Category: Nurse/Medical
Rank: Nurse
Regiment or Ship: 112th Sussex Voluntary Aid Detachment
Date of Birth: 1885
Date of Death: 12.10.1916
Place of Death: France
Place of Burial / Memorials:
Buried at Wimereux Communal Cemetery in France, and her name also appears on the war memorial in St. Mary’s Church, Ninfield.
Address: Ninfield
Photos and newspaper articles
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Family Information
Parents: Rev. Henry Beauchamp and Emily Anne St. John who were originally from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, but in 1914 Henry became the Vicar of St. Mary’s Church, Ninfield.
First World War Experience
During the war Barbara was a Red Cross nurse with 112th Sussex Voluntary Aid Detachment. Her work took her to the Front Line in France but sadly her service came to an end while on duty in France in October 1916 aged 31. She died of Landry’s Paralysis which is now known as Guillian-Barre Syndrome and is usually triggered by an infection. It attacks the peripheral nervous system which connects the limbs and organs to the central nervous system. It causes paralysis which travels up the body from the feet and legs and can be fatal if it attacks the lungs. This condition was also known as French Polio.
Barbara is buried at Wimereux Communal Cemetery in France, in the same cemetery as Canadian Medical Officer John McCrae who wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields” which inspired the wearing of poppies.