(Antonia) Marian Gamwell

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(28 July 1891 – 13 May 1977) was a United Kingdom volunteer ambulance driver and commanding officer of the

First Aid Nursing Yeomanry The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) (FANY (PRVC)) is a British independent all-female registered charity structured like a military reserve unit. which primarily provides surge relief to civil and military authoriti ...

(FANY). She served with her sister Hope Gamwell during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and they then ran a farm in what is now

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. They both became pilots. They returned to the UK for World War Two and Marian commanded the FANYs after a row with the ATS. After the war they returned to Zambia before retiring to Jersey.

Life

Gamwell was born in

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...

to Frederick Robison Gamwell and Marian Antonia Bankart in 1891. Her sister (Anne) Hope Gamwell was born in 1893. Her brother, Frederick Whittington Gamwell, was one of the pilots awarded an Aviator's Certificate by the Royal Aero Club in 1914. Her father had been a partner in a London business trading in Hong Kong, China and Japan until 1896. She and her sister's education was at

Roedean School Roedean () is a private boarding school governed by royal charter on the outskirts of Brighton, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1885 by three sisters to educate wealthy daughters and heiresses of aristocracy and industrial elites of the 19t ...

and after that they taught themselves mechanics by taking their mothers car to bits. In 1910 Marian tried to study architecture but she was rejected because she was a woman. She did work with animals before going to Saskatchewan where she worked in a mixed farm until she returned to the UK in 1912. After the start of WWI, Marian, Hope and their mother travelled to France at the suggestion of Dr

Elsie Inglis Eliza Maud "Elsie" Inglis (16 August 1864 – 26 November 1917) was a Scottish medical doctor, surgeon, teacher, suffragist, and founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals. She was the first woman to hold the Serbian Order of the White Eagl ...

where they helped clean up and prepare the abbey at Abbaye de Royaumont to be a hospital. The Scottish Women's Hospital that was established there operated throughout the war, but in May 1915 the two sisters volunteered to join the

. Their mother returned to her home in Wales where she established a home for wounded soldiers at Aber Artro Hall near

Llanbedr Llanbedr () is a village and Community (Wales), community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales. In 2011 the community had a population of 645. History Ancient ...

. Before she left France her mother left funds that enabled an ambulance and a mobile bath Daimler to be purchased for the first FANY hospital which is where they and the vehicles were based at the hospital they call "Lamarck" in Calais. In April 1918 Marian had to return home due to suspected appendicitis but when recovered she went to work in a munitions factory for Rolls-Royce. They returned to the UK and gained pilots licences in 1930 Between the wars the two sisters ran a coffee farm in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

(Zambia) at a place called Abercorn, now Mbala. The called their land "Chilongolwelo" and it was just under 1,000 acres at the southern end of Lake Tanganyika. They were there until the FANY called them back because of the onset of World War Two. Hope went immediately and Marian stayed back to close down the farm. Marian who was the natural leader arrived in 1940. left, Marian and Hope Gamwell sisters in 1964 at Abercorn (now called Mbala) Marian would command the FANYs after a row with the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

(ATS). The row was with Helen Gwynne-Vaughan who was Chief Controller of the ATS which had been formed in 1939. This was a role that the FANY commander, Mary Baxter Ellis, had turned down as she preferred to lead the FANYs. Ellis agreed to supply 1500 women to serve with the ATS as long as they could be independent of the ATS. This was agreed but Gwynne-Vaughan broke the agreement and forced the attached FANY staff to be absorbed. Gwynne-Vaughan held the role to 1941. Ellis swallowed her pride and become a deputy-director at the ATS throughout the war. Whilst Marian took over the leadership of the remaining FANYs and her sister, Hope, took a special interest in the FANYs who ran the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

. After the war the two sisters returned to Zambia where they reopened their farm. They grew crops that were not coffee. They were there until 1964 when they decided to retire together to live on Jersey. Marian and Hope Gamwell died on

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamwell, Marian 1891 births 1977 deaths British women nurses British women in World War I British women in World War II People from West Norwood British military nurses English nurses 20th-century English farmers 20th-century British women farmers British expatriates in Zambia British aviators First Aid Nursing Yeomanry people Jersey people English women farmers People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire