The Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service were established shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Opportunities were limited for medical women prior to the war and during it they were unable to obtain a commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps, hence the formation of these voluntary all-women units. The Girton and Newnham Unit, under the leadership of Dr L McIlroy, served with distinction in France, Serbia and Greece, demonstrating clinical competence in the management of the emergency medical and surgical problems associated with warfare, areas usually off-limits to women doctors. They were severely tested but showed endurance and resilience in the running of their hospital in the most difficult of conditions.
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Obituary Notice – Dr Louise McIlroy. BMJ 1968; 1:451. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1985094/?page=1
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Dr Emslie wrote an account of her time with the unit in: Hutton IE. With a Woman’s Unit in Serbia, Salonika and Sebastopol. London: Williams and Norgate; 1928. p. 23–82.
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23.
Mitchell Library, SWH Archive. Tin 42. A year’s work of the Girton and Newnham Unit of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals with the French army in the East. Report from Dr L McIlroy, November1916.
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HirschF.‘The Treatment of Infected Wounds’. Alexis Carrel’s contribution to the care of wounded soldiers in World War 1. J Trauma 2008; 64: S209-S210. https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1097/TA.0b013e31816b307d
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