Nurse's autograph book · First World War Poetry Digital Archive

Title

Nurse's autograph book See all items with this value

Identifier

2230.doc

GWA_0156_WW1_album.doc

Creator

Allan, Hannah See all items with this value

Abstract

My Great Aunt, Hannah Allan (known as Nan) was born in 1886 and died in 1974. She never married and was a nurse for much of her life - I believe she was a Queen Alexandra nurse for at least part of her career. During the First World War, she was a nurse at the Military Hosptital in Leaf Square, Pendleton, Manchester. I believe this was located in a building taken over temporarily from the Salford Grammar School. In common with many other nurses, she collected material from her patients, which they wrote in an album in the ward. This included poems, tributes to the nurses, drawings and many accounts - some of them quite chilling - of the battles the soldiers had fought in. The entire contents of this album, which has remained in my family since the Great War, are included in the attachment. (Please ignore blank pages). Unfortunately, some of the contributions, especially those written in pencil, are somewhat faint but others are very clear. My Great Aunt occasionally used to talk about her experiences in the Military Hospital but, like many a Great Nephew, I didn't pay sufficient attention. However, I do recall her saying that, on one occasion, the medical staff had to evacuate the building during a German Zeppelin raid in the area. I also remember her saying, with some emphasis that the soldiers 'did swear' and this must have made a deep impression on a young, single woman in the early years of the last century. Great Aunt Nan was a character who had the knack of arousing much amusement, often unintentionally!