The British Red Cross yesterday launched a digital archive of WWI volunteers, and Canadian volunteers are among those who contributed to this online collection of more than 244,000 personnel index cards.
More than 90,000 people volunteered for the British Red Cross at home and overseas during the war, and their personnel index cards are now available online. Source: British Red Cross : www.redcross.org.uk/ww1.
According to the British Red Cross’ announcement, “The collection of index cards, which is now more than 100 years old, includes voluntary aid detachments’ (VADs) names and details such as where they worked and what tasks they did.
“The archive was created in partnership with the Centre for Historical Record at Kingston University London over a period of more than two years. A team of 800 history buff volunteers from as far away as the Czech Republic and Canada, as well as schoolchildren in the UK, have helped to transcribe the cards.”
Successful search results will produce a digital copy of the original personnel card and a transcription.
Although the Florence Nightingale died in 1910, I still managed to find a few index cards for a Florence Nightingale, who volunteered as a cook, and several cards for people with the family name, Nightingale.
You can begin your search on the British Red Cross website.
