St Leonards Resident Celebrates Monumental Milestone
Long-term resident of St Leonards, Diana Elvidge will celebrate her birthday on July 4 this year. A yearly celebration for all of us, but this year Diana will turn 100 years old.
Though her closest relatives are scattered across the globe, Diana still leads a full life in her own flat, getting her own groceries and generally running her home as well as someone half her age. Not only that, as her second cousin Bob said, she enjoys reading and keeping up with world affairs and sports, and “remains in good health and spirits.”
A little research shows that it is not just her 100 birthday that should be celebrated. In 1979, Diana was presented with The Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest International Red Cross Nursing award, often known as the ‘nurses’ Victoria Cross’. The prestigious event took place at the Red Cross Society in London, and Diana was bestowed with the medal by Princess Alexandra. The medal itself is highly sought after and only presented every other year to a maximum of 36 nurses or voluntary aides who have displayed, “exceptional devotion to the sick and wounded.”
Born of Scottish parents, Diana spent many years in Kirkcaldy, Scotland but travelled extensively as a nurse, helping those in Malaya during ‘The Emergency’, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War. This was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces of the Federation of Malaya, British Empire and Commonwealth, and one can only imagine the strength of character and resources Diana must have had – not just to live through it herself, but to devote her time there to helping others. And her dedication and vocation did not stop there. In the 1950s, 60s and early 70s, she went on to serve in Gambia, Cyprus, Uganda, Nyasa-land, Kenya, Laos and the New Hebrides.
Now long settled in St Leonards, Diana’s family all live outside of the UK and have been unable to make as many visits to her as they would have liked. Bob is in Canada, his children in Sydney and the USA. But Bob and one of his sons will be joining her shortly after her birthday to share the moment with her. Bob said, “My wife and I have visited Diana several times but COVID-19, travel restrictions and our advancing age has made it more difficult. My son Mark and I will be visiting on 10 July and she is really looking forward to it.”
Diana is a modest woman by all accounts but her many accomplishments are worth making a noise about, and it won’t just be her family I’m sure who wish her a very happy birthday.
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Thank you for writing this article about Diana. Very nicely done and the Elvidge family thanks you very much. Your newspaper serves the Hastings community well. All the best !! Bob Elvidge
Despite what you may have been told Diana’s family are not all overseas.