Lives of the First World War

Katharine Symonds, the daughter of the historian, John Addington Symonds and Janet Catherine, was born on 23rd November 1875. Katharine married the artist, Charles Wellington Furse in 1900, but Furse died four years later leaving her with two young children. In 1909 she joined the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment that was attached to the Territorial Army and was head of the first VAD unit sent to France. In 1916 she was appointed Commander-in-Chief and in 1917 she was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. In November 1917, Furse and several of her senior colleagues resigned and she was offered the post as Director of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS). The Royal Navy was the first of the armed forces to recruit women and since 1916 the Women's Royal Naval Service took over the role of cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, code experts and electricians. The women were so successful that other organizations such as the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Royal Air Force were also established. She died in London on 25th November, 1952.

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