Rachel Crowdy

Dame Rachel Eleanor Crowdy, Mrs Thornhill, DBE (3 March 1884, Paddington – 10 October 1964, Outwood, Surrey) was an English nurse and social reformer.

[1] She was Principal Commandant of Voluntary Aid Detachments in France and Belgium from 1914 to 1919 and Chief of the Department of Opium Traffic and Social Issues Section of the League of Nations from 1919 to 1931.

At the outset of World War I, Furse and Crowdy travelled abroad to discover what was being done for the wounded, their investigation resulting in the establishment of rest stations.

[1] Also in 1931, it was noted in the press that she had criticised the USA for allowing eleven states to retain the legal age of marriage for girls at 12 years.

[citation needed] In 1939, Crowdy married Colonel Cudbert John Massy Thornhill, CMG, DSO (born 4 October 1883 – died 12 August 1952),[9] a British officer of the Indian Army and of The Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6).