A then and now image showing the men and staff outside of the Hospital of St John in Holmesdale Gardens, St Leonards.

St John’s was an auxiliary hospital run under the banner of the Red Cross, after the British Red Cross and Order of St John of Jerusalem merged at the outbreak of the war. The hospitals looked after the less seriously wounded service men and were staffed mainly by volunteers from the local community.

There were two auxiliary hospitals in Hastings, St John’s and Old Hastings House and three in St Leonards; Bannow, Filsham Park and West Dene.

The original image is from the Hastings & St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser dated 1st March 1917.

The two photographs used to create the image, and the final combined image are below. You can view the top image full size on my Flickr page by clicking on it.

This image is part of a continuing series of Then and Now images I’ve created for East Sussex Council’s World War 1 commemoration website. The website is focused on the contribution that the men and women of East Sussex made towards the war effort.