page_title: Chelsea Pensioner
section_title: Admission of women
hierarchical_section_title: Chelsea Pensioner / Admission of women
caption_attribution_description: English: Dorothy Hughes, the first female Chelsea Pensioner.
context_page_description: A Chelsea Pensioner, or In-Pensioner, is a resident at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a retirement home and nursing home for former members of the British Army located in Chelsea, London. The Royal Hospital Chelsea is home to 300 retired British soldiers, male and female, and is located on Royal Hospital Road. Historically, the term "Chelsea Pensioner" applied more widely, referring to both In-Pensioners and Out-Pensioners who live elsewhere.
context_section_description: Until 2009, only male candidates were admitted. It was announced in 2007 that female ex-service personnel would be admitted on the completion of modernisation of the long wards. In March 2009 the first women in the Hospital’s 317-year history were admitted as In-Pensioners:  Dorothy Hughes (aged 85) and Winifred Phillips (aged 82).
  Winifred Phillips (1926–2016) trained as a nurse and joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1948 and enlisted in the Women's Royal Army Corps in 1949 while serving in Egypt. For the next 22 years she served in Singapore, Cyprus and Egypt reaching the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2. She wrote two books about becoming one of the first female Chelsea Pensioners: My Journey to Becoming the First Lady Chelsea Pensioner (2010), and Mum’s Army: Love and Adventure from the NAAFI to Civvy Street (2013). She never married.
  Dorothy Hughes joined the British Army in 1941, later working as part of 450 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery in the London Division. In 1945 the Battery was deployed near Dover to defend against V-1 flying bomb attacks. She later worked with the Army Operational Research Group developing fuses in shells used against V-2 rockets and was discharged from the Army in 1946 with the rank of Sergeant.
  The records at Royal Hospital show that another woman, Christian Davies, was admitted to Chelsea Hospital circa 1717, and was awarded a pension for her service in the army and the wounds she received in the service of the King. She died in 1739 and was buried in the Royal Hospital Chelsea with full military honours.
caption: In-Pensioner Dorothy Hughes in 2013
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