Lot Essay
Nursing Sister A.B. Keighley, [R.R.C.], served at the Intombi Hospital Camp during the siege of Ladysmith, was awarded the Royal Red Cross and Mentioned in Despatches by General White.
The award of this rare brooch, only three are known, is referred to in the Diamond Fields Advertiser 1.4.1902:
'Officers and Siege Nurses
A particularly graceful recognition of the work of the Army Nurses in South Africa has recently come to light. Soon after the relief of Ladysmith the Officers of the Cavalry Brigade and the Imperial Light Horse who were stationed in the town during the siege expressed in a letter to Mrs. E. Ludlow, of the Army Nursing Service, a wish to send all the "Siege" Nurses a small token of their appreciation of the care and devotion which had been shown to their wounded men. Mrs. Ludlow has just been forwarded to her address a gold brooch with a red enamelled Maltese cross centre and in the centre of the cross a diamond star, with "Ladysmith, 1900" beneath the cross, her name being inscribed on the reverse.'
The award of this rare brooch, only three are known, is referred to in the Diamond Fields Advertiser 1.4.1902:
'Officers and Siege Nurses
A particularly graceful recognition of the work of the Army Nurses in South Africa has recently come to light. Soon after the relief of Ladysmith the Officers of the Cavalry Brigade and the Imperial Light Horse who were stationed in the town during the siege expressed in a letter to Mrs. E. Ludlow, of the Army Nursing Service, a wish to send all the "Siege" Nurses a small token of their appreciation of the care and devotion which had been shown to their wounded men. Mrs. Ludlow has just been forwarded to her address a gold brooch with a red enamelled Maltese cross centre and in the centre of the cross a diamond star, with "Ladysmith, 1900" beneath the cross, her name being inscribed on the reverse.'