The influence of the Anglo-Boer War (1899 – 1902)

298 Pages·2014·1.91 MB·English

by  Charlotte Dale

Raising professional confidence: The influence
of the Anglo-Boer War (1899 – 1902) on the
development and recognition of nursing as a
profession

A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing
in the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences.

2013

Charlotte Dale

School of Nursing, Midwifery
and Social Work
2

Abstract
 ........................................................................................................................................................
 5

Declaration
 ...........................................................................................................................................................
 6

Copyright
 Statement
 .........................................................................................................................................
 7

Acknowledgements
 ...........................................................................................................................................
 8

The
 Author
 ............................................................................................................................................................
 9

Introduction
 .......................................................................................................................................................
 10

Chapter
 One
 ........................................................................................................................................................
 17

Nursing,
 War
 and
 the
 late
 Nineteenth
 Century
 Woman:
 a
 review
 of
 the
 literature
 and

background
 to
 the
 thesis
 .........................................................................................................................
 17

Introduction
 .............................................................................................................................................
 17

Women
 of
 The
 British
 Empire
 ..........................................................................................................
 18

Nineteenth
 century
 civilian
 nursing
 ..............................................................................................
 27

Raising
 the
 professional
 profile:
 regulating
 nursing
 ..............................................................
 32

Victorian
 nurses
 in
 war
 .......................................................................................................................
 36

Conclusion
 .................................................................................................................................................
 44

Chapter
 Two
 .......................................................................................................................................................
 47

Historical
 Methods
 Used
 ..........................................................................................................................
 47

Nursing
 History
 as
 a
 discipline
 ........................................................................................................
 47

The
 use
 of
 secondary
 sources
 ...........................................................................................................
 51

Personal
 writing
 as
 a
 historical
 source
 .........................................................................................
 52

Archival
 research
 ...................................................................................................................................
 56

Attending
 the
 archives
 .........................................................................................................................
 59

Interpretation
 of
 findings
 ...................................................................................................................
 60

Conclusion
 .................................................................................................................................................
 65

Chapter
 Three
 ....................................................................................................................................................
 66

The
 motivations
 of
 nurses
 for
 wartime
 service
 .............................................................................
 66

Introduction
 .............................................................................................................................................
 66

Danger
 alongside
 Duty:
 ‘it
 is
 an
 experience
 one
 would
 get
 only
 once
 in
 a
 lifetime’.
 68

Social
 exploits:
 ‘She
 dined
 once
 at
 Major
 Bagots
 [sic]
 with
 us,
 has
 an
 18
 inch
 waist,

scarlet
 belt
 and
 makes
 up’.
 .................................................................................................................
 78
3

Conclusion
 .................................................................................................................................................
 91

Chapter
 Four
 ......................................................................................................................................................
 93

The
 boundaries
 of
 practice:
 Nurses
 in
 the
 sphere
 of
 war
 .........................................................
 93

Introduction
 .............................................................................................................................................
 93

Army
 nurses
 and
 the
 orderly
 as
 a
 substitute
 nurse
 ................................................................
 95

An
 influx
 of
 civilians:
 The
 British
 and
 the
 Colonials
 ............................................................
 108

‘A
 plague
 of
 women’
 on
 the
 veldt
 .................................................................................................
 114

Conclusion
 ..............................................................................................................................................
 122

Chapter
 Five
 ....................................................................................................................................................
 125

The
 challenges
 of
 Army
 life:
 Traversing
 the
 veldt
 with
 Tommy
 Atkins
 ...........................
 125

Introduction
 ..........................................................................................................................................
 125

Life
 on
 the
 veldt
 and
 under
 canvas
 ..............................................................................................
 126

Continually
 exhausted:
 The
 health
 of
 the
 nurses
 ..................................................................
 135

Conclusion
 ..............................................................................................................................................
 146

Chapter
 Six
 .......................................................................................................................................................
 148

The
 challenges
 of
 practice:
 The
 clinical
 nursing
 routine
 ........................................................
 148

Introduction
 ..........................................................................................................................................
 148

The
 clinical
 nursing
 routine
 ............................................................................................................
 151

The
 role
 of
 surgery:
 weaponry
 and
 wounds
 ...........................................................................
 157

A
 growth
 of
 personal
 and
 professional
 confidence
 ..............................................................
 166

Conclusion
 ..............................................................................................................................................
 173

Chapter
 Seven
 .................................................................................................................................................
 175

The
 last
 of
 the
 Typhoid
 campaigns
 ...................................................................................................
 175

Introduction
 ..........................................................................................................................................
 175

The
 aetiology
 of
 typhoid
 fever
 and
 the
 nursing
 care
 regime
 ...........................................
 177

The
 intensive
 nature
 of
 nursing
 fever
 patients
 ......................................................................
 183

Recognition
 of
 the
 ‘expert’
 nurses’
 work
 ..................................................................................
 189

Conclusion
 ..............................................................................................................................................
 192

Chapter
 Eight
 ..................................................................................................................................................
 194
4

In
 the
 Army
 everything
 is
 badly
 done:
 ‘red
 tape’,
 inefficiency
 and
 corruption
 .............
 194

Introduction
 ..........................................................................................................................................
 194

Deficiencies
 within
 the
 Army
 Medical
 Service
 .......................................................................
 196

Red
 Tape:
 Working
 within
 the
 confines
 of
 the
 army
 medical
 system
 ..........................
 208

Conclusion
 ..............................................................................................................................................
 219

Chapter
 Nine
 ...................................................................................................................................................
 221

A
 move
 for
 professionalisation
 and
 public
 recognition
 ..........................................................
 221

Introduction
 ..........................................................................................................................................
 221

A
 call
 for
 reorganisation
 and
 recognition
 .................................................................................
 222

A
 new
 era:
 The
 Queen
 Alexandra’s
 Imperial
 Military
 Nursing
 Service
 .......................
 229

Nurse
 registration
 and
 education
 ................................................................................................
 236

Conclusion
 ..............................................................................................................................................
 244

Discussion
 and
 Conclusions
 .....................................................................................................................
 247

References
 ........................................................................................................................................................
 264

Appendix
 ...........................................................................................................................................................
 295

WORD COUNT (INCLUDING TITLE PAGE AND ABSTRACT) 87,112
5

Raising professional confidence: The influence of the Anglo-Boer War (1899 –
1902) on the development and recognition of nursing as a profession
Abstract
Charlotte Dale
A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in Nursing, 2013
The thesis examines the position of nurses during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899
– 1902) and considers how their work helped to raise the profile of nursing. The
experience of the war demonstrated the superiority of the work undertaken by trained
nurses as compared with that of ‘amateurs’. At the commencement of war a small
cohort of army nurses worked alongside large numbers of trained male orderlies,
however these numbers proved insufficient during the period of the war and
additional, entirely untrained orderlies (often convalescent soldiers) were relied upon
to deliver nursing care. Against a backdrop of long term antipathy toward nurses at
the seat of war, the work of both army and civilian nurses in military hospitals
suggested that the clinical proficiency of trained nurses had a significant impact on
military effectiveness. The thesis will develop arguments based on the personal
testimonies of nurses who served during the Second Anglo-Boer War, relating to
clinical nursing and nurses perceptions of professionalism during the period. Personal
testimony will be used primarily to examine the working lives and experiences of
serving nurses, as many historians simply state that the excellent work of the nurses
forced changes, yet make no allusion to what this specifically entailed.
Faced with the exigencies of war, including limited medical supplies and military
bureaucracy (termed by nurses and doctors alike as ‘red tape’) that hindered nurses’
abilities to provide high levels of care, nurses demonstrated their developing clinical
confidence. Despite accusations that nurses were ‘frivolling’ in South Africa, raising
concerns over the control and organisation of nurses in future military campaigns, the
social exploits of nurses on active service was not entirely detrimental to
contemporary views of their professional status. Nurses were able to demonstrate
their abilities to survive the hardships of war, including nursing close to the ‘front
lines’ of war and the arduous conditions inherent in living under canvas on the South
African veldt. Not only were nurses proving their abilities to endure hardship
normally associated with masculine work, but they were also establishing their
clinical capabilities. This was especially so during the serious typhoid epidemics
when nurses were able to draw upon their expert knowledge to provide careful
nursing care based on extensive experience. Nurses, who had undergone recognised
training in Britain, demonstrated their professional competence and proved that
nursing was a learned skill, not merely an innate womanly trait. The war also
represented an opportunity to evidence their fitness for citizenship by using their
skilled training for the benefit of the Empire. The subsequent reform of the Army
Nursing Service, resulting in the establishment of the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial
Military Nursing Service in 1902, suggests permanent recognition of the essential role
of nurses in times of both war and peace.
6

Declaration

No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an
application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other
institute of learning.
7

Copyright Statement

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owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The
University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for
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8

Acknowledgements

I should first and foremost thank my supervisors Professor Christine Hallett and Dr.
Jane Brooks for their kind and unfailing support at all stages. I cannot thank them
enough for everything.
I also especially wish to acknowledge my family for their continued assistance,
encouragement, support and tolerance throughout my studies.
9

The Author
Charlotte Dale is a student at The University of Manchester. She undertook her initial
nurse education at The University of Hull and graduated as a Registered Nurse
(Adult) in 2006. She worked as an orthopaedic nurse before leaving to pursue
academic study in 2009 with a particular interest in pursuing a career within research.
Charlotte has presented work at both national and international conferences and work
deriving from her thesis has been published in the Royal College of Nursing History
Newsletter and the UK Association for the History of Nursing Bulletin. She received
the Mona Grey Prize from The University of Manchester for her research proposal
and the Monica Baly Bursary from the Royal College of Nursing Foundation to
pursue this work, alongside financial support from the Wellcome Trust. Data
gathered as part of this thesis has informed a chapter to be included in a compilation
on wartime nursing practices intended for publication in 2014.
10

Introduction
This thesis explores the way in which the influence of the Second Anglo-Boer War
(1899 – 1902), hereafter referred to as the Anglo-Boer War, impacted on the
development and recognition of nursing as a profession.1 It will offer an insight into
the emerging role of the nurse in the sphere of war and will explore the ways in which
their work demonstrated to the military and medical authorities that the planning and
preparation for future wars necessitated a permanent female military nursing service.
The thesis will suggest that, although women had no defined place in the public
sphere, and nurses were not as yet registered practitioners, their experiences of
wartime service raised their confidence in their practice, enabling them to become
more assertive in their claim to professional status. The Anglo-Boer War
demonstrated the expediency of nurses in times of war and peace and also challenged
perceptions of where women should be located in respect of the ‘front line’ and in the
male dominated sphere of war. Many medical men in positions of authority and
within the War Office objected to women serving within the army system, an
objection derived from the Royal Army Medical Corps’ (RAMC) longstanding
antipathy to women working ‘in any role other than as supervisory sisters within the
base hospitals, far from the seat of war’.2

1 For further details of the Anglo-Boer War see Appendix.
2 Christopher Schmitz, ‘We Too Were Soldiers’: The Experiences of British Nurses in the Anglo-Boer
War, 1899 – 1902 In Gerard J. DeGroot and Corinna Peniston-Bird (Eds), A Soldier and a Woman:
Sexual Integration in the Military (Essex, Pearson Education Ltd, 2000), 49 – 65, 53 See also: Anne
Summers, Angels and Citizens: British Women as Military Nurses 1854 – 1914 (London, Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1988), 65, 175; Jan Bassett, Guns and Brooches Australian Army Nursing from the
Boer War to the Gulf War (Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1997), 9; Anna Rogers, While You’re
Away: New Zealand Nurses at War 1899 – 1948 (Auckland, Auckland University Press, 2003), 14 – 15