Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps | |
---|---|
Active | 1949 – present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Role | Medical support |
Part of | Army Medical Services |
Garrison/HQ | Staff College, Camberley |
Nickname(s) | The QAs |
Motto(s) | Sub cruce candida (Under the White Cross) |
March | Quick: Grey and Scarlet [1] |
Commanders | |
Colonel-in-Chief | The Duchess of Edinburgh |
Chief Nursing Officer (Army) | Colonel Paul Jackson |
Insignia | |
Tactical Recognition Flash |
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as the QAs) is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services.
Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corps traces its heritage to Florence Nightingale, who was instrumental in lobbying for the support of female military nurses. [3] The Army Nursing Service, which had been established in 1881, and which from 1889 provided Sisters for all Army hospitals with at least 100 beds, [4] had only a small number of nurses in its employ. In 1897, in an effort to have nurses available if needed for war, the service was supplemented by Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service Reserve (PCANSR). Nurses registered for the service and by the beginning of the First Boer War the reserve had around 100 members, but swelled its membership to over 1400 during the conflict. PCANSR eventually became the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. [5] On 27 March 1902, [6] Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was established by Royal Warrant, and was named after Queen Alexandra, who became its president. [7] In 1949, the QAIMNS became a corps in the British Army and was renamed as the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. Since 1950 the organisation has trained nurses, and in 1992 men were allowed to join. [4]
The associated Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association is a registered charity. Queen Alexandra was president from 1902 until her death in 1925. The following year she was succeeded by Queen Mary. [8]
The Secretary of State for Defence announced on 15 October 2024, that it will amalgamate with the Royal Army Dental Corps and Royal Army Medical Corps to form one unified corps, the Royal Army Medical Service. [9]
Five early members of the Army Nursing Service trained at The London Hospital under Eva Luckes, and went onto become Superintendents. [10] They also later served in the QAIMNS.
When Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service was formed King Edward VII asked Sir Frederick Treves [18] and Sydney Holland, [19] Chairman of the London Hospital for advice. Holland asked Eva Luckes, Matron of The London Hospital for advice. [10] Several London Hospital supporters were members of the first Army Nursing Board including Sir Frederick Treves; Norah, Lady Roberts; Queen Alexandra – who was a keen supporter and President of The London Hospital from 1904; and London Hospital trained civilian matron of the Westminster Hospital, Mabel Cave. [10] Six of the first 27 matrons and principal matrons had all trained at The London under Eva Luckes. [10]
The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was originally formed to staff the territorial force hospitals at home, and the majority of its members spent their service during World War I in the United Kingdom, not only in the 25 territorial hospitals, but also in hundreds of auxiliary units throughout the British Isles. Within a short time they were also employed in the eighteen territorial hospitals abroad, and alongside their QAIMNS colleagues in military hospitals and casualty clearing stations in France and Belgium, Malta, Salonica, Gibraltar, Egypt, Mesopotamia and East Africa. [30] [31]
The Territorial Army Nursing Service (TANS) was formed in 1920, when the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army. It existed until 1949, when both regular and reserve nurses joined the QARANC. Territorial Army nurses served alongside QAIMNS nurses all over the world, and in all campaigns during World War II. [30]
The initial ranking system used by the QAIMNS was as follows.
QAIMNS rank | Equivalent Army rank (from 1941) |
---|---|
Staff Nurse [32] | |
Sister | Lieutenant |
Senior Sister [33] | Captain |
Matron | Major |
Principal Matron | Lieutenant-Colonel |
Chief Principal Matron [34] | Colonel |
Matron-in-Chief | Brigadier |
The Colonel in Chief is The Duchess of Edinburgh GCVO GCStJ CD. The Corps has two Colonels Commandant, Colonel Andrea Lewis RRC, who was appointed in 2023, and Colonel Kevin Davies MBE RRC OStJ TD DL, who was appointed in 2017. [35]
In January 2016 a new post, Chief Nursing Officer (Army), replaced the role of Matron-in-Chief and the Director Army Nursing Services. [35]
Dame Emma Maud McCarthy, was a nursing sister and British Army matron-in-chief.
Catherine Murray Roy, was a decorated Scottish military nurse who served at the front during the First World War. She was later Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.
Dame Sarah Elizabeth Oram, was a senior member of the Army Nursing Service and the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS). She served as Principal Matron, Nursing Inspector in the QAIMNS, and was attached to the British Expeditionary Force in France from 1914 to 1915 and subsequently as Acting Matron-in-Chief, QAIMNS, in the Eastern Mediterranean Expeditionary Force from 1915 to 1919 during the First World War.
Brigadier Dame Helen Shiels Gillespie, was a British military nurse, matron and nursing administrator. She served as Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps from 1952 to 1956, and was Honorary Nursing Sister to The Queen.
Brigadier Helen Cattanach, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator who served as Director of British Army Nursing Services (DANS) and Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps from 1973 to 1977.
Brigadier Dame Anne Thomson, was a British military nurse, matron and nursing administrator. She was Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) from 1948 to 31 January 1949, and Director of Army Nursing Services from 1 February 1949 to 1952. She was succeeded by Dame Helen Gillespie.
Dame Sidney Jane Browne, was the first appointed Matron-in-Chief of the newly formed Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS). After she retired from the QAIMNS she was appointed as Matron-in-Chief of the Territorial Force Nursing Service. Browne was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 and, in 1922, she became the first President of the Royal College of Nursing, a post she held until 1925.
Caroline Keer, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator, who served in Natal during the Second Boer War.
Brigadier Dame Florence Barbara Cozens, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator.
Brigadier Dame Evelyn Marguerite Turner,, known as Margot Turner, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator. A prisoner of war during the Second World War, she resumed her career following liberation and served in a succession of foreign postings.
Rosabelle Osborne, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator. She served as Principal Matron at the War Office in 1924 and as Matron-in-Chief at the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) from 1 April 1928 until 1930.
Brigadier Dame Cecilie Monica Golding, was a British Army nurse and nursing administrator who rose to Colonel Commandant, Matron-in-Chief and Director of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC).
Dame Katharine Henrietta Jones & Bar was Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) for most of the Second World War, serving from 23 July 1940 to 1944.
Dame Louisa Jane Wilkinson, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator who served as Matron-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service from 1944 to 1948. She founded Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, and was also president of the Royal College of Nursing.
The history of nursing in the United Kingdom relates to the development of the profession since the 1850s. The history of nursing itself dates back to ancient history, when the sick were cared for in temples and places of worship. In the early Christian era, nursing in the United Kingdom was undertaken by certain women in the Christian Church, their services being extended to patients in their homes. These women had no real training by today's standards, but experience taught them valuable skills, especially in the use of herbs and folk drugs, and some gained fame as the physicians of their era. Remnants of the religious nature of nurses remains in Britain today, especially with the retention of the job title "Sister" for a senior female nurse.
Beatrice Isabel Jones, was a British nurse who, after serving in several civilian hospitals, volunteered for military service. She served in the Second Boer War in South Africa and then later served during the First World War in Baghdad as matron-in-chief of Mesopotamia. She was one of the inaugural recipients of the Florence Nightingale Medal.
Dame Ethel Hope Becher, was a British nurse who served in the War Office as matron-in-chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps from 1910 to 1919.
Gertrude Mary Richards, was a British nurse and military nursing leader during the First World War. She was matron and principal matron in the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service from 1904 until her retirement in 1919.
Katherine Edith McCall Anderson RRC & Bar (1866–1924) was a leading civilian and military matron, receiving the Royal Red Cross (RRC) award for her service in the second Boer War and the RRC Bar for her service in World War One.