Irene Stephanie Bald

Irene Stephanie Bald, born in Brentwood on December 26, 1880, was the daughter of Captain R. B. Bald from the 44th Foot. Following the outbreak of the Great War, she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Her nursing training began at the London Hospital from September 8 to December 8, 1914, 'Under Sisters in Wards'. Later, she served at the Camberley Military Hospital until April 1915 before departing for Malta.

In Malta, she served at the Hamrun School Military Hospital from May 8 to November 9, 1915. This hospital, Malta's inaugural of its kind, housed 106 beds and received its first patients on June 10, 1915. Under the British Red Cross Society, which covered maintenance costs and provided medical supplies, the hospital operated. The nursing duties were carried out by the No. 1 Mediterranean Nursing Unit, a volunteer group organized by Lady Ian Hamilton, overseen by an R.A.M.C. officer. Initially successful, by November 1915, the hospital transformed entirely into an officers' facility with 80 beds, a fitting change for its purposes.

In November 1915, Miss Bald returned to England, but carried on working as a nurse.