A Nottingham University Hospitals worker with a passion for history made a remarkable discovery within the walls of the hospital he works in.
Michael Woodward, an NUH maintenance assistant for 22 years, has a degree in archaeology and surprisingly discovered First World War plaques dedicated as war memorials within the Queen's Medical Centre.
They have been listed as missing by the Imperial War Museum for years.
No one knows why the WW1 plaques have been lost for so long, Michael told Nottinghamshire Live.
"I was amazed to see them," he said. "I walk past them most days and started having a proper look at them and study them.
"Someone rescued lots of them when the General Hospital closed.
"A lot date from before the NHS. It's poignant as well as it's exactly 100 years ago they were dedicated during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1920 and with Remembrance Sunday as well."
After the First World War, a number of beds were endowed at the General Hospital in Nottingham as war memorials to groups and individuals. These had an associated plaque or tablet normally mounted above the bed.
Five of these are listed on the Imperial War Museums War Memorial site as missing, but have now remarkably been found at the Queen's Medical Centre mounted on a wall near the main entrance.
All of these appear to have been relocated before or during the closure of the General Hospital.
"They're in really good quality," Michael added. They've been kept in good condition.
"I'm really pleased to have found them. I'm treating it as an archaeological find. I need to send pictures of them to the Imperial War Museum.
Below is the list of Nottingham General Hospital War Memorial Endowed Beds with the plaques and Imperial War Museum reference.
1 The Robin Hoods ( WWI ) WM Ref 27366
2 The Sherwood Foresters ( WWI ) WM Ref 27367
3 The South Notts Hussars ( WWI ) WM Ref 27368
4 The Nottingham Red Cross ( WWI ) WM Ref 27364
5 Wollaton and Radford Collieries ( WWI ) WM Ref 27369
6 The Post Office Bed ( WWI )
