Frances was born on 8th February 1894.
In 1911 Frances was acting as Housekeeper for her father David (1856) a water inspector and caring for her sister Mabel (1905) at Bryn Vyvany, Llanwddyn, Oswestry.
On the 13th September 1917 Frances enrolled with the Caernarvon VAD and was selected to serve as a Kitchen assistant on 19th October.
She was shipped out to the 3rd General Hospital in France and worked there until 20th March 1919 when she was promoted to housemaid and transferred to the No.8 G S Hostel .
Frances remained there until the 24th January 1920.
The 3rd General Hospital France
Hotel Trianon, Le Treport, France 1912
The hospital was situated in Le Treport, a coastal town 30K north east of Dieppe. As with many hospitals in France this used to be a large luxurious hotel called Hotel Trianon. It had 300 bedrooms, a large lounge with comfortable chairs and a grand piano. Staff mess rooms were large and comfortable in the basement. The hospital was able to house 520 patients indoors along with medical officers from the Royal Army Medical Corps and 43 nurses. Wounded soldiers would arrive in a steady flow having received frontline attention before being taken by field ambulance to waiting cars or trains. Soldiers were frequently evacuated back to the UK on hospital barges.
The No 8 GS hostel in Le Treport was a hostel for relatives of wounded soldiers who had braved the trip across the channel to be with their loved ones. Usually it was the mortally wounded who could not be evacuated back to the UK. Kathleen Furse (Red Cross Commander in chief) reported following her visit to a hostel for relatives that ‘six families lost their loved ones in one day’
The Hotel during the war – now 3rd General Hospital, France
Field Ambulances
Sources:
www.Ancestry.co.uk www.Longlongtrail.co.uk www.Anurseatthefront.org www.Scarletfinders.co.uk
British Red Cross Archives and museum. 44 Moorfields, London, EC2Y 9AL
www.vlib.us/medical/CCS/ccs.htm