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Elizabeth Radcliffe of St Fagans wore this Red Cross apron. She was a volunteer nurse at the VAD hospital in the grounds of St Fagans Castle. She was a single 24 year old when the War broke out in 1914

The VAD hospital in the grounds of St Fagans Castle was staffed by volunteers from the village, as well as a team of professional nurses. The permanent staff in the Castle also did turns of duty. Mary Ann Dodd, a housemaid for the Plymouth family, recalled: ‘The commandment used to send us a card – a fortnight’s duty at a time. I used to cook and clean one day a week. I did the washing. Those soldiers’ socks were in a state, many had no heels in them at all; the soldiers only laughed and teased us, and when they got better they tried to help us.’

White apron with bib, with waist fastened by button and crossover straps. Red cross on bib, and two pockets at waist. The white fabric is an unbalanced tabby weave: there are approx 30 warps vs 20 wefts per cm (= thicker warps). Red cross is made from 2/2 cotton twill and is applied to the bib by machine stitching using red thread. Bib is gathered into 6.5cm wide waist band with four folds (two pointing outwards from centre, respectively). Ends of straps are reinforced with a double layer of fabric, consisting of a patch applied to the reverse. Narrow 5mm turn-back on edges of bib and straps. Skirt section is made up of three pieces of fabric: a front and two rear sections, joint by two machine-stitched flat-felled side seams. The open vertical edges at the rear of the skirt are selvages. The bottom hem has a c. 1.5cm wide single turn back held with small running stitches. Upper edge of turn back is secured with large tacking stitches (only on the rear panels). Patch pockets are applied over the side seams of the skirt. Pockets are reinforced with a 5cm wide strip of self fabric applied to reverse of upper edge (opening). The rear section of the pockets extends upwards and feeds into the waistband.