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Motion · S6M-10635 · 26 Sep 2023

Alloa Great War Staff Nurse Honoured with War Grave

Lodged by Alexander Stewart Standard Motion 28 supporters

The motion

That the Parliament welcomes the news that what it sees as a widely-believed injustice has been righted for a nurse from Alloa who served in the Great War and has been honoured with a War Grave; understands that staff nurse Bessie Coltman was a nurse who showed tremendous courage and bravery during her service in Malta, and that for this she was awarded the Royal Red Cross during that period; believes that staff nurse Coltman was a civilian nurse prior to the outbreak of the First World War, then transferring to the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service in which she served overseas in the Dardanelles in 1915, and then in East and Central Africa in 1916; acknowledges that, in June 1916, nurse Coltman contracted malaria, eventually being sent home on sick leave in 1918, and died in the November of that year, having been awarded an MBE for devotion to duty a few months beforehand; believes that, while there were documents in Bessie’s file highlighting that the authorities did regard the disabilities that she had as relating to her military duties, she had initially not been granted the status of a full military casualty, which would have entitled her to an entry on the War Graves’ Register with a resultant War Grave, but that this has now been rectified following her story being brought to the attention of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission; notes that, as well as her name appearing on St Mungo’s Church and Alloa’s War Memorials, her story has also been highlighted in a book focusing on the impact that the Great War had on Alloa, named In the Forefront: Alloa at War 1914-1919, by former principal teacher of History at Alloa Academy, Andrew Hunt; commends Bessie posthumously for her tireless work in the field, and acknowledges that she is buried in Sunnyside Cemetery, Alloa.

Supporters (28)

Source: the Scottish Parliament motions and amendments record.