and France.
Aberdeen Medical Women in WW1
At the start of WW1 in 1914 there were more than 1000 women in Britain who had qualified in medicine, 23 of whom came through the University of Aberdeen.
Four female medical graduates from Aberdeen worked for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in various units: Dr Laura Sandeman, Dr Helen Lillie, Dr Myra Mackenzie and Dr Catherine Anderson. Later in the war, the RAMC asked for women to help and Dr Elizabeth Edwards served in Malta.
Further Reading
Staff of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals from NE Scotland
Scottish Women’s Hospitals Jess Lydon, Historic Environment Scotland, 2021
The Scottish Women’s Hospitals: the first World War and the careers of early medical women M. E. Cornelis. Medicine, Conflict and Survival Volume 36 Issue 2, 174-194, 2020
Band of sisters: the female doctors who became war heroes against the odds BMJ 2019;367:l6747
List of names of women who served with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals ScarletFinders
Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Womens Hospitals Edinburgh
Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Women’s Hospitals James Alcock Films (YouTube)
This page prepared from information researched by Dr Ann Robertson.
