Voluntary Aid Detachments During The First World War: Cottesmore Auxiliary Red Cross Hospital, Pembrokeshire, 1915–19

This article examines the experiences of Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) at an auxiliary Red Cross hospital in Pembrokeshire during the First world War. This case study provides almost a paradigm of the operation of local social hierarchies and philanthropy in shaping the institution,
 with the role of local elites being a prominent feature of its operations. A range of factors were at play in motivating young women to volunteer as a VAD, encompassing personal patriotism and the desire to render service at a time of national emergency. The diary of one VAD provides an insight
 into the experiences of those who volunteered.