Pearl (Margaret Grace) Burnett

Margaret Grace, known as Pearl, was born on the 27 August 1898 in Abbeyderg. 

Pearl became a nurse and between July and December 1918 was serving with the Red Cross Cheshire Branch - Daresbury Division. She served in Raddon Court Military Hospital, Latchford, Warrington and in its annexe in Stockton Heath. 

Pearl's elder sister, Lillie, also served as a nurse with the Cheshire branch of the Red Cross during the War. Their  Thomas Corry Burnett, served in WW1, but was killed in action at the Battle of Messines Ridge in June 1917.

After WW1 Pearl trained formally as a nurse with the Liverpool Royal Infirmary (1919-1922) and registered in London in 20 Jun 1924, Reg 31676, with her permanent address in Kenagh up to the outbreak of WW2. At this time Pearl relocated to Belfast. Pearl served during WW2 with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Reserve (No. 206700), mentioned in the Supplement to the London Gazette 16 December 1941. A biography given in the Biographical Dictionary of Nurses from Ireland in Service on the Home Front and on Allied Battle Fronts during the Second World War, 1939-1945 by Seán Graffin states that Pearl was stationed in a field hospital in the South-East Asian theatre from 1942-1945. 

After WW2 Pearl returned to Belfast. 

Link to British Red Cross entry; link to Civil Record of birth; historic photo of Raddon Court Hospital 01;