'Hospital + Troop Ships'

HQS Wellington, Temple Stairs, Victoria Embankment, London
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Event has ended
This event ended on Monday 27th of April 2015
Admission
Free. Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Location

HQS Wellington, Temple Stairs, Victoria Embankment, London

Nearest Tube/Rail Stations
Temple 0.07 miles

The need in the First World War to transport troops from Britain, its Empire and allies to fronts around the world and bring home the wounded on hospital ships with military medical staff was met by the Mercantile Marine, its ships and their crews.

Displayed appropriately on board a ship,the exhibition brings together film; photos; paintings; large-scale ship models; uniform; medals; surgical instruments; ships’ fittings and more, as well as extracts of the diary of Kathleen 'Kitty' Mann.

From serving in a Brighton military hospital as a member of the Territorial Force Nursing Service, in July 1915 Kitty left with other nursing sisters on the hospital ship HMHS Salta for the eastern Mediterranean to nurse and evacuate casualties from the first Gallipoli landings, subsequently transferring to two Australian hospital ships, HMAT Ulysses and Marathon. After home leave and now as Matron of the hospital ship HMHS Devanha, Kitty again sailed for the Dardenelles in October 1915. Her diary tells of dealing with casualties during the Allied withdrawal which began in December 1915 following the failure of the Gallipoli campaign in which some 44,000 Allied troops were killed and 97,000 wounded. Enemy casualties are estimated as 86,000 dead and 167,000 wounded.

Coming home in HMHS Britannic in October 1916, Kitty’s return to civilian life was short-lived since she joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve as a Sister and embarked for France on 16th June 1917, serving until demobilised on 26th July 1919.

Tags: Exhibition

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