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Original Text (Annotation: EPW017660 / 2108445)
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The New Thames Yacht Club / V.A.D. Hospital (1914 -19). The New Thames Yacht Club was founded in London in 1867, in December 1869 members voted to amalgamate with the Union Yacht Club at Gravesend and gained these premises.
See The National Maritime Museum - https://www.maritimeviews.co.uk/yacht-clubs/new-thames-yacht-club/
In 1914, the building was owned by a Mr Hugh Fletcher who lent it to the Red Cross for use as a hospital. Kent/92 Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.) set up a hospital in October 1915 and received the first patients, 56 wounded Belgian soldiers, on the 15th October. It was subsequently equipped with an operating theatre and X-ray facilities, with a free electrical supply provided by the adjacent Imperial Paper Mills. In June 1915 a German air raid damaged the hospital. Fortunately no patients or staff appear to have been injured but all had to be moved out for a month while repairs took place. It closed on the 31st May 1919, having treated 2,361 patients. See 'Lost Hospitals of London': https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/yachtclub.html '