Winifred English’s story in Exeter is a striking reminder of the sacrifices made by members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment during the First World War. The daughter of Major J.O. English of the Royal Artillery and Florence English, she volunteered with the Red Cross to nurse soldiers at the Military Hospital on Topsham Road. When influenza swept through the Devon Regiment at Topsham Barracks in early 1915, the Higher Barracks hospital was overwhelmed, and an old building was hastily re-opened to cope. Winifred was among the VAD nurses sent to staff it, but within days she herself fell ill. After three weeks of pneumonia she died on 24 February 1915, aged only twenty-five. Her parents insisted she had died on duty, though she was never formally recognised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Her memorial plaque in Exeter bears the words: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Her story is part of a wider narrative of the Voluntary Aid Detachments, created by the British Red Cross and the Order of St John in 1909. By the end of the war, more than ninety thousand volunteers had served at home and abroad. They were trained in first aid, home nursing, hygiene and discipline, and were expected to work long hours under strict regulations. From 1915 onwards, VADs were deployed to Royal Army Medical Corps hospitals, freeing trained nurses for front-line duty, and many later served in Malta, Egypt, France and naval hospitals. Their work was not limited to nursing: they acted as clerks, cooks, drivers and storekeepers, filling gaps left by men who had gone to fight. The risks were considerable, and records show that at least 128 nursing members died during service, though many more were lost without formal recognition.
Winifred’s fate reflects the dangers faced by these volunteers. Illness, exhaustion and exposure claimed lives as surely as enemy fire. Her sacrifice in Exeter mirrors the experience of countless VADs across Britain, highlighting the immediacy of war in local communities, the gendered dimension of service, and the gaps in commemoration. Her memorial, alongside the motto of the Royal British Legion Women’s Section—“Service Not Self”—captures the ethos of the VAD movement. Winifred’s brief but courageous service reminds us that sacrifice in war is not only measured on the battlefield, but also in the improvised wards of military hospitals, where volunteers laid down their lives in service.
