Vera Collum

Vera Christina Chute Collum was born in Umballa, India in 1883 to Betty Chute Ellis and Lucius Joseph Collum. She came to England as a child after her father died. Her mother remarried but Collum never got on with her step-father, John Prosser Adams. Her grandfather was the South Australian John Ellis^[2]

Collum ran the press office of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in London in 1914. There she was strongly involved in the suffrage movement. When World War I started she volunteered to help with the Scottish Women's Hospitals, serving from February 1915 to November 1917.^[3] Her initial deployment was to Royaumont Abbey, the military hospital also called Hôpital Auxiliare which was set up to treat wounded French soldiers. She worked with Ruth Nicholson there. Collum started as an orderly but was then trained as a radiographer in the new department. She became extremely experienced and developed the skill. However, in March 1916 she was sent home for rest and recuperation. But on her return journey on 24 March from Folkestone to Dieppe, her ferry the SS Sussex, was torpedoed. Collum was badly injured.^[4] Between 50 and 100 people were killed. Collum was sent back to England for treatment and returned to her post before July 1916. The French Government awarded Collum the Military Health Service honour medal in 1915 and the Croix de Guerre in 1918 for her work. She was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal by the British Government.^[3] During her time at the hospital she wrote about her experiences for Blackwood's Magazine under the name Skia. Her detailed descriptions of the staff, equipment and situations in the hospital give an invaluable insight into the hospitals of the war especially during the July 1916 offensive.^{[2][5][6][7][8][9][10]}