Priscilla Scott Ellis

Hon. Esyllt Priscilla "Pip" Scott-Ellis (15 November 1916 – 1983) was a British diarist. She was one of only two women who volunteered to be nurses for the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. Life Ellis was born in Seaford House in Belgravia in 1916. She was the daughter of Margherita (born van Raalte) and Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden. She was educated at Queen's College, London, privately, at Benenden School and at a finishing school in Paris. Her siblings were Elisabeth Gwendolen (later Robinson) (1914-1976), Hon. Bronwen Mary (later Lindsay) (1912-2003) and John Osmael Scott-Ellis, 9th Baron Howard de Walden (1912-1999). It is said that her parents gave her only a small amount of their time and attention and she described as eager to please. She was obsessed with Prince Ataúlfo de Orleans who was a closet homosexual. He volunteered to be sent from Nazi Germany in the Condor Legion to support the Nationalist forces in Spain. Ellis wanted to be close to him. In 1937 she found out that her friend had volunteered to serve as a nurse to support the Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. She decided that she would do the same and after basic training she was in Spain in October 1937. While she was working as a nurse she wrote a diary noting the wounds, the screaming and the casual approach to sterisation.