Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

RIBBON BAR

Date Range From

1914

Date Range To

1935

Materials

CLOTH, RIBBON, METAL

No. Pieces

1

Height

1.0

Length

10.5

Width

1.1

Description

RIBBON BAR CONTAINING THREE RIBBONS. RIBBONS SEWN AROUND METAL PLATE WITH PIN BACKING. RIBBONS INCLUDE: A. RIBBON WITH YELLOW CENTRE VERTICAL BAND, BANDS OF WHITE, BLACK AND BLUE ON EITHER SIDE (WW1 WAR MEDAL RIBBON) B. MIDDLE RIBBON DECORATED WITH VERTICAL RAINBOW BANDS (WW1 VICTORY MEDAL) C. RIBBON WITH RED CENTRE VERTICAL BAND, BANDS OF NAVY BLUE, WHITE, AND NAVY BLUE ON EITHER SIDE (1935 JUBILEE MEDAL)

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

MEDALS, RIBBON BAR, TRENCH ART AND 1936 VIMY BOOKLET ARE PART OF A GROUPING, INCLUDING A WWI CANADIAN NURSING SISTER’S UNIFORM ORIGINALLY OWNED BY HELEN HALL (NEE NOBLE). THE UNIFORM WAS DONATED TO THE GALT IN 1992 BY BETTY FLETCHER. THE BALANCE OF THE MATERIAL WAS DONATED IN 2009 BY BILL AND BETTY FLETCHER. BETTY FLETCHER (NEE BURWELL) WAS GIFTED THE GROUPING IN APPROXIMATELY 1957/58 BY HELEN HALL (KNOWN BY SHE AND HER HUSBAND BILL AS “AUNTIE MAE”). BETTY FLETCHER WAS INTRODUCED TO HALL VIA A FRIEND AND FELLOW NURSING STUDENT ELAINE TASKEY. TASKEY AND BURWELL/FLETCHER STUDIED NURSING TOGETHER IN MEDICINE HAT IN 1953/1954. ON THE OCCASIONS THAT THE TWO RN STUDENTS WERE NOT WORKING OR STUDYING FOR THEIR NURSING PROGRAM, THEY VISITED HALL IN TABER, STAYING AT HER HOME. AT THE TIME, HALL LIVED WITH HER BROTHER-IN-LAW JOHN ROBERT FLETCHER. JOHN ROBERT FLETCHER’S WIFE AMELIA (NEE NOBLE) WAS HALL’S SISTER. AMELIA PASSED AWAY IN 1950. JOHN ROBERT AND AMELIA FLETCHER ARE BILL FLETCHER’S (BETTY’S HUSBAND) GRANDPARENTS. HELEN HALL IS HIS GREAT AUNT. TASKEY AND BETTY BURWELL/FLETCHER SELECTED HALL’S TABER HOME AS A REFUGE AWAY FROM THEIR NURSING STUDIES ON ACCOUNT THAT THE LOCATION WAS CLOSE TO MEDICINE HAT AND BECAUSE HALL WAS FAMILY FOR TASKEY (HALL WAS HER GREAT NIECE). BILL FLETCHER AND TASKEY ARE 1ST COUSINS. TASKEY WAS FROM SASKATCHEWAN WHILE BETTY BURWELL/FLETCHER WAS FROM COWLEY, AB. AS A RESULT OF THE VISITS, BETTY FLETCHER AND HALL BECAME FRIENDS. AT SOME POINT DURING THE STUDENTS’ VISITS, BETTY WAS INTRODUCED TO HALL’S GREAT NEPHEW BILL FLETCHER AND, BY 1956, THE TWO WERE MARRIED. IN APPROXIMATELY 1957/58, HALL SELECTED HER GREAT NIECE-IN-LAW TO BECOME THE UNIFORM LOT’S RECIPIENT/STEWARD - A CONSEQUENCE, IT WAS STATED IN 2009, OF THE TWO NURSES SHARED PROFESSION AND THE FACT THAT FLETCHER (LIKE HALL) RESIDED IN TABER. BETTY FLETCHER INFORMED GALT STAFF IN 2009 THAT HALL SHARED STORIES WITH HER RELATED TO HER WWI SERVICE; HOWEVER, SHE COULD RECALL NO DETAILS FIFTY YEARS ON. HALL MADE NO REQUEST OF FLETCHER TO EVER SEE HER UNIFORM LOT AGAIN AFTER 1957/58. HALL PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE ON 29 DECEMBER 1974 (B. BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO; 14 MARCH 1887). FOLLOWING HER DEATH, BETTY FLETCHER STATED THAT THE UNIFORM WAS LOANED OUT FOR A TABER-BASED PARADE AND A PARTY; HOWEVER, SHE FEARED FOR ITS SAFE RETURN AND, CONSEQUENTLY, OFFERED IT TO THE GALT IN 1992. NOBLE JOINED THE CANADIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS (C.A.M.C.) AT AGE 28 IN 1916. FOR MUCH OF HER SERVICE, SHE WAS POSTED TO NO. 7 CANADIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL WHICH WAS SITUATED AT ESTAPLES ALONG THE FRENCH COAST. NOBLE WAS ONE OF 816 CANADIAN SISTERS IN FRANCE IN EARLY 1918. IN MAY OF 1918, HER HOSPITAL AND OTHERS IN ESTAPLES WERE BOMBED BY GERMAN AIRCRAFT. ONE RAID LASTED FOR THREE HOURS. SIX CANADIAN SISTERS WERE KILLED AND SIX MORE WERE WOUNDED IN THE MONTH’S RAIDS. NOBLE WAS DIAGNOSED THE FOLLOWING MONTH WITH “NERVOUS DEBILITY”. SHE LATER TOLD THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD THAT THE BOMBARDMENTS WERE A “TERRIFYING AND NERVE WRACKING EXPERIENCE”. NOBLE MET AND NURSED HER FUTURE HUSBAND AND FELLOW SERVICEMEN ROBERT HALL. SHE MARRIED HIM ON 28 JUNE 1918. AFTER THE WAR, HE WORKED AS A YARDSMAN FOR THE CPR IN MCADAM, NEW BRUNSWICK. THE TWO SEPARATED IN (UNKNOWN DATE/REASON?) AND, CONSEQUENTLY, HELEN MOVED TO GREAT FALLS, MONTANA WHERE HER BROTHER HAD PROPERTY. THERE, SHE TENDED TO HER MOTHER WHO WAS SICK AT THE TIME. HER MOTHER PASSED AWAY IN 1921 AND, THEREAFTER, HELEN RELOCATED TO SKIFF, AB TO KEEP STORE. IN 1949, SHE RETIRED BACK TO TABER TO LOOK AFTER HER AILING SISTER AMELIA FLETCHER. NOBLE WAS AWARDED THE KING GEORGE V SILVER JUBILEE MEDAL IN 1935 AND PASSED AWAY IN TABER IN 1974. RIBBON BAR IS VERY LIKELY VISIBLE IN POST-1935 IMAGE OF HELEN HALL (NEE NOBLE) IN ARCHIVES - REF ARCHIVES PHOTO P19920008002. INFORMATION SUGGESTS THAT HALL'S FULL-SIZED VICTORY MEDAL IS PRESERVED AT THE TABER MUSEUM. FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE, BETTY FLETCHER’S EARLIER DONATION (P19920008001-8) AND ARCHIVAL DONATION P20091058000.

Catalogue Number

P20090010001

Acquisition Date

2009-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail