Associate Royal Red Cross, 2nd class, cased; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-45 - unnamed as awarded to RAF Nurse Winifred Marianne Cave- together with other documents, badges, etc. the lot includes two bullion wire cap badges, three ATS badges, four Princess Mary's RAF cap badges, a Loyal service badge, a small oak box, with enamel plaque, and some ephemera relating to Nurse Cave.
Winifred Marianne Cave was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire in 1892. An early nursing recruit into the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service, she saw extensive service during the inter-war period and throughout WWII as a Senior Sister.
According to the 1939 Register she was a War Sister and a member of the Voluntary Nursing RAF Reserve. She was living at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases at Upper Borough Walls in Bath, Somerset.
She was awarded the Associate of The Royal Red Cross medal in recognition of her role during the bombing of the RAF officer's hospital in Torquay, Devon on the 26th October 1943. On that date, a bombing raid struck Torquay, Devon, during World War II, with one bomb falling on the women's ward, another on the children's ward, and a third on the nurses' quarters, with two more bombs hitting the hospital grounds. The bombing resulted in the deaths of three nurses and seven patients, with four other patients sustaining injuries. Rescuers searched for survivors by moonlight and with hand torches. The hospital was a target during the bombing raid, with multiple bombs hitting different parts of the facility.
She died on 15 February 1978 at the RAFA Sussex Down home in Storrington, Worthing, West Sussex. According to an obituary she trained at Northampton General Hospital and joined the RFC in WWI. She saw service abroad including periods in Baghdad and France and was one of the last remaining direct descendants of the well-known Rushden shoe manufacturing family - the firm having been founded by her grandfather.
Medals are in good condition unless otherwise indicated. Sold with some research.
