Rank unknown Norma Ecclestone Smith
Individual attestation record images are not available for this person.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
MILITARY INFORMATION
Rank unknown (British Army).
Images
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Dauther of Walter Harland Smith and Minnie May Smith (nee Ecclestone); wife of James Arthur Gairdner married January 30, 1918
Norma Ecclestone Smith worked as a V.A.D. at Perkins Bull Hospital for a year and a half. A Toronto Star article from January 1918 (see attached) reported that she would be marrying Major James A. Gairdner, 208th Battalion, on January 30th, 1918 at St. John's church, Putney, England.
A lengthy report on this wedding appeared in the Toronto Star on January 30th, 1918. This time her maiden names was given as Norma Harland Smith. Her new husband was described as currently with the 208th Battalion, but originally with the 3rd Battalion. The bride was attended by three V.A.D. nurses from the Perkins Bull Hospital - Miss Dorothy Bull, Miss Chitty Agar and Miss Edith Ferguson. The Perkins Bull Hospital was described as the 'scene of many war romances...of the original staff of twenty V.A.D. nurses, only one remains unmarried.'
The Perkins Bull Convalescent Hospital for Canadian Officers opened in June 1916. This private home included 32 beds, and a staff of around 20 V.A.D. nurses, mostly Canadian and largely Toronto girls.
Researched by M. I. Pirie, 2010