Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service
| Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service | |
|---|---|
| Organisation | |
| Funding | National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, Red Cross, donations |
| History | |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Closed | 1919 |
The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. They provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I 14 medical units had been outfitted and sent to serve in Corsica, France, Malta, Romania, Russia, Salonika and Serbia.
At the outset of the war, Dr Elsie Inglis was secretary for the Scottish Federation of Women Suffrage Societies, affiliated with the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) headed by Millicent Garrett Fawcett. The SWH was spearheaded Dr Inglis, as part of a wider suffrage effort from Scottish Federation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and funded by private donations, fundraising of local societies and the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and the American Red Cross. Fawcett wished to include "Women's Suffrage" in the name, but Inglis opposed this on the grounds that "suffrage" had controversial political connotations based on the example of those who advocated civil disobedience such as Emmeline Pankhurst. While not all volunteers supported the suffrage movement, the letters "NUWSS" appeared on SWH letterhead and many of their vehicles and the French press often referred to their facilities as "Hospital of the Scottish Suffragists" and NUWSS provided financial support.
Initial fundraising was highly successfully and by the end of August 1914 they had raised more than £5,000. Established shortly after the outbreak of World War I as voluntary all-women units, the Scottish Women’s Hospitals offered opportunities for medical women who were prohibited from entry in to the Royal Army Medical Corps.
The headquarters were in Edinburgh throughout the war, and there were also committees in Glasgow and London, working closely with the London office of the Croix Rouge Francaise (French Red Cross).
In December 1914 the first unit mobilised and established a 200 bed Auxiliary Hospital at Royaumont Abbey in Dec 1914 and included suffragettes Dr Inglis, Ishobel Ross and Cicely Hamilton. The Scottish Women's Hospitals serviced 14 medical units across Corsica, France, Malta, Romania, Russia, Salonika and Serbia. In April 1915, Dr Inglis was head of a unit based in Serbia and within seven months of mobilising, the SWH were servicing 1,000 beds with 250 staff which included 19 female doctors.
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