| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | REL26308.002 |
| Collection type | Heraldry |
| Object type | Badge |
| Physical description | Chrome-plated steel, Cotton drill, Cotton tape, Embroidery cotton thread |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Place made | United Kingdom |
| Date made | c 1944 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 Period 1940-1949 |
Armband: Mobile - VAD - Grade 1 N M Finner
Description
Blue cotton drill armband with embroidered 'MOBILE VAD' badge. The armband is fitted with a chrome-plated buckle.
History / Summary
Associated with the service of W788331 VAD Grade 1 Nora Margaret Finner, (nee Johnson) who was born in London, in 1918. Mrs Finner worked as a Civil Servant in London, and joined the British Red Cross Society in about 1940. Her husband served in the Royal Navy, and in 1943 she volunteered to join the Mobile Voluntary Aid Detachments, (VAD) attached to the RN. In February 1944, she was called up and posted to Barrow Gurney Royal Naval Hospital, near Bristol. Qualifying as a Grade 1 Nurse, she was then posted to the Royal Naval Medical School at Clevedon, Somerset. Finner volunteered for overseas service and was drafted to the Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital at Herne Bay (commonly known as 'Hernia Bay', now the suburb of Riverwood) in Sydney. She departed Liverpool (UK) on 18 November 1944, and arrived at Sydney on 16 December 1944, spending the following eighteen months at Herne Bay, nursing Royal Navy patients (of the British Pacific Fleet, then based in Sydney) and returned prisoners of war. In April 1946, Finner returned to the United Kingdom, where she was demobilised on 30 November. Later divorced, she emigrated to Australia in 1949, where she married an RAN ex-serviceman, Ralph Russell.