My Great Aunt, Margaret Box went, via France, Italy and Greece to what was then Serbia, in 1918/19 towards the end of the First World War. She was a nurse, working for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, and wrote a number of letters and diaries describing her her experiences, indexed here. During her travels she encounters… Continue reading Margaret Box Nursing – Dramatis Personae
Happy Birthday Norah Box October 1918
My Great Aunt Norah Constance Box was 20 on 11th November 1918. Her sister, Margaret Ada Box who was nursing in Salonica and Serbia wrote to her on the 24th October, from a camp of the 708 Motor Transport Company to wish her a Happy Birthday. Although Margaret’s letter does not mention it, her diary… Continue reading Happy Birthday Norah Box October 1918
Margaret Box arrived in Skopje – 29th October 1918
On the 28th October 1918 my Great Aunt, Margaret Box, arrived at the Scottish Women’s Hospitals unit near Skopje. She was a Red Cross Nurse working in the Elsie Inglis unit at the end of the First World War and fortunately her letters home and diaries have been preserved. Previous Index Next S.W.H. c/o Dr… Continue reading Margaret Box arrived in Skopje – 29th October 1918
Margaret Box letter from Salonica – October 20th 1918
My Great Aunt, Margaret Box, was a civilian Red Cross nurse, serving in Serbia, towards the end of the First World War. On the 20th of October 1918 she wrote to her Mother from Salonica. As this had been the first major city she had been in for a while she also sent a telegram… Continue reading Margaret Box letter from Salonica – October 20th 1918
“I am half sick of shadows” said
the Lady of Shalott Very loosely, in Tennyson’s poem, the main character is isolated in a castle on an island, where she can observe the world through a magic mirror, and occupy herself by weaving a magic web, but may not leave the tower or she will be struck by a mysterious curse. She knows… Continue reading “I am half sick of shadows” said
The Year of the Nurse and Midwife
Today would be the two hundredth birthday of Florence Nigthtingale, and the World Health Organisation designated 2020 the Year of the Nurse and Midwife in her honour. Although the Coronavirus crisis may have taken some of the attention which might have otherwise been paid to this remarkable woman, it has also emphasised the importance of… Continue reading The Year of the Nurse and Midwife
Margaret Box still in Bralo, October 14th 1918
Margaret Box, my Great Aunt, was nursing in Salonica and Serbia at the end of the First World War. She wrote many letters home, which I am transcribing here. This one, to her father, follows the one she wrote she wrote to her mother, from Bralo on 11th/12th October 1918. Previous Index Next c/o 49th… Continue reading Margaret Box still in Bralo, October 14th 1918
Say not the struggle naught availeth
I started this post a couple of years ago and never published it, but this has been a favourite poem of mine for many years, and the idea of a hyperlinked version must date back to before 2009, as that is when Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle. The poem can be seen as… Continue reading Say not the struggle naught availeth
Diversity and Regulation
The intertwined themes of Diversity and Regulation are in my thoughts a lot at the moment, so this post acts as an anchor from which I expect to expand on in other posts. Diversity We are surrounded by diversity – among people, in the objects in our daily lives, in culture and knowledge, in fortune… Continue reading Diversity and Regulation
On Isolation, being prepared and the NHS
As I write this we are in self isolation, in response to the Coronavirus. The situation is exposing the risks of much of the ‘Just in Time‘ world wide flow of goods and people which we normally take for granted to view. As the situation is unusual, many people have panicked and stockpiled things they… Continue reading On Isolation, being prepared and the NHS