Ambulance driver for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals (SWH), Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and Hackett-Lowther Unit during World War I; recipient of the Medal of St. George, Order of St. Stanislav, and Croix de Guerre for her contributions.
Katherine Hodges joined the SWH Transport Unit headed to Russia in July 1916. Hodges’s unit provided medical care for the First Division of the Serbian army stationed in Romania. As an ambulance driver, Hodges transported wounded soldiers from the front lines to field hospitals. The transport unit also evacuated SWH hospitals during their frequent retreats.
In January 1917, Hodges joined a medical unit sponsored by the Union of Zemstva. She served as an ambulance driver as well as a nurse on the Galician front. Hodges returned to Britain in the summer of 1917 due to the heightening revolutionary activity in Russia and personality conflicts with the administration of the unit.
During her stay in Britain, she served as a YMCA driver in London until leaving for France with the Hackett-Lowther Unit in January 1918. As part of the unit, Hodges became a paid solider in the French army, where she served as a driver until the armistice. The Hackett-Lowther Unit was the only group of women officially working on the front lines.
During World War II, Hodges worked as a driver with the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service during the blitz. After the war, she served as a headquarters officer with the British Red Cross Society until 1968.
