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This month in history: Agatha Christie and the Red Cross

By Katrina Crew
October 1, 2009 at 10:49 am

Agatha Christie record card

Ninety-five years ago this month, Agatha Christie became a British Red Cross volunteer.

In October 1914, she signed up as a volunteer nurse in Torquay, where she nursed soldiers who’d been fighting in the First World War. At the time, the Red Cross was using the Torquay Town Hall as a hospital.

She volunteered until 1917, when she began dispensing medicines for the hospital. She earned a whopping £17 per annum, but apparently her work in the dispensary had added benefits – she attributed her knowledge of poisons to the experience.

In September 1918 she retired from the Red Cross.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 10:49 am and is filed under Emergencies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Jennifer E. Marshall

    Very interesting to know Agatha Christie worked for the RED CROSS. Is there an INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS? Are all the RED CROSSes in various nations linked in any way? Thanks for all your good work.

  • http://twitter.com@LadyJE Jennifer E. Marshall

    Very interesting to know Agatha Christie worked for the RED CROSS. Is there an INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS? Are all the RED CROSSes in various nations linked in any way? Thanks for all your good work.

  • http://redcross.org.uk/ Katrina Crew

    Hi Jennifer. I’m glad you thought this was interesting. Usually, when you hear the news talk about the International Red Cross, they mean the International Committee of the Red Cross. All of the Red Crosses (and Red Crescents) are part of the same Movement. We have the same seven fundamental principles, and we work on the same issues – emergency response, first aid, migration, and health and social care.

    There’s a page on our website that explains the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement much better than I can here. Hope it’s helpful!

  • http://redcross.org.uk Katrina Crew

    Hi Jennifer. I’m glad you thought this was interesting. Usually, when you hear the news talk about the International Red Cross, they mean the International Committee of the Red Cross. All of the Red Crosses (and Red Crescents) are part of the same Movement. We have the same seven fundamental principles, and we work on the same issues – emergency response, first aid, migration, and health and social care.

    There’s a page on our website that explains the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement much better than I can here. Hope it’s helpful!

  • Anna Jones

    i love little-know stories like this. I’m stuying volunteerism in a college course and during my research, I came across this awesome article. I especially loved seeing the original record card!! Before reading your story, I was reading to take a break from all the studying, but this read was definitely a pick-me-up!! keep writing:)

  • Anna Jones

    i love little-know stories like this. I’m stuying volunteerism in a college course and during my research, I came across this awesome article. I especially loved seeing the original record card!! Before reading your story, I was reading to take a break from all the studying, but this read was definitely a pick-me-up!! keep writing:)

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Katrina Crew

Katrina Crew

Katrina is the British Red Cross' web editor.

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