MESSINA — On the 110th anniversary of the first deployment of the Italian Red Cross Volunteer Nurse Corps, which took place in Messina following the earthquake that devastated the city, on account of the indissoluble bond between the House of Savoy and the “Sisters”, whose service was created in Rome under Queen Elena’s patronage, the Messina Vicariate of the Savoy Dynastic Orders and the Provincial Inspectorate of the volunteer nurses of CRI (Croce Rossa Italiana) became promoters of three Days of commemoration.
On 15th November a plaque was unveiled at the Institute of the Rogationist Fathers of Christ the King, near the Military War Memorial, where a Royal Red Cross hospital stood during the Second World War.
On 22nd November the inauguration and blessing of a marble plaque took place at the Verona – Trento – Majorana Institute, seat of Royal Red Army garrison no. 97 during the First World War.
On 1st December in front of the monument to Queen Elena of Savoy and before a splendid formation of Red Cross nurses standing at attention, the National Inspector Sister Monica Dialuce Gambino, together with the Delegate for Sicily and the Messina Vicar, Off. Rev. Andrea Di Paola, laid a violet composition and unveiled a marble plaque with the emblem of the Dynastic Orders dedicated to the Sovereign benefactor of the earthquake-stricken city.
The event continued at the Great Hall of the VTMIS School of the Coast Guard where a Round Table was held after the national anthem and the Sardinian anthem was performed and a message sent by H.R.H. Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Grand Master of the Dynastic Orders for the main celebratory initiatives, was read. The Round Table recalled the main stages of the history of the Volunteer Nurse Corps, the role of Queen Elena and Queen Maria Josè and of the other Princesses of the House of Savoy in relation to the Red Cross in times of peace and war.
