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Suffolk Hall VAD Hospital, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham |
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| Location: Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham | Grid Reference: SO 944217 |
| Opened: 9th December 1914 | Closed: 29th March 1919 |
| Beds: 65 | Average Resident Patients in 1918: 48 |
| Total Admissions: 1368 | UKNIWM Ref: In due course |
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| Inscriptions on the Memorial: This building was used as a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers during the Great War. It was manned by Gloucestershire Voluntary Aid Detachment No 26 and was open from 9 Dec 1914 to 29 Mar 1919 during which period 1368 cases were treated. | |
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The hospital was staffed by No 26
Gloucestershire Voluntary Aid Detachment and its officers were:
Commandant: Miss M Hattersley-Smith Medical Officers: Dr J F Johns, Mr Holmes Lady Superintendent: Miss Harris Quartermaster: Miss Marriott Hon Secretary: Miss Mott Hon Treasurer: Mr Shepherd |
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Notes by the Commandant. Suffolk Hall, formerly a boys school, was
kindly lent to Glos 26 by Mr Soames at the outset of the War. The
large gymnasium and schoolrooms made excellent wards. An outdoor
recreation room and open air shelter were provided by private funds, the latter
to contain eight beds. An excellent theatre was completely fitted
up, and here all operations were performed until June 1917, after which the more
serious cases were removed to the General Hospital owing to the shortage of
surgeons, both those from Suffolk Hall having left for foreign
service. The hospital received cases direct from the front, except
during the winters of 1915 and 1916, when it acted as garrison hospital for the
troops stationed in Cheltenham. The hospital, owing to the influenza
epidemic, was filled to overflowing from January 1919, and the staff went
through a very trying time.
The patients worked badges, did carving, painting, carpentry, etc, and the work done by them was sold for various causes. The hospital provided a stall at the bazaar held in aid of St Dunstan's Hospital in November 1916, consisting partly of patients' work, and over £100 was realised. Of the staff, at the close of the hospital in March 1919, there were seventeen remaining who had worked since the opening in December 1914. |
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