Dame Joanna Cruickshank
Born(1875-11-28)28 November 1875
Murree, British India
Died16 August 1958(1958-08-16) (aged 82)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Royal Air Force
RankMatron-in-Chief
Commands heldPrincess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (1918–30)
Battles/warsFirst World War
AwardsDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Red Cross

Dame Joanna Margaret Cruickshank, DBE, RRC (28 November 1875 – 16 August 1958) was a British military nurse and nursing administrator. She founded Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service in November 1918 and served as its first Matron-in-Chief from 1921 until her retirement in November 1930.[1]

Biography

Joanna Margaret Cruickshank was born the second daughter of William and Johanna Cruickshank on 28 November 1875 in Murree, India (now in Pakistan). She trained at Guy's Hospital, London,[2] then travelled back to India in 1912 to serve as sister in the Lady Minto Nursing Association. In 1917 she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS). After contracting a malignant form of malaria, and suffering a series of fevers, she was invalided home to Britain in March 1918.[3][4] She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1931.[5]

In 1940, Cruickshank was named Commandant of the Rushen Women's and Married Internees Camp on the Isle of Man;[2] she was later succeeded by Detective Inspector Cuthbert of New Scotland Yard.[6]

Dame Joanna Cruickshank died at age 82 in 1958.[5]

References

  1. ^ RAF Nursing Service
  2. ^ a b Chappell, Connery (31 May 2017). Island of Barbed Wire: The Remarkable Story of World War Two Internment on the Isle of Man. Robert Hale Ltd. ISBN 978-0719824432. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Dame Joanna Margaret Cruickshank - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. ^ Mackie, Mary (2014). Wards in the Sky: The RAF's Remarkable Nursing Service. The History Press. ISBN 978-0750962735. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Dame Joanna Margaret Cruickshank - National Portrait Gallery". National Portrait Gallery. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  6. ^ WWII history per The Times Online archive; accessed 3 January 2018.

Sources

External links

Military offices Preceded byNew post Matron-in-Chief Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service 1921–1930 Succeeded byDame Katherine Watt
British nursing matrons in the 19th century
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