DOCSLIB.ORG

The Sight of Soldiers

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Sight of Soldiers CHAPTER ONE 1 “The sight of soldiers or sailors marching, a bugle call, the sound of drums or military band has power still to stir in me the old enthusiasm and once more, I long to minister to such cheery patients as the soldiers and sailors of the King.” - Retired Matron Georgina Pope Captain Georgina Fane Pope, RRC 1st Class, First Matron of the CAMC. PARO 2320/100-3 T H E G A R R I S O N H O S PI TA L , H A L I FAX , N OVA S C OT I A 3 AU G U S T 1914 he drums of war were beating on 3 August 1914. The declaration of war seemed an inevitability, and Canadians were waiting for it. Matron Georgina Pope of Tthe Canadian Army Medical Corps, who was garrisoned in Halifax, was one Canadian who was particularly anticipating the call to war. Many thoughts might have been going through her mind as she read the news despatches. She might well have won- dered if she would get the call to lead the Canadian Nursing Contingent overseas as she had done in 1899 and 1902, when she led the Canadian nursing contingents to the Boer War. She had seniority and experience on her side. For the past six years she had been the matron of the Army Medical Corps; she was in fact its first member and, as such, the most senior nursing officer in the Corps. She knew that based on her seniority and her previous nursing command she was the logical nursing sister to lead the nursing contingent to war. 2 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S She also knew that she was beyond the age limit for active service overseas — but, she may have mused, so were other members of the Corps who might be considered, includ- ing Margaret Macdonald, whose power and influence in the eyes of the Director of Medical Services, Colonel Guy Carleton Jones, were apparently on the rise. It was his call who would lead the contingent. Matron Pope also knew that in the past Colonel Jones had been quoted as saying that seniority did not necessarily imply suitability. Matron Pope remained ready and waiting. Cecily Jane Georgina Fane “Georgie” Pope was born a lady of privilege, one of the nine children of William Henry Pope and Helen DesBrisay. Georgina was born at the family home, Ardgowan, in Charlottetown on 1 January 1862. William Henry Pope was a Father of Confederation, lawyer, land agent, journalist, Colonial Secretary, and judge. His brother James became premier. Her paternal grandfather, Joseph Pope, was a ship- builder, a merchant, and one of the most influential politicians of his day.2 Georgina’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Thomas Des- Brisay, was the first Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island. Georgina’s brother Joseph was the Private Secretary to Sir John A. Macdonald, and later the under-secretary of state in Ottawa under succes- sive prime ministers.3 Joseph’s prominent and influential position in Ottawa factored signifi- cantly in his sister Georgina’s military career. Although Georgina was only two years old at the time of the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, she and her brothers and sisters came to the attention of George Brown, Father of Confeder- ation from Upper Canada, who was their house guest. “The Pope family,” Brown noted in his Sir Joseph Pope LAC/MIKAN3220104 diary, “were strong, vigorous, intelligent and good looking. Mrs. Pope has a governess for her chil- dren, beautiful grounds for their recreation and a capital library.”4 He noted with some in- credulity, “Mrs. Pope while born on the Island had never been out of it all her life!” He discovered that many other Islanders were in the same position and “are, not withstanding, amazingly civilized.”5 Brown painted a picture of the Popes as an upper-class family, one where the daugh- ters would grow up to be genteel ladies, marry into appropriate families and become supportive wives to their husbands. Little did he know that young Georgina had a date with an untraditional destiny. Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 3 Georgina’s early education is unclear. Her father was appointed judge of the Prince County Court in July of 1873 when Georgina was eleven years old. The family moved to St. Eleanors and lived in a very ele- gant home named Fernwood. It is possible that Georgina spent her teenage years attending school in St. Eleanors or Summer- side. When her father died on 7 October 1879, Georgina was seventeen years old.6 W. H. Pope had not provided well for his family, and his son Joseph was left to help provide for his mother and sisters. Fernwood, in St. Eleanors, P.E.I. was the Pope family home during Georgina’s teenage years. Fernwood was sold, and Mrs. Pope and her 018.123 MacNaught History Centre and Archives family moved to Summerside in 1881, where Joseph Pope had bought the Hunt House on the corner of Fitzroy and Gran- ville Streets.7 It was in this family atmosphere that Georgina decided to train for a nurse. For her training, she chose Bellevue Hospital in New York City, the most prestigious hospital in the United States, from which she grad- uated in 1885.8 She was one of the early Island nursing migrants to the “Boston States.”9 After graduation Nurse Pope was in charge of Dr. Johnson’s Private Hospital in Bellevue Hospital in New York City, where Washington, D.C. From there she moved Georgina Pope trained as a nurse. on to be Superintendent of the Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C., where she founded a school of nursing. At the end of five years she suffered from exhaustion and retired. She took a year off and then took a postgraduate course at Bellevue Hospital in New York. It is unclear what specialty she was studying for. Following that she became the Superintendent of St. John’s Hospital in Yonkers, New York. It was from there in 1899 that she decided to enlist in the Canadian Army as part of the contingent going to the Boer War in South Africa.10 The South African or Boer War was precipitated by deteriorating relations between the British government and two Boer governments, the Transvaal and the Orange Free 4 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S State, which had failed to grant political rights to British subjects living in them. When it looked as though war was inevitable, several British colonies pledged their support.11 In Canada, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was not at first overly supportive of sending Canadian troops. However, he faced a political dilemma: the French-Canadian nationalists had no interest in an imperial war while the English-Canadian imperialists wished to support the British in the conflict.12 The war had already begun when Laurier finally decided, as a compromise, to send a volunteer regiment of a thousand men and nurses. Canada would transport them to South Africa, but Prime Minister Laurier made it clear that once there, the cost of their participation would be the responsibility of the British Army. Governor-General Lord Minto telegraphed Joseph Chamberlain, secretary of state for the colonies, informing him that “many militia medical captains and lieutenants, also trained female nurses” were vol- unteering to serve as auxiliaries to the British Medical Staff Corps in South Africa.13 The response from Chamberlain was guarded. It would be unlikely, he wrote, that Canadian medical staff could look after British troops. The implication was to send only as many medical staff as Canada would need to care for its own troops. However, that directive was quickly set aside when the Canadian medical units got to South Africa. There was no shortage of nursing recruits in Canada for the Boer War. There were 200 applications for eight initial positions on the South African Nursing Contingent, but few were trained in the military. In the course of the war, a total of twelve Canadian nurses would serve in the Boer War, some of them in more than one contingent. Nurse Georgina Pope’s application to the Canadian government showed administrative, teaching, and a wide variety of nursing experience. She was already an early nursing leader in North America. However, her acceptance into the South African Nursing Contingent in 1899 was based more on political connections than professional qualifications. To use a hockey analogy, Georgina was the first draft pick. Not only had her father been a Father of Confederation, but her brother Joseph was the most influential public servant in Ottawa and had the ear of the Prime Minister. Being number one gave her seniority over all the other nurses subsequently selected and would have implications for her career down the road. Also chosen was Sarah Forbes from Nova Scotia, whose father and brother had strong political connections. Forbes had trained under Georgina Pope at Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington. Her brother had given up his seat in Parliament in 1896 to allow William S. Fielding an easy by-election win to the House of Commons.14 Pick number three was Elizabeth Russell of Hamilton, Ontario, whose doctor father had strong Liberal ties. Russell also had previous military nursing experience in the Spanish-American War. The last pick for the first group of four was Minnie Affleck. Political favouritism was also evident with at least two of the second group of four nurses who left for South Africa three months later.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Nursing 1 Nursing
    Nursing 1 Nursing For other uses, see Nursing (disambiguation). "Nurse" redirects here. For other uses, see Nurse (disambiguation). Nurse A British nurse caring for a baby in 2006 Occupation Names Nurse Occupation type Healthcare professional Activity sectors Nursing, Health care Description Competencies Caring for general well-being of patients Education required Qualifications in terms of statutory regulations according to national, state, or provincial legislation in each country Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health care providers by their approach to patient care, training, and scope of practice. Nurses practice in a wide diversity of practice areas with a different scope of practice and level of prescriber authority in each. Many nurses provide care within the ordering scope of physicians, and this traditional role has come to shape the historic public image of nurses as care providers. However, nurses are permitted by most jurisdictions to practice independently in a variety of settings depending on training level. In the postwar period, nurse education has undergone a process of diversification towards advanced and specialized credentials, and many of the traditional regulations and provider roles are changing. Nurses develop a plan of care, working collaboratively with physicians, therapists, the patient, the patient's family and other team members, that focuses on treating illness to improve quality of life. In the U.S. (and increasingly the United Kingdom), advanced practice nurses, such as clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners, diagnose health problems and prescribe medications and other therapies, depending on individual state regulations.
    [Show full text]
  • 12 (Vancouver) Field Ambulance Unit Christmas Photos 2006, 2007 and 2011
    12 (Vancouver) Field Ambulance Unit Christmas Photos 2006, 2007 and 2011 31 Appendix 1 Honours and Awards to the 12 Canadian Light Field Ambulance in World War II Rank Name Corps Award Canada Gazette Date / LCol CAVERHILL, Mervyn Ritchie (‘Merv’) RCAMC OBE 15/12/1945 LCol MacPHERSON, Alexander Donald RCAMC DSO (Sogel) 23/06/1945 Captain CLARKE, Kenneth Andrew Connal RCAMC Military Cross 09/12/1944 Captain CLARKE, Kenneth Andrew Connal RCAMC MID 11/02/1945 Captain FRASER, John Humphreys RCAMC Military Cross 17/03/1945 Captain FRASER, John Humphreys RCAMC MID 03/02/1945 Captain JOLLEY, Harry Myer CDentC MBE 15/12/1945 Captain MEGILL, Arthur Hugh RCAMC MID 31/03/1945 Captain MCMURTRY, Thomas RCAMC C-in-C Certificate ---/---/1945 WO1/RSM STEWART, John MacNeill RCAMC MBE 29/06/1945 Sergeant CAMERON, John W. RCAMC MID 08/11/1945 Sergeant MILLAR, William J. RCAMC MID 08/11/1945 Private THOMPSON, Forrest Francis RCASC MM (Sogel) 23/05/1945 Private OELRICH, Richard RCASC MID 18/02/1945 Private HOLLOWAY, James Jeffrey RCAMC MID 11/02/1945 Private CORBEIL, Paul Felix RCAMC MID 11/02/1945 Sergeant YOUNG, James William RCASC C-in-C Certificate 08/12/1945 Corporal CHARLTON, K.H. RCAMC C-in-C Certificate 08/02/1946 Corporal PARNELL, Geoffrey RCAMC C-in-C Certificate 19/01/1945 Corporal SHOEBOTHAN, George M. RCAMC C-in-C Certificate 21/09/1945 Corporal TWEEDALE, Samuel RCAMC C-in-C Certificate 14/08/1945 Private HEWETT, Harold F. RCASC C-in-C Certificate ---/02/1946 Private NESTERUK, Carl RCASC Military Medal (MM) 10/11/1945 Private WIEBE, Henry RCAMC & C-in-C Certificate ---/---/1946 Lincoln & Welland Reg (not an MM) ============================================================================ Captain Kenneth Andrew Connal Clarke received the Military Cross in 1944 for his actions during the advance from CAEN to FALAISE.
    [Show full text]
  • Raising Professional Confidence: the Influence of the Anglo-Boer War (1899 – 1902) on the Development and Recognition of Nursing As a Profession
    Raising professional confidence: The influence of the Anglo-Boer War (1899 – 1902) on the development and recognition of nursing as a profession A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing in the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences. 2013 Charlotte Dale School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work 2 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Declaration ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 Copyright Statement ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................... 8 The Author ............................................................................................................................................................ 9 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter One ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 Nursing, War and the late Nineteenth Century
    [Show full text]
  • Caring and Curing.Pdf
    Caring and Curing SOCIAL SCIENCES SERIES The Social Sciences series covers scholarly works dealing with justice and social problems, with analysis of and social theories on Canadian society, and with political economy. The series, in conformity with the Press's policy, is open to manuscripts in English and in French. Series Committee: Caroline Andrew Serge Denis Maureen Harrington Jacques Laplante Mario Seccareccia J. Yvon Theriault Edited by Dianne Dodd and Deborah Gorham Caring and Curing Historical Perspectives on Women and Healing in Canada Canadian aSociety UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA PRESS This book has been published with the help of a grant from Associated Medical Services, Incorporated and the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Caring and Curing: Historical Perspectives on Women and Healing in Canada (Social Sciences. Canadian Society; 18) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7766-0387-6 1. Women in medicine—Canada—History. 2. Medical care—Canada—History. I. Dodd, Dianne E. (Dianne Elizabeth), 1955- II. Gorham, Deborah. III. Series: Sciences sociales. Societe canadienne; 18. R692.C37 1994 305.4361'0971 C94-900367-0 Cover: Robert Dolbec Photo: RG1O Series 30A2 Box 2 File 18 Picture 7 Ontario Royal Child Welfare Project, 1920-1925 Typesetting: Typo Litho Composition, Inc. "All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any
    [Show full text]
  • The Islands Florence Nightingale'
    •*• fcrS IT i. 1 1 - | j & * The Islands Florence Nightingale' n unexpected storm darkens the She was born on the Island and was Awater and lights up the sky over By Boyde Beck and never out of it in all her life! Many Charlottetown Harbour. On the deck of Adele Townshend people here are in the same position the Rocky Point ferry a young boy and are, notwithstanding, amazingly stands beside the chair of an elderly civilized. Mrs. Pope has a governess woman. He is holding her hand. She has for her children, beautiful grounds for asked him to do so, confessing she is their recreation and a capital library. afraid of thunder and lightening. Ironic Georgina was the second youngest that this brave woman, a nurse who of eight children in this typically upper served in two major wars, should be middle class Victorian family. An intelli- afraid of a summer storm. But maybe gent outsider, using the measures of not. Perhaps it is a measure of the price their time, could have forecast the her career has exacted. The flash of probable path her life would take. A lightning and roll of thunder may have young woman of her standing could brought too many memories of another look forward to a certain amount of summer — this one in Flanders — schooling, then marriage to a gentle- when the Great War had added her to man of equal or (hopefully) slightly its tally of casualties. Her passing timid- superior social status. After marriage, ness belies the life she has led.
    [Show full text]
  • Canadian Nurses in Military Service 1895 – Present
    Canadian Nurses in Military Service 1895 – Present Prepared by Wayne & Nancy Dauphinee, Co-Curators Militaria Collections LGen E.C. Ashton Armoury Museum Victoria Acknowledgement Women have cared for wounded soldiers throughout Canada's wartime history. "Nursing Sisters" carried out official duties with the military during the North West Rebellion, the South African War, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and the Afghanistan Conflict. Figure 1: Canadian nurses in military service 1885 – present (L-R) Northwest Rebellion, South African (Boer) War, World War One, World War Two, Decades of Change and Afghanistan We would like to acknowledge the contribution of all nurses who have and continue to care for Canadian troops both at home and overseas, particularly the following whose leadership was instrumental in evolving the Canada’s military nursing service: • Matron Georgina Fane Pope • Matron Margaret Clothilde MacDonald • Colonel Elizabeth Lawrie Smellie • Emma Florence Pense • Lieutenant Colonel Hallie Sloan North West Campaign 1885 – 1889 In 1885, Canadian nurses were requested by the military to provide professional nursing care to the sick and wounded in the North West Campaign. At first, the nursing needs identified were for home duties such as making bandages and preparing medical and food supplies. Members of societies, such as the Red Cross, were advised to volunteer as nurses should the need arise. It soon became apparent that more direct participation by nurses was needed if the military was to provide effective medical field treatment. A total of five nurses, under the direction of Nurse Figure 2: Frontline medical care during North Kate Millar from the Winnipeg General Hospital West Campaign arrived in Moose Jaw and took over the acute care of the wounded.
    [Show full text]
  • Field Ambulance
    12 (Vancouver) Field Ambulance COPYRIGHT 2012 FJB Air Printed and Bound in Delta, British Columbia, Canada Minuteman Press – Debra and Nick Losito Owners CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA BLATHERWICK, F.J. (Francis John), 1944 - 12 (Vancouver) Field Ambulance ISBN 978-0-9810504-2-3 1. Military History – Canada 2. Canadian Forces Health Services History Suggested Retail Price: $25.00 COPYRIGHT NOTICE The contents of this publication are owned by the FJB Air and all rights thereto are reserved under the Pan-American and Universal Copyright Conventions. However, all parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without the prior written permission of FJB Air – just please give us credit. The book is part of Canadian heritage and as such should be shared. Militi Succurrimus Honorary Colonel John Blatherwick, CM, OBC, CD, MD, FRCP(C), LLD(Hon) 2006 to 2012 Cover by Douglas Blatherwick INTRODUCTION In thinking about what I could leave the unit after my six years as the Honorary Colonel, I realized that one of my goals had been to produce a history of the unit. I sat down one Friday and started working on it and by Sunday I had it 75% written thanks to material that Adrian French had sent me – I say written as I had basically copied material from others but I did still had to sort it out! I have switched tenses often in the history - that wasn’t my intention but I did. I wrote a lot of it in the present tense and so my perspective on the history pervades the book.
    [Show full text]
  • Fact Sheet # 39 Published By: the Friends of the Canadian War Museum
    GEORGINA POPE FIRST NURSING MATRON OF THE CANADIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS Page 1 of 3 Researched and Written by: Capt. (N) Michael Braham, (Ret’d) Edited by: Julia Beingessner Introduction: Georgina Pope (1862 - Florence Nightingale,” Pope is remembered for her strong leadership and 1938) was a Canadian nurse who served selfless devotion to her patients. with distinction in the Second Boer War and the First World War. The Canadian Army demonstrated its Early Life: The Pope household in respect for nursing by assigning Canadian Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island was a nurses full lieutenant status during their hotbed of journalism, legal issues, and time in South Africa. Pope was head of all political strategies in the late 1800s. Well- nursing services at Kroonstadt. The nurses heeled and comfortable, William H. Pope, endured long hours in crowded wards a Father of Confederation, and his wife while under threat of attack, dealt with welcomed their newborn daughter on 1 bug infestations and extreme January 1862, naming her Cecily Jane temperatures, and subsisted on small food Georgina Fane Pope. rations. She grew up on a At the end of 1900, she returned to lovely estate with Canada and was put on reserve status. In servants and a 1901, the Canadian Army Nursing Service governess. It was made official, and Georgina Fane therefore came as a Pope was one of its seven members. shock when Georgina announced she was In 1902, she went back to South Africa going to New York to and served in a hospital in Natal until the train as a nurse at end of the Second Boer War.
    [Show full text]
  • Fall 2016 Volume 27 Newsletter Issue 3
    BC History of Nursing Society FALL 2016 VOLUME 27 NEWSLETTER ISSUE 3 St Paul’s Hospital CAHN President Lydia Wytenbroek & Past President Margaret Scaia Lynn Kirkwood and Alice Baumgart BRAINS, GUTS & GUMPTION: Historical Perspectives on Nursing Education, Practice and Entrepreneurship: CAHN Conference Update! Thanks: Lydia Wytenbroek, Catherine Haney and Sheila Zerr for contributing to this report The Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for the History for the History of Nursing and Midwifery (one of whom, Tommy of Nursing (CAHN/ACHN) took place in June, in Vancouver, British Dickinson, was the 2015 winner of the AAHN Lavinia L. Dock Columbia. BCHNS was one of the sponsors of the conference Research Award). In total, there were 68 registrants, including 12 which was held at St. Paul’s Hospital, an acute care hospital in students and 1 post-doctoral fellow. Vancouver. The original hospital was founded by the Catholic Sisters of Providence in the 1890s. This was a fantastic venue for The Hannah Lecture, sponsored by Associated Medical Services, the conference as attendees were able to explore the hospital’s was delivered by Linda Bryder, a medical historian at the history through a guided tour. One area of the acute care building University of Auckland, New Zealand. She spoke about the ways had hallways lined with nursing graduation photographs dating that her focus on nurses has enabled her to employ a social back to 1911! historical lens to her research on tuberculosis, public health and women’s health. The conference also featured an opening panel The conference had a strong international representation with on Aboriginal Health History which was held in acknowledgement five nurse educators from several universities in Spain, several of the publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee registrants from the U.S., and two attendees from the UK’s Centre reports in December 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Front Lines and Frontiers: War As Legitimate Work for Nurses, 1939–1945
    Front Lines and Frontiers: War as Legitimate Work for Nurses, 1939–1945 CYNTHIA TOMAN* Over 4,000 nurses served with the Canadian armed forces during the Second World War, comprising a second generation of military nurses known by rank and title as Nursing Sisters. Military medical records and personal accounts reveal that military nurses enjoyed an elite professional status based on their relative closeness to the front lines of combat and to the frontiers of medical technology. Reductions in mor- bidity and mortality rates were frequently attributed to the presence of Nursing Sisters in forward field units. While Nursing Sisters capitalized on their position within the armed forces to enhance their expertise and develop expanded practice roles, such efforts were contingent on geographical setting, the availability of physi- cians and medical orderlies, and the social construction of medical technologies as men’s or women’s work. Flexibility and autonomy were more evident closer to the front lines, where patient acuity was higher, skilled personnel fewer, and risk-taking more acceptable. Such flexible boundaries, however, were “for the duration” only. Plus de 4 000 infirmie`res ont servi dans les forces arme´es canadiennes durant la Deuxie`me Guerre mondiale, formant une deuxie`me ge´ne´ration d’infirmie`res mili- taires. On de´couvre a` l’e´tude des dossiers me´dicaux militaires et des re´cits personnels que les infirmie`res militaires jouissaient d’un statut professionnel d’e´lite du fait d’eˆtre a` proximite´ relative des zones de combat et aux premie`res loges de la technologie me´dicale.
    [Show full text]
  • Boer War Nurse
    BOER WAR NURSE Mary Ellen ‘Minnie’ Affleck (1874-1956) When Nursing Sister Minnie Affleck sailed for home aboard the troop-ship Roslin Castle in December 1900, ending her tour of duty in South Africa as one of the first four women to wear the uniform of the Canadian ‘Militia Army Medical Nursing Service’, she carried with her, tucked between the pages of her diary, a heartfelt poem composed by one of the many hundreds of Boer War wounded she had helped to treat. Our noble Sister she is called away, But we are in hope she may return. If it is a need, we wish her God Speed, For we are all left here forlorn.1 Born Mary Ellen Affleck, on May 25, 1874, near Middleville2, Ontario, Minnie was one of the four daughters and six sons of William Borrowman Affleck (1845-1924) and Sarah Mitchell (1847-1894).3 When her mother died, her father was re-married in 1904 to Mary Rodger (1866- 1944), adding two more children to the family.4 Education was held in high esteem in the Affleck family. Minnie’s sister Marion and her half-sisters Jessie and Amanda also trained as nurses. Her sister Elizabeth was a school teacher, her brother Robert became a lawyer and her brother Garnet a civil engineer. Minnie’s father, William ‘Black Bill’5 Affleck, was the son of 1820 Lanark Society Settlers Robert Affleck6 (1809-1884) and Mary Grant Borrowman (1813-1916). William first attended school when, from age four, he tagged along with older siblings, but received only about six years of formal schooling before he went to work in the lumber camps at age 12.
    [Show full text]
  • Suzanna Wagner
    Many Places, Many Problems: Canadian First World War Military Nursing Sisters in the Mediterranean by Suzanna Wagner A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In History Department of History and Classics University of Alberta © Suzanna Wagner, 2020 Abstract During the First World War, 2,845 fully trained nurses served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Although Canadian combat troops were focused on the Western Front in France and Belgium, more than 500 of Canada’s military nurses, called ‘Nursing Sisters,’ worked in hospital units which were sent to the Mediterranean, a part of the Eastern Front. This study will examine the impact of place on nursing sisters’ experiences in the East. The five Canadian medical units to which these nursing sisters were assigned ran hospitals in Cairo, Egypt, on the Greek island of Lemnos, and the Greek city of Salonika between 1915 and 1917. The circumstances in each of these three locations presented a tremendous variety of problems for the nurses: there was no monolithic Mediterranean theatre experience for Canada’s nursing sisters. On the island of Lemnos, nursing sisters encountered temporary hospital infrastructure which was inadequate for the extreme weather. Administrative chaos, nursing sister illness, and a desperate lack of supplies further hampered their efforts to care for soldier-patients. The city of Salonika was close to active fighting, and the surrounding marshy land resulted in a great many malarial mosquitos. Problems arising from nursing sister sickness and the need for nursing reinforcements were more acute as a result of the considerable length of time Canadian hospitals were posted in Salonika.
    [Show full text]