NOSTALGIA: The First World War Welsh hospital in Southampton

This collection provides key material for researchers studying the history of the hospital. It also provides an opportunity to explore the influence of Welsh communities on the hospital.

Construction of the hospital began in 1856, following the end of the Crimean War and soon became the largest hospital in the British Empire, stretching out over a quarter of a mile (435 meters) long.

Nurses at the ‘Welsh Hospital’ at Netley in Southampton. Picture: Torfaen Museum.

The hospital played a particularly important role during the Boer Wars and then again during the First and Second World Wars, including the providing of care and treatment to those soldiers returning from the front lines (such as the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940).

A vital addition to the structure was made as a result of the donations of Welsh communities at the outbreak of the First World War.

According to the Western Mail, the first appeal raised £28,000 (the equivalent of £1.6 million today) far exceeding expectations. As a result, a Red Cross field hospital was constructed on the grounds of the main hospital and 200 beds were paid for out of these donations. Many of the beds were named after particular towns or areas where residents had raised significant funds, such as the 'Vale of Taffy bed'.

Nurses at the ‘Welsh Hospital’ at Netley in Southampton. Picture: Torfaen Museum.

The hospital is long since closed but in these wonderful photographs donated to the Torfaen Museum there will always be a reminder of the generosity of these communities and of the sacrifice of the soldiers who populated the hospital’s wards.

This Nostalgia was researched and written by museum volunteer Lewis Griffiths.