Thora Silverthorne

Abstract is: Thora Silverthorne (1910–1999), also known as "Red Silverthorne", was a British Communist, healthcare activist, and a nanny for Somerville Hastings, and former president of the Socialist Medical Association (SMA). She is most known for her service to the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, and for her roles in helping to found both Britain's National Health Service (NHS), and co-founding Britain's first union for rank and file nurses. Silverthorne was a life-long member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).