Rachel Pearson's VAD war story

Rachel (always known as Ray) Pearson was born in Glasgow on 12th April 1920. In 1925, her father James Pearson, a draper, purchased his first shop in Friars Vennel, and the family moved to Dumfries.

Ray attended Dumfries Academy and left in 1938 to become a student at the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science (Dough School). On 13th October 1939, she completed a British Red Cross Society advanced certificate in First Aid. On 22nd April 1940, she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and was attached to the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) as a Hospital Cook (Class 1) with the service number W/680007. VADs were recruited from members of the British Red Cross Society, St John's Ambulance Brigade, and St Andrew's Ambulance Association.

The VAD outdoor uniform included a dark blue cap with a white trim around the cap band. The cap had a gilt and enamel badge featuring a red cross upon a white shield with the text "THE BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY" and the motto "INTER ARMA CARITAS" (charity in the midst of war). VAD members attached to the RAMC wore a badge on their left breast. Mobile members provided staff for hospitals and could be posted abroad, wearing a cloth embroidered Mobile badge on the lower left sleeve.

Ray's first posting was to Edinburgh Castle, where she was billeted at Lady Stair's Close, High Street, Edinburgh. After being involved in a complaint about the accommodation, she was transferred to Scapa Flow. By July 1942, she was in Warwickshire attending a course at Budbrooke Barracks. In February 2000, on a visit to Leamington Spa, she told her son Jimmy that she was billeted on Warwick Street. Holmdene Auxiliary Hospital, now flats, was at 36 Warwick Road. She frequented the Polka Dot Café on Warwick Road. A photograph believed to have been taken at Leamington Spa, possibly at Holmdene Auxiliary Hospital, documents her time there.

In May 1943, while stationed at Norton Barracks in Worcester, Ray applied to the Scottish branch of the British Red Cross for her service stripes. It was at Norton Barracks that she met her husband, and they married in July 1943. After her marriage, she likely moved to Moston Hall near Chester, a thousand-bed hospital, where she was released from war service on 23rd October 1943. This release was documented with a stamp from Headquarters No 19 Coy RAMC, dated 23rd October 1943, and signed by a Captain/Colonel from No 19 Coy RAMC.