The War Hospital
In the first month of World War 1 the Long Gallery at Englefield House was turned into a hospital ward and other rooms in the upper part of the house given over to other hospital functions. Mrs Benyon, a great supporter of the Red Cross before the War and president of the Berkshire branch, was the commandant with Miss Winifred Benyon as her assistant. A doctor, Dr Joy from Bradfield, and two nurses, Mrs Foster and Mrs Joy, were the medical staff and they were assisted by about 30 female VAD members of the 8th Berkshire Detachment as nurses. The Reading Standard gives “Mrs Dobbis” as the quartermaster but this must be meant to be Miss Dobbie who was then the housekeeper at Englefield House - and still was at the outbreak of the next World War. The cost was borne by Mr Benyon.
The hospital was one of the first of its kind to open and the first patients to arrive on 29 October 1914 were 19 convalescent soldiers, including seven Belgians, transferred from the Base Hospital at Oxford. The care they received was obviously good for by December only nine remained, the other ten having been discharged. The care they received was not limited to medical treatment and there was a steady stream of visitors, so many indeed that it was quickly necessary to limit visiting hours to 3 to 4 pm each day and 5 to 6 pm on Thursdays. No more than two visitors per patient were allowed at any one time. The inmates were allowed the run of the Park, and the village as far as the Timber Yard but were not allowed beyond these boundaries or to visit people in the village without permission from the Medical Officer in charge, or to enter any public house. Villagers who wished to entertain the troops in their homes had to ask permission from Mrs Benyon.
The men of the 1st Berkshire Detachment VAD also provided their services as stretcher bearers and orderlies and in 1915 brassards were presented to 22 men who had gained certificates of proficiency. These were the Rector, the Reverend GG Skipwith, who was Assistant Quartermaster; the curate, the Reverend GDS Bushnell and messers Blatch, R Ford, W Chandler, Hunt, Bates, F Webb, Partlo, F Cox, Phillips, Reynolds, H Horne, D Fisher, Watson, A Lamperd, Udall, WG Horne, Baker, Hillier, Wright and Drury. These were, inevitably, mostly the men too old or too young for service in the Forces but the numbers were reduced somewhat by the extended call-up later in the War.
Cricket matches were arranged against other local war hospitals such as Sulhamstead House and Battle Hospital and the men were allowed to fish in the lake. In August 1915 one of them, Sergeant Major Croft, had his photograph taken with a pike weighing 23lb 7oz and 3ft 7in long. The fish was said to be almost as long as he was.
The hospital continued in service throughout the War and for her work in running it and her support for many other charitable institutions in the county Mrs Benyon became Dame Edith Benyon GBE in the New Year’s Honours of 1918.
© 2021 Richard J Smith