Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Dame Helen Shiels Gillespie, (26 March 1898 – 25 August 1974) was a British military nurse, matron and nursing administrator. She served as Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps from 1952 to 1956, and was

Honorary Nursing Sister to The Queen The Medical Household is the medical part of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It mainly comprises a range of Physicians and Surgeons to the Sovereign and to the Royal Household. None have more than a nominal or occasion ...

Early life

Gillespie was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, on 26 March 1898 to Isabella (''née'' Dunlop) and John Gillespie. She attended

George Watson's Ladies' College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

, before going on to study nursing at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow from 1921 to 1925.

Nursing career

In 1926, Gillespie joined

Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') is the nursing branch of the British Army Army Medical Services, Medical Services. History Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corp ...

and served in India from 1927 to 1932, and again from 1934 to 1939. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she served in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. After the war she worked in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

and the

British Army on the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

. She was awarded the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. Foundation The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Victoria of the Un ...

in 1947. From 1952 until her retirement on 31 July 1956 on completion of her term, Gillespie served as Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC). She was appointed

on 25 June 1952, succeeding Dame Anne Thomson.Profile
gazettes-online.co.uk; accessed 1 January 2017. Gillespie was appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1954.

References

External links

Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps websiteNational Portrait Gallery site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Helen 1898 births 1974 deaths Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps officers British Army personnel of World War II British nursing administrators British women in World War II Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Royal Red Cross Military personnel from Edinburgh Scottish nurses British Army brigadiers