Mollie Walter
Mollie Walter | |
|---|---|
.png?lang=en) Walter in a 1945 newspaper | |
| Born | Mollie Barbara Walter April 1911 East Preston, Sussex, England |
| Died | 3 December 1951 Worthing, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | London Hospital Medical College |
| Occupation | Nurse |
Mollie Walter (April 1911 – 3 December 1951)[1] was a state registered nurse and Girl Guide leader who volunteered with the Guide International Service (GIS) in post-war Holland and Germany from 1944 to 1946. She helped renovate the Guide Club after WWII and served as its housekeeper until her death in 1951.[2]
Personal life
[edit]Walter was born to Edward Wiles Walter and Margaret Phyllis Walter. She had one brother. She attended the London Hospital Medical College between 1932 and 1935, [3] becoming a state registered nurse.[4]
Girl Guides
[edit]Walter was Brown Owl for 2nd (St Paul's) Brownie pack and Captain for 14th (Baptist) Guide company in Worthing for 20 years.[5]
Guide International Service (GIS)
[edit]In October 1944, Walter joined the Guide International Service (GIS), which had been established two years previously with the aim of sending teams of adult Girl Guides into Europe after World War II to aid with relief work.[6][7] She trained in London for three months[8] before joining the 2nd Hospital Team as a senior nurse. In March 1945, just before leaving, they were "entertained by the Queen in the drawing room at Buckingham Palace."[9]
The team travelled to Holland in February 1945 where Walter fought a typhoid epidemic at Gorinchem. When the group moved to Germany, Walter worked at a hospital and maternity ward at a camp for displaced people for 18 months.[10] Walter took the trefoil from the top of the 14th (Baptist) Guide company's standard and tied it to the truck that she drove for the mobile hospital service.[8] She was awarded the France and Germany Star on 13 December 1948 for her service.[11]
The Guide Club
[edit]Walter returned to England in 1947, and after working alongside other GIS volunteers to bring the recently purchased 46 Belgrave Square premises "up to Grosvenor Estate post-war standards"[12] she became the first housekeeper of the newly opened Guide Club, a position she held until her death.[4] She would give talks on her experience with the GIS.[13]
After her death, the Mollie Walter Memorial fund was organised by members of the GIS and the Guide Club with money donated to the club.[14] Another fund, organised by Worthing Girl Guides, enabled a trek cart and money to be donated to the new Guide headquarters in Worthing.[10][15] The presentation was made by fellow GIS volunteer, Margery Davies. [16]
Other
[edit]Walter served as a councillor on the Worthing branch of the National Council of Women and the Women's Citizen's Association.[17]
References
[edit]
- ^ "Walter". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 1951-12-05. p. 8.
- ^ "Called to higher service". The Guider (Vol. XXXIX No. 1 ed.). London, UK: Girl Guides Association. January 1952. p. 19.
- ^ Register of Nurses 1898-1968. London, UK: Royal College of Nursing. 1943. p. 3629.
- ^ a b "Death of Miss Mollie Walker". Worthing Herald. Worthing, UK. 1951-12-07. p. 20.
- ^ "Worthing wills". Worthing Herald. Worthing, UK. 1952-04-04. p. 2.
- ^ "Helping Victims in Occupied Lands – The Girl Guides' Service". The Glasgow Herald. 25 October 1943 – via Google News Archive Search.
- ^ "Guiding hand took on world, Nancy Eastick 1920-2011". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 2, 2011.
- ^ a b "Worthing Guiders in Europe". Worthing Herald. Worthing, UK. 1945-03-09. p. 1.
- ^ "Worthing Guiders in Europe". Worthing Herald. Worthing, England. 1945-03-09. p. 20.
- ^ a b "A Mollie Walter memorial appeal". Worthing Herald. Worthing, UK. 1951-12-14. p. 7.
- ^ The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; WW2 C.S.20 Army Medal Cards; Reference: WO 460/520
- ^ Anstice Gibbs (February 1978). "The Guide Club". The Guider (Vol. 65 No. 2 ed.). London, UK: Girl Guides Association. p. 71.
- ^ "Nursing Association Meeting". Worthing Gazette. Worthing, UK. 1947-05-14. p. 6.
- ^ "Mollie Walter memorial". The Guider (Vol. XL No. 2 ed.). London, UK: Girl Guides Association. February 1953. p. 31.
- ^ "Trek cart and a cheque for the Girl Guides". Worthing Gazette. Worthing, UK. 1954-04-07. p. 4.
- ^ "Trek cart commemorates a 'true Guide'". Worthing Herald. Worthing, UK. 1954-04-09. p. 6.
- ^ "Women citizens". Worthing Herald. Worthing, UK. 1929-10-19. p. 16.