Palace of pain: Netley, the hospital built for an empire of soldiers | Art and design | The Guardian

An aerial photograph of the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley, Hampshire, in the first world war. Click here to see the full image. All photographs courtesy Marion Ivey

A hospital orderly, wearing what resembles a butcher’s apron, poses with an equally ominous-looking trolley. Ward maids, country-looking girls, pose in utilitarian overalls designed for dirty work, rather than the pristine starch of nurses’ uniforms. A handsome stable hand, straight out of War Horse and proudly holding a pair of equine charges, looks hesitantly into the camera’s lens. A quartet of stretcher-bearers wait on a dockside to…

via Palace of pain: Netley, the hospital built for an empire of soldiers | Art and design | The Guardian

Volunteer Nurses in the Great War: 1914 | Mrs Daffodil Digresses

The fashionable women of England are very anxious to help. At least they say they are, and never would we doubt a lady’s word. But their good intentions are thwarted on every side. Lord Kitch…

Source: Volunteer Nurses in the Great War: 1914 | Mrs Daffodil Digresses

First World War hospital diaries now online – The National Archives

Diaries of 247 First World War hospital camps, hospital ships, convalescent hospitals and veterinary hospitals are now available to read online. The National Archives digitised the documents as part of Disability History Month.

These war diaries reveal different methods of treating injured and disabled soldiers, and give insight into life in hospital during the First World War.

The diaries give fascinating details about daily routines, operations and special events, including Christmas services: on board Hospital Ship Vasna in December 1918, ‘a generous supply of gifts were obtained from the Red Cross Depot in Basra and were distributed by the Matron to…

Source: First World War hospital diaries now online – The National Archives