Information about Alice is also shared on the website: War graves in the Old Reading Cemetery
Alice Maud(e)’s early life is not known at the moment. She was the eldest daughter of Mr. Augustus RUSSELL, of 6, Fatherson Road. Her war record shows that in 1912 she was employed as a School Nurse by the London County Council.
By 1915 she was a British Army Staff Nurse for the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) Reserve and then moved to full Military Nursing Service. QAIMNS was formed in 1902 but it traced its origins back to Florence Nightingale’s nursing work during the Crimean War.
At the start of the First World War (1914-18), there were just under 300 nurses in the QAIMN due to the initial strict criteria for selection. Nurses had to be single women of good social standing between 25 and 35 years old, and to have trained for three years at one of only 34 UK hospitals approved by the Nursing Board (from the QAIMN website). Though the entry criteria changed during WW1, Alice was most likely unmarried. There is no mention of a husband at her funeral, which was reported on the local Reading newspaper.
Alice died on 4th October 1916 of septic glands following diphtheria, contracted on duty in Malta.
Her military funeral was on Monday 12th October 1916.
Division 3, Row H, Plot 12