21-05-2017, 10:06 AM
1061
Re: The Pages of Punch
1918: Who is exuding confidence?
The Voluntary Aid Detachment provided basic care in support of trained nurses. They tended to come from upper middle class families. The cartoon tramp clearly feels outclassed. Many well-known women had served in the VAD. Vera Britain was the most famous. It was she who wrote that famous W.W.1 book
Testament of Youth.
Various other years have contained burglary jokes but for 1918 there have not been any. This is the sole instance of a tramp joke.
During World War Two some jokers used to say that V.A.D stood for 'victims always die'. I am sure that it was said with a twinkle of the eye.