One of the purposes of this site will be to host a transcription of the original Admission and Discharge Book from Stroud VA hospital. The book contains the name and regimental number of every patient admitted to the hospital from its opening in 1914 to its demobilisation in 1919, including details of the injuries under treatment. This is an ongoing project and is not yet online.
The format of the book is slightly larger than foolscap but not as big as A3 and has clothbound board covers in a russet-brown colour, with a blue-grey label pasted on the front. The inside pages are of cream paper, pre-printed with the columns to be filled in and ruled in pale blue and red. It's a standard hospital log book issued by the War Office (Army Book 27) and all the entries have been hand written in blue or black ink.
Why have I got it? I was given the book some years ago by a friend who rescued it from the junk pile during a paperwork clearout at the Gloucestershire Red Cross, knowing I was researching local First World War connections for a play I was writing at the time and would find it interesting. I've treasured it ever since, but I'm also aware that it's a unique and fascinating historical record which many other people would benefit from having access to, so I'm aiming to make its contents available on the internet.
I'm taking the greatest care to transcribe the entries from the book accurately, but the original pages are handwritten and occasionally difficult to read, so it's a long slow job. The first pages will be uploaded soon.
