Casgliadau Arlein

Gold wrist watch given to Sister Elizabeth Wilkins by patients at the St Fagans Red Cross VAD Hospital, dated 27 March 1919. Engraved inscription on back: 'To / Sister Wilkins / FROM THE / BOYS OF ST FAGANS / MAR. 27TH 1919'. With black ribbed strap and gold clasp closure.

Over 3,000 auxiliary hospitals opened in Britain during the First World War. Staffed for the most part by volunteers, they provided nursing care to soldiers with non-life threatening injuries. Forty-nine of these temporary medical facilities opened in Glamorgan. On 22 March 1916, the Red Cross opened a 40 bed auxiliary hospital in the grounds of St Fagans Castle. An extension was added in 1917 to increase the capacity to 70. The hospital was staffed by Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses (known as VADs) from the local area, under the supervision of Elizabeth Bastable Wilkins - the Sister in Charge. Her record of service, held at the Red Cross Museum and Archives, shows that she was a paid member of staff and worked at the hospital from 22 May 1916 until 31 March 1919. Originally from Dorset, she was an experienced nurse who had previously worked as a Sister at the Royal Hamadryad Seamen’s Hospital in Cardiff (1909-12) and at the Belgian School of Nursing in Brussels (1912-15). Her experience and qualifications were not the only assets she brought to St Fagans. A report in The Glamorgan Red Cross Gazette (published in November 1916) praised her methods of working: "The Sister-in-Charge, Miss Wilkins, is most successful in training the VADs. She allows them to assist with the dressings, to take pulse and temperature, and this they appreciate, as it gives them valuable experience, and makes their work, &c., much more interesting. It is a great pity her methods are not more generally adopted in Red Cross Hospitals".