cased GV Royal Red Cross 2nd Class; British War Medal correctly impressed Sister D M Steele; Victory Medal correctly impressed Sister D M Steele; GSM Kurdistan correctly impressed Sister D M Steele, condition GVF (official correction to rank of GSM), sold with QAIMNS Cape Badge and boxes and envelopes for the medals
| Estimate: | £600 - £800 |
| Hammer price: | £1,000 |
Dinah Marshall Steele was born on the 18th of May 1885 at sea on the Atlantic Ocean, the daughter of Elizabeth Steele and William Steele, a Merchant Navy Captain.
At the time of the 1901 census, the family had settled in Birkenhead, living at 154 Marlborough Grove; her father was still away at sea, so it was just Dinah, her mother, her older brother and three sisters.
By 1911 Dinah had qualified as a Nurse, and she was employed as a Sickness Nurse, visiting workhouses and fever hospitals; she was living in nurses' quarters. On the 16th of June 1913, she qualified as a Midwife.
On November the 23rd, 1914, she applied to join Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service. At the time, she was employed as a Ward Sister of a male ward in Derby Infirmary.
Dinah was accepted into the service and worked in military hospitals in England. On the 3rd of June 1916, the award of her Royal Red Cross 2nd Class was gazetted; she was personally presented the award at Buckingham Palace by the Prince of Wales on the 20th of July 1920.
On Christmas Eve 1916, she embarked for Egypt on Hospital Ship; Dinah also served in Bombay and Bashra during the Great War. She was promoted to Sister on the 1st of March 1918.
She earned the General Service Medal and clasp Kurdistan, serving near Mosul until April 1920, when she returned to England.
Sister Steele was granted a permanent place in the reveres of the QAIMNS and continued to serve until her death on the 29th of October 1935. At the time of her death, she was an Assistant Matron at a hospital in Liverpool.
