Watching the wonderful thanks I’ve been seeing for nurses, doctors, and other carers working during the pandemic, I can’t help thinking about all of the incredible work that the Voluntary Aid Dispatch, British Red Cross, and Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Corps did during World War II. Part of my 2021 release will be set in a convalescent hospital set up in a requisitioned manor house, so I’ve been doing a deep dive into the history of all three of those organizations. However, it’s a piece of history from World War I that I wanted to share with you in case you’re interested in researching a bit of your own family’s history.
Over 90,000 people—many of them women—volunteered for the British Red Cross during World War I, and there is a database where you can search for your relatives. (There is also the option to search for a local hospital so you can find out more about war efforts in your area.) In many cases, the information comes up with an image of the volunteer’s Voluntary Aid Dispatch card and additional information attached to the record.
Courtesy of the British Red Cross
Even if you don’t have have direct connections to the British Red Cross, the site is worth a look because it’s full of incredible, heartening information about how normal people did extraordinary things that helped heal the wounded who came back to Britain from the battlefields of France.