The Inquiry Bureau
‘Recoveries were aided, pain and sorrow lightened, many a weary hour brightened, and in some cases lives even saved’
From Bristol and the Great War by George Stone and Charles Wells, 1920
Families wanted to know what was happening and the number of enquiries about patients overwhelmed the War Hospital staff. Volunteers set up the Inquiry Bureau to do what they could for wounded servicemen.
The Inquiry Bureau organised lodgings for families to be near their relatives – in one serious case for nine weeks. The boredom of convalescence was lessened by entertainments in the hospitals and outings for a change of scene.
By interviewing patients, the Inquiry Bureau helped with compiling lists of those missing in action, if a wounded soldier had seen colleagues hit. It helped to sort out pensions and grants for men discharged as medically unfit.
It was a bank for men who only had foreign money with them, a post office for dealing with letters and parcels to the men, and a way of providing whatever the patients wanted, from billiards tables to surgical appliances.
Families wanted to know what was happening and the number of enquiries about patients overwhelmed the War Hospital staff. Volunteers set up the Inquiry Bureau to do what they could for wounded servicemen.
The Inquiry Bureau organised lodgings for families to be near their relatives – in one serious case for nine weeks. The boredom of convalescence was lessened by entertainments in the hospitals and outings for a change of scene.
By interviewing patients, the Inquiry Bureau helped with compiling lists of those missing in action, if a wounded soldier had seen colleagues hit. It helped to sort out pensions and grants for men discharged as medically unfit.
It was a bank for men who only had foreign money with them, a post office for dealing with letters and parcels to the men, and a way of providing whatever the patients wanted, from billiards tables to surgical appliances.