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MARGARET GILLESPIE WWI NURSE


BEAST
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I bought a grouping from the family of a local doctor who served during WWI. Among his uniforms, etc. was the following items. Margaret Gillespie was from the east coast and served overseas as a member of the Army Nurse Corps. While over there she met John Freed who was an Army doctor. After the war they married and moved back to Indiana. I have a news article on her service and the family allowed me to copy a couple of photographs. I will post more when I can get to my files.

 

The mask itself is pretty well dried up. The ANC pin I found in the little purse. Her uniform is on display at a small county historical museum. The one piece that I could get from the family was her engrave mess kit with trench art decorations.

 

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Beast,

 

Female field gear is possibly even harder to find than the uniforms!

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

Chris

 

 

I bought a grouping from the family of a local doctor who served during WWI. Among his uniforms, etc. was the following items. Margaret Gillespie was from the east coast and served overseas as a member of the Army Nurse Corps. While over there she met John Freed who was an Army doctor. After the war they married and moved back to Indiana. I have a news article on her service and the family allowed me to copy a couple of photographs. I will post more when I can get to my files.

 

The mask itself is pretty well dried up. The ANC pin I found in the little purse. Her uniform is on display at a small county historical museum. The one piece that I could get from the family was her engrave mess kit with trench art decorations.

 

post-203-1173584793.jpg

 

post-203-1173584806.jpg

 

post-203-1173584827.jpg

 

post-203-1173584839.jpg

 

post-203-1173584852.jpg

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Beast,

 

Based on the construction (the two pronged adjustment, the cloverleaf snaps, etc) I would guess it to be from the WW1 time period.

 

My guess would be some sort of nurses Ward Purse??? Perhaps for carrying bandages and pins???

 

I have never seen another so I cannot say if it is an issue item or not, but it looks, in construction, like a lot of WW1 era medical items, with it's thin cotton straps, the double prong adjustment buckle etc.

 

I know, not much of an answer...

 

Cheers!

 

Chris

 

 

Thanks CW!

 

Do you know if the purse was issued, private purchase or even from the correct time period?

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Chris thanks for the info on the purse. Here is her messkit, which the family kept. Also is a copy of a studio photo.

 

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  • 1 year later...
Croix de Guerre

Holy Mackeral! I have seen some amazing things on this forum,,and the word "rare" is thrown around pretty easily,,however WWI ID'd nurse items are tough to come by,,,,,,,, but that purse,,,! :blink: I would say that her purse is stupendously uncommon. The first I've ever seen, (which isn't saying much in of it self!) but I would imagine that for those that specialize in vintage women's military artifacts it may well be one of the "Holy Grails" of that field. If anyone else has or has seen a similar purse, please chime in! Also, if any one has any WWI women's uniforms, please start a thread and share this sometimes forgotten branch of service. Thanks for sharing this Erick! thumbsup.gif

 

 

PS That mess kit is kick a**!

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That's a fantastic grouping Beast! Especially since she was part of a front line unit. Thanks for posting the history on this one.

 

Mark

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  • 2 years later...

Beast,

 

This is a wonderful grouping! I looked in a book I have and don't see a picture of the purse you have. I have another book I will check. Hopefully, this bump will get some of the more knowledgable people to look at it as well.

 

Congrats on a great grouping!....Kat

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  • 2 years later...

Hi Beast,

 

Being a collector of WWI related medical items, I recently bought online a Red Cross nurse cap which came with some personal documentation.

 

Upon receipt, it turned out that this cap seemingly belonged to Margaret Gillespie (later Margaret Reed-Gillespie). Among the personal documents were a birth certificate of her husband John Elias Freed Sr. (whose grouping you posted as well), a childhood picture of Margaret Reed, documents relating to their son John Elias Freed Jr. who studied medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and served in Europe during WWII. In addition, there are some newspaper clippings from the 80s and 90s in which Margaret Gillespie talks about her memories as a Red Cross nurse in WWI.

 

The seller bought these items at an estate auction without further info on who brought in these items for sale.

 

Maybe we can share some info. I am new to the forum (actually discovered it Googling for info on Margaret Gillespie) and do not know how to get in personal contact with members through the forum.

 

Petermedic

The Netherlands

 

06d2.jpg

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Hi Beast,

 

Being a collector of WWI related medical items, I recently bought online a Red Cross nurse cap which came with some personal documentation.

 

Upon receipt, it turned out that this cap seemingly belonged to Margaret Gillespie (later Margaret Reed-Gillespie). Among the personal documents were a birth certificate of her husband John Elias Freed Sr. (whose grouping you posted as well), a childhood picture of Margaret Reed, documents relating to their son John Elias Freed Jr. who studied medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and served in Europe during WWII. In addition, there are some newspaper clippings from the 80s and 90s in which Margaret Gillespie talks about her memories as a Red Cross nurse in WWI.

 

The seller bought these items at an estate auction without further info on who brought in these items for sale.

 

Maybe we can share some info. I am new to the forum (actually discovered it Googling for info on Margaret Gillespie) and do not know how to get in personal contact with members through the forum.

 

Petermedic

The Netherlands

 

06d2.jpg

 

 

Petermedic,

Thank you for posting! You are absolutely right that both Margaret and her husband John's items were sold at their estate auction many years ago. I didn't know that there were any other items out there. I would love to see scans of the documents you have and please post any other items that you have,

 

I will send a PM to you which is the main way that members communicate to each other on the forum.

 

 

 

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Hi Beast,

Thanks for response and PM to which I responded earlier.

Besides the pictured cap and the personal documents, there was also a second slightly different nurse cap in the lot but without the Red Cross patch in front. And there were two more or less patriotric potholders in the lot pictured below. These might or might not be WWI-era. If anyone has more info on such potholders, please let me know.

Petermedic

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Looking through the information I have on Nurse Gillespie, I found a couple of articles written about her long after the war's end. In both of these articles, she poses in the uniform she wore while serving. I believe this uniform is now on display in the Vigo County Historical Society museum.

 

Here is a photo of her in 1967

 

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Here is the photo from the 1985 dated article. The flag that she is holding is the one given to her by her sister before she left for Europe. It is also the same flag that she gave to her son when he served as a doctor during WWII.

 

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  • 3 years later...

Now this is amazing- a nurse and medical officer group with the articles recounting the nurse's experience and the purse she used and gasmask and trench art mess kit ! Beast, were you able to get the other items copied, and do you still have the husband/wife display? I love how the other items ended up in Holland apparently, but the connection is maintained. Thanks for preserving this history!!

David

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world war I nerd

For what it's worth, I've always associated the cloverleaf-shaped two pronged buckle as used on the nurse,s handbag with French made articles. I've seen type style of buckle used on French made mussette bag slings, as brassard attachments, and other misc. equipment.

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Now this is amazing- a nurse and medical officer group with the articles recounting the nurse's experience and the purse she used and gasmask and trench art mess kit ! Beast, were you able to get the other items copied, and do you still have the husband/wife display? I love how the other items ended up in Holland apparently, but the connection is maintained. Thanks for preserving this history!!

David

 

Hi David,

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I still have the both the doctor's and nurses group.

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For what it's worth, I've always associated the cloverleaf-shaped two pronged buckle as used on the nurse,s handbag with French made articles. I've seen type style of buckle used on French made mussette bag slings, as brassard attachments, and other misc. equipment.

Brian,

 

I think you are correct that it is French. At least the buckle is the same style that I have seen on the French Red Cross armbands.

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  • 4 months later...

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