YOUNG women medical volunteers were serving at military hospitals overseas and throughout the British Isles during the First World War.

The Barrow News of May 12 in 1917 reported the departure for the south coast of May Rogers, who was to work as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse at the Brighton Military Hospital.

It noted: “Miss May Rogers has been a teacher at St James’s Schools for over three years.

“She has qualified for the ambulance and nursing certificates of the St John Ambulance Association and joined the brigade under Lady-Supt M. J. Craig.

“It says a good deal for Miss Rogers’ patriotism that she has given up her post as teacher at her country’s call.

“She will no doubt acquit herself as well as the other members whom Mrs Craig has sent on active service.

“There is a great need for VADs at the present time and anyone possessing the necessary qualifications could not do better than follow Miss Rogers’ example.”

During the First World War, the Royal Pavilion at Brighton was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers.

It became one of the most famous military hospitals in Britain.

From 1914 to 1916 it was used for Indian soldiers who had been wounded on the battlefields of the Western Front.

From 1916 to 1920 it was used as a hospital for British troops who had lost arms or legs in the war and cared for more than 6,000.

Wounds were treated, and prosthetic limbs were fitted, but the limbless hospital did not simply care for the patients’ immediate medical needs.

The Pavilion hospital was used for rehabilitation, and ensuring that the men had skills and purpose to live fulfilling lives after the war.

A workshop, named after Queen Mary, was set up in the grounds of the Pavilion.

Bearing the slogan ‘Hope Welcomes All Who Enter Here’, the Queen Mary’s workshop was used to train the patients in new skills, such as engineering, grammar and cinematography.

Men who had been unskilled labourers before joining the army would, having lost a limb, become skilled workers by the time they left the army.