The Salvation Army Officer
In her late teens she became aware of the call to officership but her natural shyness made her reluctant to respond; however, eventually realising that God's power would help her, she added her father's Christian name to her surname and entered the Salvation Army Training College at Clapton in 1903, aged 19. She was a lively cadet with a great sense of fun but she also applied herself to training. Later, as a cadet-sergeant, she was remembered for her individual care of cadets.
Bramwell-Booth was given her first posting in 1904 as a Captain in Bath. She then held appointments in a number of important provincial centres, being placed in charge of the Salvation Army's evangelical work. In 1904 she joined her grandfather, General Booth, as he travelled in a motorcade around the country, preaching from his car in village and town centres. From 1907 to 1917 she was involved in the training of women officers at the Army's International Training College in Clapton in London.
In 1913 she preached in Russia and in 1917 made headlines when she led a rescue team into the area devastated by the Silvertown TNT explosion at the Brunner-Mond munitions factory in what has become known as the Silvertown explosion, when seventy-three people died and hundreds were injured. Later, she was to be involved with relief work in Europe after both World War I and World War II
She left the International Training College in 1917 to become the Under Secretary for Europe for Salvation Army work in Europe, being attached to the International Headquarters in London. In 1926 she was promoted to Colonel, and from then until 1946 she was in charge of the Army's social work among women in Great Britain. In 1927 she was promoted to Commissioner, and became closely involved in the Salvation Army's social welfare activities, dealing with everything from orphaned children to the elderly residents of the Salvation Army eventide homes. From 1946 she was international secretary for Europe until her retirement in 1948.
Bramwell-Booth was nominated three times for the generalship of the Salvation Army, in 1934, 1939, and 1946. However, on each occasion she was unsuccessful, it possibly being felt that leadership of the Salvation Army should not appear to be exclusive to the Booth 'dynasty', as both her father and aunt Evangeline Booth had previously been Generals.
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