Last Monday I went to a talk at the Cadbury research library at the University on "Matron Lloyd and the University's war effort". It was quite interesting, and Sue Worrall, who is in charge of the special collections at the university library emphasised at the talk that anyone is very welcome to visit and consult the material in the collections . They need have no connection with the university , but just need identification in order to provide a visitors card (details on the Cadbury Research library website).
Katharine Lloyd (no known relation to the banking family) came from Birmingham and was trained as a nurse at the General hospital. Her fist salary was £53/year. Florence Nightingale had initiated the idea of actually training nurses in how they should do their job, but up till 1919 , when a national registration scheme was initiated, there were two separate schemes of registration with different ideas and aims. By 1907 it was realised that a big war was on the horizon and various preparations were begun. The territorial army was formed, combining what had been a mixed bag of volunteers administered by civilians, though usually ex-military civilians, with often as much a social role as a military one, into a national organization. As part of this in 1908 the 13th Territorial General Hospital was set up with headquarters at Witton, together, in 1909, with the Territorial Force Nursing Society. It was at that time decided that the University would be commandeered as a hospital if war was declared. Preparations were made with regards to ordering of food and equipment, undated orders for them even being printed out and addressed ready for the event.
It is not entirely clear what extra training was given to the doctors and 110 nurses that were to be initially available in Birmingham when WW1 broke out on 4th August, but by 11th August they were ready to go. Katharine was matron under the head matron, Matron Musson, and would have visited and been responsible for nursing at sites other than the university. The initial trainload of 120 wounded arrived at Moor St station on 1st September, but later arrivals were received at Selly Oak, Winson Green and Soho Stations for transport to the University. E.M.Tolby (who I cannot find in the 1913, 1915 or 1921 Kellys or the 1911 census) designed and built a trailer to carry wounded on stretchers behind vehicles driven by volunteers. These volunteers were eventually (1916) given petrol money, but had to bear all other expenses. (He also later built a stage for performances at the hospital) . Within 16 months the hospital had 1040 beds . Later the "workhouse" infirmary at Dudley Road was taken over together with other extra facilities at Stirchley and Kings Heath elementary schools and Monyhull Colony in Kings Norton, together with other smaller houses. Eventually in 1017 even the hospital administrators at the university site had to give up their comfortable offices to make extra wards. Such a shame.
Nursing by the trained nurses was augmented by voluntary nurses (VADs), who had a different uniform to distinguish them. Pictures of the wards , usually rather posed, show men who are being treated well and aided in their recovery. Smoking was allowed at certain times (possibly in specified areas), though a comment made at the time by a patient was that smoking was allowed when matron wasn't looking.
Much reconstructive surgery was done to try and help make the terrible wounds suffered by many soldiers more bearable. In total 121992 patients, including foreign soldiers and some POWs. Work went on at the hospital after the war , and it was not finally released back for full educational use till October 1919. Katharine went on to work as matron at a Leicester hospital and retired and died in 1976, leaving some personal papers, mostly post WW1, which are in the Cadbury archive. A member of the audience at the meeting told how her grandfather had been treated at the hospital and that apparently visitors were not allowed, and he used to nip out of the ward and hold hands with his fiancée through the fence. The site was apparently treated as a military camp, and so this would seem very feasible.
The above is a combination of notes I made (and interpreted from my bad writing) and J.P.Lethbridge's "Birmingham in the First World War"