Description
British War and Victory Medal, Serbia, Red Cross Medal of Merit, 1912-13, Edith Pierce Toms, a Volunteer Nurse from the French Red Cross.
BWM and Victory officially impressed: “E. P. Toms”
Serbian medal, unnamed as issued.
All 3 medals have been contemporarily swing mounted for wear on original silk ribbons
Provenance, ex DNW, 24th March 2014, Hammer price approx £533.
Edith Pierce Toms, was born during 1886 in Banbury, Oxfordshire. She was primarily raised by her Mother, Jane Toms, born in Wales during 1852, she was a well regarded local Monthly Nurse in Banbury. She also lived with her Grandfather, William Toms (Born 1814).
When Edith was 17, she was working as a Wardsmaid in Banbury, working for the Banbury Board of Guardians who provided relief to the poor.
She was first appointed in December 1903, the Banbury Advertiser with a report from the Board, 24th December 1903 reads;
“With regard to the Junior Assistant Nurse, the committee decided to ask the Board to appoint Miss Toms in place of Nurse O’Coy.
She was the daughter of an experienced Nurse, and they thought she would be a very desirable young person for the post…..
Appointment of Junior Assistant Nurse
The Clerk read the application and testimonials of Miss Toms, and the applicant waited upon the Board.
Subsequently the Chairman proposed that Miss Toms be appointed, remarking that hers was the only application, and he thought she was a very likely candidate.
Mr Chard seconded, adding that if Miss Toms was half as good as her mother she would be a very good nurse.
The proposition was agreed to, The salary is £16 per annum, with a yearly allowance of £3 for uniform.”
However soon afterwards in early 1904, there was some local debate whether such a position should be handled by someone so young, aged only 18, and possibly another nurse over 21 should be found.
She was however defended on her merits “Mr Picton remarked that Miss Toms has had a considerable amount of experience, as she had been with her mother, who was one of the best of nurses.”
When WW1 Began, the British Journal of Nursing, issue November 1914, reported that Miss Edith Pierce Toms was listed as a Nurse working with the Society of Friends (Quakers) under the auspices of the Association des Infirmieres Visiteuses de France.
She would then see war service as a nurse in the Balkans Theatre, her Medal Index Card records her arrival into a theatre of war in April 1915 in the Balkans.
The British Journal of Nursing, issue May 1915, reports that she was shortly to arrive at Kragujevac, Serbia.
For some interesting further reading, you can read an archived copy of “My Diary In Serbia” by Monica Stanley, a Nurse, who served in Serbia with the Stobart Field Hospital from April to November 1915.
Click here for a link to the EBook of My Diary in Serbia, from Project Gutenberg
