ONE OF THE GREAT patriotic acts by the people of Bourne was the opening and running of a military hospital during the Great War of 1914-18 to care for soldiers who had been wounded and gassed in the trenches of Flanders and France. 

It was based at the Vestry Hall, a former Victorian Calvinist chapel in North Street, and staffed entirely by volunteers, Red Cross nurses and orderlies who had been recruited locally together with Dr John Gilpin, a family doctor, who was appointed commandant by the War Office. The unit was known as a Voluntary Aid Detachment or VAD and after the Armistice in November 1918 the government gave its thanks for the work they had done for almost a thousand soldiers who had been in their care. 

The whole town turned out for the ceremony at the Abbey Lawn on Saturday 19th July 1919 when the nurses who had helped during the hospital’s four years in existence were each presented with a gold bar brooch with a Red Cross on a white lozenge inside a circle and the inscription "Bourne V A D Hospital, 1914-18”. 

Now, almost 100 years later, one of these brooches has returned to Bourne after being purchased on eBay, the Internet auction web site and the buyer turns out to be local chartered accountant Caroline Glithero who with her husband, Paul Nicholson, bought the Vestry Hall in 2004 and have converted it into a very attractive private home.  

Since then, she has been collecting photographs and documents about the building, notably its history as a military hospital, and has kept a weather eye open for anything connected with this period that came up for sale. When the brooch was offered on eBay it was too good an opportunity to miss and despite widespread interest, she managed to place the winning bid. “I probably paid more than its intrinsic value as a piece of jewellery”, she said, “but after seeing the photograph and knowing the provenance, I just wanted to make sure that it came home to the Vestry Hall in Bourne.” 

Unfortunately, we are unable to say where the brooch came from and the eBay seller had no information either, having bought it recently in Somerset. They were not engraved with the names of the recipients and so we cannot identify which nurse was given it during the presentation ceremony at the Abbey Lawn on that summer’s afternoon in 1919 although my research into the military hospital has produced a list of names from a local newspaper of those who received one. 

“They were Miss Gibson, Mrs Cabourn, Miss Cartwright (Grimsthorpe), Mrs R A Collins, Miss Cooper (Dyke), Mrs J Galletly, Miss Hinson, Miss Mays, Mrs D S Paton, Mrs E Pearce, Miss Pool, Mrs Redshaw (Dyke), Miss Scotney, Miss Shilcock and Miss Story. The following were also recipients of similar brooches in recognition of assiduous work: Miss Lunn, Miss Andrew, Miss A Bell (Thurlby), and Mrs E Holland. All, excepting where otherwise stated, resided in Bourne.” 

The presentations should have been made by the Countess of Ancaster, a staunch supporter of the hospital, but she was unable to attend and so the brooches were handed out by Dr Gilpin who spoke of the ungrudging spirit with which womankind had taken their part in the war. He himself had been awarded the MBE in June 1918 for conducting the hospital in such an efficient manner. 

Further awards followed in January 1922 when those nurses and orderlies who had devoted 1,000 hours of service during the four years that the hospital was open were presented with Red Cross medals and a commemorative plaque from the British Red Cross Society was fixed on the south wall of the Vestry Hall and bearing the inscription: "The South Lincs Branch of the British Red Cross Society gratefully acknowledges the loan of this building as an Auxiliary Military Hospital from Nov 1914 to Dec 1918. 40 beds, 945 patients treated. Staffed by VAD Lincoln 46 and 17." 

By this time the Vestry Hall had been returned to its original role as a centre for church activities but in 1961, the building was purchased by Bourne United Charities and after a series of uses, it was declared unfit for public functions and sold as a commercial property. The plaque was removed to the Red Hall for safe keeping but after Caroline and Paul had completed their refurbishment, the trustees offered to hand it back and it now hangs in the hallway of the Vestry Hall as a reminder of its patriotic past. 

Although we cannot say which nurse was presented with this particular brooch, we do have a glimpse of the type of person who volunteered for this work of selfless care and devotion because they came from all walks of life, from the gentry and from the working classes, their common aim being to look after our boys from the front line. Not only did they care for the patients medically but they also took a great interest in their social welfare by accompanying them on visits to use the various facilities in Bourne that were offered free of charge and so many friendships developed.  

The Bourne Institute in West Street (now the Pyramid Club) made the soldiers honorary members during their stay, allowing them to borrow books and play billiards without charge, while the Bourne Angling Society granted complimentary fishing permits and the Bourne Tennis Club allowed free use of their courts which were then situated in Burghley Street. The nurses also accompanied wounded soldiers to services at the local churches and some became so attached to their patients that romance blossomed and at least one couple were married as a result. 

There will be a similar story behind each of the names on the list of those who received one of these gold brooches but where are they now? When people die, their personal belongings are dispersed, some items are kept by family and friends and others sold at auction and as with this Red Cross brooch, it is by pure chance that they return to their place of origin.