Laura Elizabeth James, Military Medal, Royal Red Cross, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.

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Acting Matron Laura Elizabeth James. Military Medal. Royal Red Cross. Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.
Born 1880 the daughter of Dr Phillip and Jane James of Hokitika, New Zealand,
Laura's nursing training did not begin until she was 26, when between 1906 and 1909 Laura trained as a nurse at the Wellington Hospital, reaching the position of Sister. In January 1910 she sailed for Genoa via Sydney as a companion to the forty year old Miss Gertrude Ellen Meinertzhagen.
Her application to join the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was successful and she enrolled on 3rd of November 1910 as a Staff Nurse, one of the few women from outside Britain who were in the QAIMNS before the outbreak of the First World War. Her initial service was in Aldershot, London and Tidworth, Wiltshire. In August 1914, after Britain declared war on Germany, she was mobilised as a Sister and sent to France.
On 29th of March1917 a diary entry by Dame Maud McCarthy, the Matron-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force, records that Miss James, in charge at No. 45 Field Ambulance, had reported her unit was closing on the 29th or 30th. All the equipment was sent to the Arras underground medical facility, known as Thompson’s Cave, but this was bombed only a few days later. On 5th April Laura joined No. 41 Casualty Clearing Station, one of two then situated to the west of Arras at Agnes-le-Duisans; the other was No. 19, to which Laura was posted on 4th May. Her Military Medal Citation reads:
"On the night of 3rd May 1917, when Arras was being heavily shelled, Sister Laura James showed great courage, and by her coolness and devotion to duty succeeded in allaying the fears of the patients under her charge. She refused to leave the ward, although the hospital had been hit several times, 3 men being killed and 14 wounded. She was only prevailed on to leave when all the patients had been safely evacuated. London Gazette, 18 July 1917"
Laura was then posted to Italy as Matron at a base hospital.
She was awarded the Royal Red Cross (2nd class) in June 1919, with which she was invested by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 20th of February1920. The 1920 Historical Roll relating to female Military Medals notes that she was also awarded five overseas service chevrons – 1 red and 4 blue – and that she was twice mentioned in Dispatches: by General Sir Douglas Haig’s of 13th November 1916 and General Lord Cavan’s of 26 of October1918. She was thus one of the most decorated nurses of WW1.
Laura never married and died at The Mount Nursing Home, 6 The Mount, St Leonard’s-on-Sea, Sussex, England on 23 of February 1969.

Map^[1]External LinkFriends of Hastings Cemetery

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Location (city or town)HokitikaPersonLaura Elizabeth JamesEventHokitika nurse

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Date Created21st June 2024

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Laura Elizabeth James, Military Medal, Royal Red Cross, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.

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