Kathleen Edith Anderson Hooper (1897-1918)
Member of Women's Army Auxiliary Corps who died in Hartlepool
Kathleen had spent her life around the military so it was probably not surprising that, when given the opportunity, she joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. She had been born in India while her father was serving with the British Army in Bengal. By 1901 the family were back in England and living in army barracks in Surrey. Ten years later, they were in South Africa. At some point between 1911 and 1918, a family home was established in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
According to the Soldier’s Effects Lists on Ancestry, Kathleen joined the WAACs in Nottingham. Unfortunately, her service record does not survive at the National Archives. Her entry in the Soldier’s Effects Lists also tells us that she was working for Northern Command, although, unfortunately, not in what capacity. It also notes that she was staying at the WAACs’ hostel in Gateshead.
Died of pneumonia at Hartlepool Hospital, probably as the result of Spanish Flu. Her father, who was a captain with the Wiltshire Regiment. Both father and daughter are buried in the same grave in Hartlepool. On their Commonwealth War Graves headstone the insignia of the WAACs and the Wiltshire Regiment are intertwined.
Civil Parish: Middleton [Hartlepool]
Birth date: 22-Feb-1897
Death date: 07-Nov-1918
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: Dagshai, Bengal, India (birthplace – India Select Births and Baptisms)
Stoughton Barracks, Surrey (1901 census)
Kings Hill, Harrismith, Orange Free State, South Africa (1911 census and Huntingdonshire Roll of Honour website)
Langcroft, Saint Peter’s Hill, Huntingdon (parents’ address, CWGC)
Family: Parents: Charles Frederick Anderson Albert Hooper, Ruth Alice Hooper
Military service:
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
Worker 50762, Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps Hostel (Gateshead)
Northern Command
Joined up Nottingham
Memorial(s): Huntingdon All Saints Church, Huntingdonshire, stained glass window and plaque
http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Huntingdonshire/HuntingdonAllSaints.html
Huntingdon Town Hall, Huntingdonshire, wooden plaques
http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Huntingdonshire/HuntingdonTownHall.html
Five Sisters Memorial, York Minster
Gender: Female
Contributed by Durham County Record Office
