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March 27, 2026
Wartime service honours of Dr William Aldren Turner (1864-1945)… Devised a management strategy for shell shock… Honoured by Belgium and Britain
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL STUDENT… SERVED WITH ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS (RAMC)… BECAME ADVISOR ON ‘WAR NEUROSIS’ AND SHELL SHOCK TO THE BRITISH WAR OFFICE…
William Aldren Turner was born in Edinburgh, 5 May 1864. He was the son of the Principal of Edinburgh University, Sir William Turner, and his wife Agnes. The younger Turner was educated at Fettes College, and then he studied at Edinburgh University as a medical student. He graduated as M.B., C.M., with first-class honours, in 1887, and then completed a term as house physician at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Detail from the citation for the award of the King Albert Medal presented to Turner by the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)
He also studied as a postgraduate in Berlin and at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He was awarded his M.D. in 1892.
Detail from the citation awarding the King Albert Medal to Turner, 1921 (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)
In 1892 Turner was appointed as an assistant to David Ferrier (1843-1928), and as a demonstrator and then lecturer in neuropathology, at King’s College, London. In 1896 be was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), and in 1899 he was elected assistant physician to King’s College Hospital. Nine years later he became physician in charge of neurological cases and lecturer on neurology.
For six years he was also on the staff of the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic. He published Epilepsy, a Study of the Idiopathic Disease (1907), and with Grainger Stewart, a Textbook of Nervous Diseases (1910). He married Helen Mary Mackenzie in 1909.
Citation – King Albert Medal (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)
As a Territorial officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), Turner had been rushed to France in December 1914 as a temporary Lieutenant-Colonel (Special Duty) when it became clear that ‘nervous and mental shock’ casualties were multiplying. He was one of the few doctors at the National Hospital with first-hand experience of casualties in France.
Award to Turner from the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)
As a consultant both at King’s College Hospital and the National Hospital, he was responsible for devising a management strategy for shell shock and in January 1915 (through to 1919) he was appointed consultant neurologist to the War Office. He was created C.B. in 1917, the same year he was elevated to Colonel.
Turner acted as neurologist to the War Office Medical Board from 1919 to 1943 – the principal advisor to the government in these matters – and from 1930 to 1943 as consultant adviser to the Ministry of Pensions.
Part of the citation from the award of OBE, 1919 (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)
In 1921 he was awarded the King Albert Medal (Koning Albert Medaille / Médaille du Roi Albert) by Belgium. This was a medal established by Belgian royal decree on 7 April 1919 and it was awarded to both Belgians and foreigners who were exceptionally meritorious in promoting, organising or administering humanitarian and charitable work that assisted Belgians in need during the First World War.
In recognition of valuable services rendered during the War, he was also presented with an award by the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England, and in 1919 he was given an OBE.
‘Efforts are Successes’: Dunfermline College of Physical Education and the 1928 Olympic Games
Our collections celebrate and often reflect people’s excellence, endeavour and achievement and being in the throws of Olympic achievements we’ve looked at the Dunfermline College of Physical Education archives to see what we could find.
The Old Students Association for the College, which is still going strong, can boast of members that competed at the Olympics and many who became so expert in their sport, that they were asked to coach or umpire. We thought however we’d try and find an example of being a spectator at the Olympics, as many of us are doing that, watching it on television at home. While this is not the same as attending, many of you may have actually attended events at the Olympics in London in 2012 or the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. Maybe you’ll recognise the experience C.D. Abercromby had in 1928, when attending the Olympics in Amsterdam, Holland.
Excerpt from Dunfermline College of Hygiene and Physical Education, ‘Old Students Association Reports 1912-1936’
Some interesting Olympics 1928 facts:
- It was the first time the Olympic flame was lit during the Olympics
- For the first time the parade was led by Greece, the home of the Olympics
- The first appearance of Coca-Cola as a sponsor
- It was the first games to be called ‘Summer Olympic Games’
- There were 14 sports, 20 disciplines and 109 events with a total of 46 competing countries
Rachel Hosker, Archives Manager
Breaking Boundaries – videos now online
A few months ago we hosted the ‘Breaking Boundaries‘ event, examining the subject of research data through the eyes of the archives, records management, and research data management communities. If you weren’t able to make the event, or if you want to hear the talks again, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the videos from the event are now online:
- Introduction (archives): Rachel Hosker
- Introduction (research data management): Stuart Lewis
- Case study / Keynote: Victoria Cranna
- Case study / Keynote: Ian Deary
- Lightning talk 1: Chris Awre
- Lightning talk 2: Adrian Stevenson
- Lightning talk 3: Rebecca Grant
For full details of the event programme and write-up, please see the following blog post:
Students PC’s Deep Clean
Please note PC’s and Key Boards within the Ground, 1st and 2nd Floors will undergo a deep clean from Monday 15th August. The contractors will start from the 2nd floor and then continue to the ground floor, the work is likely to last approximately 3 days. PC’s will be temporarily unavailable whilst the deep clean is undertaken which includes keyboard and monitor sanitising. PC’s will then quickly become available on each floor as the cleaning contractors progress to all areas of the floor.
Thank you for your patience.
Main Library Summer Improvements 2016 – Update 9th August
Work is continuing in the Main Library on a programme of works to bring significant improvements for library users through increasing the number of study spaces by 350 and providing additional power and data facilities at study desks.
Work underway this week (8th-15th August)
3rd floor – Construction work to remove empty shelves and carry out electrical works is underway on the south side of the 3rd floor. The collections PC-Q are currently cordoned off and access to these items is through consultation with Helpdesk staff located on the 3rd floor or Ground Floor 9.15-4.45 Monday to Friday, or through emailing collections-management@ed.ac.uk at other times.
Apologies for the continuing noise and disruption – thank you for your patience while work is underway.
Electrical work underway on the 3rd floor Shelving being removed on the 3rd floor
Learning Scottish Gaelic online?
The Library has purchased an e-book version, with an audio file, of Colloquial Scottish Gaelic published in August 2015. The e-book can be accessed via the Library’s DiscoverEd, or click here. Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials.
Colloquial Scottish Gaelic provides a step-by-step course in Scottish Gaelic as it is written and spoken today. Combining a user-friendly approach with a thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Scottish Gaelic in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Read More
New to the Library: Academic Video Online
The Library has recently purchased access to the large and comprehensive online streaming video resource Academic Video Online from Alexander Street Press. Covering a wide range of subject areas, students and staff can use this resource to find content to meet your learning, teaching, and research interests.
You can access Academic Video Online from the Databases A-Z list.
Academic Video Online provides us with access to over 50,000 video titles covering subject areas such as Anthropology, History, Criminal Justice, Business, Counselling, Social Sciences, Education, Theatre and Drama, Diversity Studies, Science, etc. There is a wide range of material available including documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, and raw footage. And you will find thousands of award-winning films, including Academy, Emmy and Peabody winners. Read More
What The Copibook Saw
Cinema at the whaling-stations, South Georgia…: another brief look into the Salvesen Archive
‘…Each man takes a turn to keep the building in a proper state of cleanliness…’
This look at cinema and film offered to the personnel of the whaling stations in South Georgia is another of our occasional forays into the Salvesen Archive.
Papers in the Christian Salvesen Archive show that cinema was an important leisure-time activity in the life of the personnel working at the whaling-stations of South Georgia. Films could be enjoyed at the ‘World’s Most Southerly Cinema…’.
Collection of season programmes for films at Grytviken Kino, South Georgia, 1960s, a cinema claiming probably correctly to be the ‘World’s most southerly cinema beyond the cinema at Ushuaia’, Argentina. In the Salvesen Archive, B2, Box 4, h.
The earliest reference to ‘cinema’ in South Georgia so far found in the Salvesen Archive is a letter from the 1920s. A copy-letter (unsigned typescript) to Edward B. Binney, Magistrate, South Georgia, dated 28 November 1925 – and presumably from the Leith Harbour station – is in effect an application ‘for permission to give Cinematograph Exhibitions’. The letter states that the ‘Cinematograph is the property of all the employees’ of the station, and that a subscription of 15 kroner is ‘being made by each man to cover cost of Machine and Films’, and also the cost of ‘books for a Library’.
Proposed layout for the new Cinema, 1956. In the Salvesen Archive, C5. Box 2.
The letter goes on to state that the ‘Company provides the Buildings and electric Current free of charge and every precaution has been taken against the outbreak of fire’, not least through the locating of the building ‘away from the factory’. Finally, the letter tells us that: ‘Each man takes a turn to keep the building in a proper state of cleanliness’.
Proposed layout for the new Cinema, 1956. In the Salvesen Archive, C5. Box 2.
Indeed, at Leith Harbour, wrote Sir Gerald Elliot in his work A whaling enterprise (1998), the main recreations ‘came from the cinema, the library and the football ground’. The cinema, the library, and football field were ‘the normal amenities of civilisation’ agreed Wray Vamplew in his work Salvesen of Leith (1975). The cinema, Elliot went on, ‘got a new supply of films every season which were exchanged with the floating factories as opportunity arose’. By the mid-1950s: ‘There was a large new cinema about to be built’.
Proposed layout for the new Cinema, 1956. In the Salvesen Archive, C5. Box 2.
Examples of the variety of films acquired for the stations have been found in the Salvesen Archive. A copy-note [Norwegian] from Oslo dated 24 January 1955, and relating to 10 films sent to South Georgia in Winter 1955 via shipping agents Messrs. Ruys & Co., Netherlands, and the Fred Olsen Transport Co. A/S, lists the titles Asphalt Jungle (Asfaltjungelen, 1950), No No Nanette (Nei, Nei Nanette), Operation Pacific (1951), and Rocky Mountain (1950) among others. The films were destined for Grytviken Kino, South Georgia.
List of films sent south to South Georgia from Oslo in January 1955. In the Salvesen Archive, B2, Box 4, h.
Another letter [Norwegian] from Europafilm A/S, Oslo, to L. Klaveness A/S, Sandefjord, dated 18 January 1957, refers to the delivery of 10 films for Grytviken, 1957 Winter Season. The films were to be sent south from Oslo on 29 January 1957 on the vessel Kronprins Olav.
Europafilm A/S, Oslo, supplied 10 films to Grytviken Kino in January 1957. In the Salvesen Archive, B2, Box 4, h.
The films sent south in 1957 included Bird of Paradise (hopefully the 1951 re-make rather than the much earlier 1932 one), Botany Bay (1952), David and Bathsheba (1951), Desert Fox: the story of Rommel (1951), Roman Holiday (Prinsesse paa vift, 1954), and Star of India (1954) among others.
List of films sent south to South Georgia from Oslo in January 1957. In the Salvesen Archive, B2, Box 4, h.
It wasn’t only the crews of the floating factories that enjoyed the exchange of films with the shore-based stations… films were exchanged between the various shore stations themselves. In the Archive there is a note [Norwegian] from Grytviken Kino to Husvik station cinema, dated 20 February 1960, indicating that a number of films were on the way to Husvik. The same note asks Husvik ‘to please send [back] remaining films of previous lists’.
Grytviken Cinema membership card. In the Salvesen Archive, B2, Box 4, h.
Another note [Norwegian] from Grytviken Kino to Husvik, dated 7 November 1961, indicates that ‘more new movies will be sent tomorrow’, and that these should be sent on to Leith Harbour as well. The note also asks that films already watched be returned to Grytviken. In addition, the note states that the ‘film company in Oslo has asked us that care be taken of all the large coloured cinema posters inside the film cans and to make sure they don’t get lost, otherwise they will have to be paid for’.
Interior of a South Georgia cinema. In the Salvesen Archive, C1, Envelope 30.
With the ending of commercial whaling and the closure of the South Georgia stations, infrastructure there has been open to the elements. A 2011 report on the state of the whaling-stations shows that the cinema buildings have not faired well at all, succumbing like the other flimsy structures to the storms and weather conditions of the Southern Ocean.
Interior of a South Georgia cinema. In the Salvesen Archive, C1, Envelope 30.
The cinema venue at Grytviken (a whaling station of Compañia Argentina) has gone – or is at least not referred to in a list of surviving buildings – and at Husvik (established by the Tønsbergs Hvalfangeri) the cinema and library were ‘in a state of collapse either partial or complete’.
Interior of a South Georgia cinema. In the Salvesen Archive, C1, Envelope 30.
At Stromness (first established by the Sandefjord Whaling Company) the cinema is listed as one of the buildings that ‘have collapsed completely’ , and at Leith Harbour too (the Christian Salvesen station) the cinema is among those buildings ‘in a ruinous state’. At Prince Olav Harbour (Southern Whaling & Sealing Company) the cinema has ‘disappeared completely’.
Dr. Graeme D. Eddie, Assistant Librarian Archives & Manuscripts, Centre for Research Collections (CRC)
The following were used in the construction of this blog-post:
Salvesen of Leith, Wray Vamplew, p.213, published by Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh & London, 1975.
A whaling enterprise. Salvesen in the Antarctic, Sir Gerald Elliot, p.66, p112, published by Michael Russell, Norwich, 1998.
Inspection of the disused shore-based whaling-stations for the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich islands, by Purcell Miller Tritton, Norwich, July 2011.
If you have enjoyed this glimpse of the Salvesen Archive, have a look at these earlier ones too: June 2014 Whale hunting: new documentary for broadcast on BBC 4; July 1914 Pipe bombs, hurt sternframes, peas, penguins, stowaways and cookery books: the Salvesen Archive; March 2015 ‘Empire Kingsley’ – 70th anniversary of sinking on 22 March 1945; November 2015 Talk given to Members of the South Georgia Association – on the Salvesen Archive; May 2016 Exploring the explorer – Traces of Ernest Shackleton in our collections – 10 May 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the safe arrival of the small boat ‘James Caird’ on South Georgia
New to the Library: Samos archaeological reports
Further to a request from staff in HCA the Library is currently in the process of trying to purchase a copy of all available volumes of the Samos series of archaeological reports published by the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut.
Samos is one of the most important archaeological sites of the ancient Mediterranean world and this series of reports on excavations of the site provides essential data for staff and students research. Read More
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Projects
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