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 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 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 . 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 .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. Marcella Richardson of Regina was Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 5

The SS Sardinian departing from Quebec City in October 1899. Onboard is the Canadian Contingent to the Boer War which included Lieutenant Georgina Pope and three other Canadian nurses. UPEI Special Collections, Robertson Library

the daughter of Hugh Richardson, the senior judge in the Supreme Court of the North- West Territories. He presided over the trial of Louis Riel in 1885.15 Margaret Macdonald of Bailey’s Brook, Nova Scotia, had good Liberal connections. Macdonald’s father had passed her application on to Prime Minister Laurier’s Minister of Finance, the Nova Scotian William S. Fielding, who in turn passed it on to the Minister of Militia, Frederick W. Borden, another Nova Scotian. Deborah Hurcomb of Ottawa was Superintendent of the Perley Nursing Home in Ottawa, and as such she may have had access to prominent Conservative businessman, George Perley, whose family provided the home. Margaret Horne of Montreal had less obvious political connections. By virtue of being the first nurse to be recruited, Georgina Fane Pope was the senior nurse in charge of the eight-person nursing contingent to the Boer War.16 Lieutenant Pope and her first three nursing sisters departed from Quebec City on 30 October 1899 on the SS Sardinian. On board were 1,050 officers and men and one medical officer. They arrived in Cape Town on 1 December 1899. These four nurses were the first Canadian military nurses to serve overseas, attached to No. 1 General at Wynberg, just outside Cape Town in South Africa.17 6 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S

Lieutenant Pope tends to soldiers in the hospital under canvas at Rondebosch, South Africa, during the Boer War. UPEI Special Collections, Robertson Library

Pope described some of her nursing experiences in a report to the Director of Medical Services at the end of the war:

We nursed in huts and found the work at times very heavy, often times having our dinner between nine and ten p.m . . . . We remained at Wynberg for nearly a month, when No. 3 General of 600 beds was pitched under canvas at Rondebosch, a few miles away — here we arrived on Christmas Day and remained almost six months, having at times very active service; sometimes covered with sand during a “Cape South Easter”; at others delayed with a fore-runner of the coming rainy season, and at all times in terror of scorpions and snakes as bed-fellows.18

Training for scorpion control would not have been a procedure learned in the nursing schools of North America, but wars produced many medical and nursing innovations.19 To combat the infestation of bugs at Wynberg, the legs of the beds were placed in jam- tins containing a pesticide. Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 7

Lieutenant Pope, centre, serves tea at the tent which was her living quarters while serving in Rondebosch, South Africa. UPEI Special Collections, Robertson Library

Worse yet than scorpions, Lieutenant Pope and her nurses were working in a ward for enteric fever (typhoid). Their patients suffered from extreme diarrhea, dehydration, high temperatures, and, in some cases, delirium, and they required intensive nursing care. Many of these patients died. By May 1900 Canadian Nursing Sister Sarah Forbes and five British nursing sisters were sent to Kroonstad in the charge of Lieutenant Pope, to the headquarters of Lord Roberts’s Army, to establish a temporary hospital to care for 230 sick and wounded.20 At Kroonstad Pope noted:

We had thirty officers and 200 men, nearly all suffering from enteric fever. . . . Here under canvas in June, like our sisters at Springfontein, we suffered acutely from cold. Each morning the hoar frost was thick, both inside and out of our single bell tents. We were short of water, and lived on rations which an orderly cooked for us on a fire on the veldt. Dinner was a very uncertain feast on a rainy day. Around our camp, within 50 yards, were several six inch guns, while we had prepared in a donga a place 8 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S

British soldiers captured this armoured train near Cheveley, South Africa, during the Boer War.

UPEI Special Collections, Robertson Library

of safety for helpless patients, and a bomb proof shelter for all the hospital staff in case of attack, which for some time threatened us daily. . . . Several mornings we awakened to hear the boom of guns, which, however, were never near enough to necessitate us using the shelters.21

At the end of June when the patients were sufficiently recovered, Pope and her nurses went to Pretoria. This posting was orchestrated by Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in South Africa, to give them a chance to explore the Transvaal province and the battlefields before returning to Canada. On 13 December 1900 seven Canadian nurses boarded the Roslyn Castle with the troops of the second contingent and departed for Halifax, docking on 8 January 1901. It turned out to be a working voyage for them, as several cases of enteric fever broke out while they were at sea, with two being fatal.22 One of the seven nurses onboard the Roslyn Castle was Lieutenant Margaret Macdonald of Nova Scotia, a nurse with the second contingent of four select nurses. She would factor heavily in the military career of Lieutenant Georgina Pope in future years. The secretary of Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 9

Canadian nurses at work in the Kitchener Ward, one of the wards created as part of a converted hospital at the Palace of Justice in Pretoria, South Africa. UPEI Special Collections, Robertson Library

the ship’s social committee, Lieutenant John McCrae, a member of D section of the Artillery Brigade, would also be a fellow-traveller with Pope into a future war.23 Pope probably returned to Summerside upon her return from South Africa. But it was not long until the drums of war were beating again — guerilla warfare had broken out in South Africa, and Canada wished to send a contingent of five nurses. Lieutenant Pope’s name had been announced in a newspaper as a member of this con- tingent to go to South Africa, but where it really counted in the Ministry of the Militia, her name was inexplicably absent from the official list. Her brother Joseph, now under-secretary for state, hastily informed Frederick Borden, the Minister of Militia, that his sister was willing and ready to go. This caused a great dilemma to the Nova Scotian minister who then had six names for five positions. The five had already been notified of their appointments, and Sarah Forbes of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, had been chosen leader because of her position as number two on the Army Nursing Service List. Over the Christmas season of 1901 to 1902, communications were frequent between the distraught Minister of Militia and Lord Minto, Governor-General of Canada, and in turn with the British War Office. Borden suggested to Governor-General Minto that he should convince the British government that more than five nurses should be sent. Minto was slow to respond, as was the British government. In 10 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S

Some rest and relaxation — Lieutenant Pope (holding the umbrella) enjoys a rickshaw ride with Canadian and British nurses, while serving in South Africa. UPEI Special Collections, Robertson Library the end, eight nurses were sent, and Sarah Forbes agreed to step aside as leader in deference to Pope’s position as number one on the Army Nursing Service List.24 The nurses did not travel to Africa with the Canadian Mounted Rifles but instead sailed to Liverpool on 28 January 1902 on the commercial liner the SS Corinthian. They had a ten-day stopover in England where they made good use of their time, sightseeing as they awaited a ship to South Africa. They sailed from Southampton and arrived in Cape Town on 6 March 1902. Their eventual destination was Harrismith, where they comprised the nursing staff of the 600-bed No. 19 Stationary Hospital. One-third of the patients had enteric fever (typhoid). The nurses’ stay was short. Peace was signed in May, and by 25 June they sailed for home along with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles and the 10th Field Hospital. They all arrived in Halifax on 22 July 1902.25 Lieutenant Pope was decorated in tribute to her service in South Africa. When he visited Halifax in 1901, the Duke of Cornwall presented Georgina Pope and Sarah Forbes with the South African Medal.26 As well, in 1903 Pope was awarded the Royal Red Cross 1st Class for conspicuous service in the field. She was the first Canadian to receive that honour.27 Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 11

At this stage in her career, Lieutenant Pope clearly thrived on military life, and in November 1902 she applied for a position of Matron in the recently formed British Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS). She was turned down, which no doubt was a disappointment for her, but this ultimately proved a good thing for the future of military ,28 to which Lieutenant Pope would contribute significantly, particularly the development of the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). In 1904 an Army Medical Corps was formed in Canada which made provision for a staff of twenty-five nursing sisters in a non-permanent branch of the corps. Lieutenant Pope continued to be number one on the Nursing Services List. In 1906 Nursing Sisters Pope and Margaret Macdonald were appointed from the army reserve to the Permanent Army Medical Corps (PAMC). Both were stationed at the Garrison Hospital in Halifax. Lieutenant Pope was appointed about three months before Macdonald, which made her the senior Sister. In 1908, Lieutenant Pope became the first matron of the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was given the rank of captain, a position she held until 1914.29 While in Halifax she developed programmes and trained nursing reserves. At the outbreak of WWI there were five nurses in the permanent force, including Matron Pope and Margaret Macdonald, and there was a reserve force of about fifty nurses.30 From 1906 until the outbreak of WWI, Nursing Sisters Pope and Macdonald had worked together at Halifax most of the time. Margaret Macdonald of Bailey’s Brook, Nova Scotia, had seen service in the Spanish-American War in 1898, had served in the Boer War between 1899 and 1901 and again in 1902, and had worked as a nurse during the building of the Panama Canal.31 Eleven years younger than Pope and possibly more energetic and more motivated for change and advancement in 1911, Macdonald petitioned the Director of Medical Services (DMS), Colonel Guy Carleton Jones, for a six-month leave to study the newly formed British Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS). Her request was granted, and she spent six months in London. Upon her return Macdonald filed a report with Colonel Jones and in 1913 gave a speech to the Association of Officers of the Medical Services outlining her proposed changes to the CAMC, principally around recruitment and training of the nursing reserves. DMS Colonel Jones was there taking notes and assured Macdonald that he would consider her suggestions.32 He certainly did. Within a year she was at the Kingston Military Hospital implementing some of the reforms. At this point Matron Pope must have felt that her star was on the wane and Macdonald’s on the rise. As the years went by, Macdonald continued to curry favour with DMS Colonel Jones, for whom reform was clearly in the ascendancy. 12 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S

I N AU G U S T 1914, while Matron Pope was waiting at the Garrison Hospital in Halifax for the news of war and hoping for the call to once again lead Canadian nurses to war, fellow Islanders were also waiting. Great Britain had given Germany the ultimatum of 11 p.m., 4 August 1914 to pull its troops out of Belgium or be at war. In Charlotte- town, the Island Patriot’s two editions had been snapped up and sold out. Crowds gathered at the Island Patriot’s office to catch the latest European despatches as they were posted on the bulletin board.33 By midnight it was confirmed — England was at war with Germany. As part of the British Empire, Canada was automatically at war, which also meant Prince Edward Island was at war. Nettie Stanley might have been in that crowd gathered at the Island Patriot’s office that evening, feeling the pull of service and duty. The following day the Island Patriot proudly announced that Nettie Stanley, trained nurse of Charlottetown, was the first Island nurse to volunteer for the CAMC. She had delivered her application for service to Dr. Yeo, Commander of the 9th Field Ambulance Unit, who had forwarded it to Ottawa on that very day. Several days later the Island Patriot updated Islanders, announcing that nurses Titebo, McLean, Rapson, and McIntyre had also volunteered for the CAMC.34 Of these, Nurse McLean was selected to go overseas with the First Contingent; no evidence shows that the other three served in the CAMC. Back in Halifax, despite willingness to lead these volunteers, when war was declared on 4 August 1914, Matron Georgina Pope never got the call to serve. It was not Pope but rather Margaret Macdonald who was summoned to Ottawa by Colonel Guy Carleton Jones. Later, once overseas, Macdonald was made the Matron-in-Chief of the CAMC. To her credit Macdonald pointed out to Colonel Jones that Pope had more administrative experience plus had seniority over her. In turn, he pointed out that it was her duty to obey.35 Colonel Jones was determined to have Macdonald; he wanted no other. Jones may have questioned Matron Pope’s suitability.36 There is no record of Matron Pope’s feelings regarding her demotion in the CAMC, but heartbroken might well have been one of them. As the war progressed, Matron Pope applied for field postings overseas several times and was turned down due to age and possibly because she was needed in Halifax to train the new nursing recruits on their way overseas.37 Presumably, Matron-in-Chief Macdonald could have sent Matron Pope overseas at any time during the war had she wanted to do so. Why she did not do so in the beginning — and why she did post Matron Pope overseas later in the war — is unclear. Meticulous research has not uncovered any evidence that Matron Pope’s brother, Sir Joseph Pope, tried to intervene on his sister’s behalf to secure a field posting for her in France, although he had been successful on previous occasions in getting her postings. By the outset of WWI his influence was beginning to diminish somewhat with the Prime Minister, but this may not have been the primary factor. There is extensive correspondence Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 13

showing that Joseph Pope was exerting great effort in getting a permanent commission for Maurice, one of his four sons overseas.38 Maybe Joseph Pope was spending his dimin- ished political capital where he thought it would do the most good. While Matron Georgina Pope was left behind in Halifax in 1914, Matron Margaret Macdonald was called to Ottawa on 17 August 1914 by Colonel Guy Carleton Jones, Director of Medical Services for the CAMC, to handle enlistment of nurses for overseas duty.39 Canada needed no enlistment strategy to attract nurses. The number of volunteers quickly was overwhelming the ability of the authorities in Ottawa to cope. Within three weeks of war being declared there were nearly 1,100 applications submitted by Canadian nurses to go overseas in the CAMC with the First Contingent.40 Prince Edward Island nurses were among those applicants. As it would turn out, only 100 nurses were selected to go overseas at the end of September 1914, including only one from P.E.I. Matron Macdonald had an embarrassment of riches as she sat at her desk with the heap of over a thousand applications for one-tenth of that number of positions with the First Contingent.41 How did she select those “chosen few” who would forever after be dubbed the “Mayflowers” — as opposed to the “Cauliflowers,” as those who followed later were called?42 Matron Macdonald set out basic entrance requirements to guide her selection. The applicant had to be between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-eight, in good health, single, a British subject, and a graduate of an approved school of nursing with a bed capacity of no fewer than fifty beds.43 But beyond basic requirements and the challenge of numbers, Matron Macdonald had an even greater challenge. She had to deal with two avenues of enlistment which at times worked at cross- purposes. Nurses could apply to the CAMC through their local nursing associations, which were affiliated with the National Association of Graduate Nurses (except for P.E.I., which was the only province where no local association existed).44 Alternatively, they could apply through their local military district. Most chose the latter. This proved a wise alternative. The nurses’ associations valued similar criteria to the matron and recommended only those nurses who had graduated from a recognized train- ing school with at least a fifty-bed capacity. By contrast, the military was seemingly unencumbered by those rules and, in the end, the military prevailed and this opened the way for political influence in the selection process. Macdonald’s selection of the first fifty nurses was straightforward: five came from the ranks of the Permanent Army Medical Corps (PAMC); next, members of the reserve were given first choice. The second fifty proved a challenge for Matron Macdonald as she waded through the letters of recommendation from politicians, clergy, military people, and influential citizens. Even the Minister of Militia offered up a few names of women who were not even nurses. In the end, Macdonald maintained her standards; as a result, recommendations from the 14 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S powerful and influential could only help nurses who met those standards.45 After careful scrutiny of the application and a personal interview with each nurse applicant in which she considered their family background, character, and deportment, Macdonald selected her hundred nurses.46 And what an elite group of women they were! In early September 1914 when Matron Margaret Macdonald put down her pen and blotted the paper on the names of those 100 nurses chosen to go overseas in the first con- tingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), only one Island nurse had made the cut: Rena McLean of Souris. While McLean had a strong nursing background to her credit, her father also used his political connections to secure her entry into the CAMC. McLean had sent her application directly to Sir Sam Hughes, the Minister of Militia and Defence.47 A newspaper reference proudly proclaimed that she also had a personal letter from Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada. Matron Macdonald would certainly have taken notice of such an application.

B O R N AT S O U R I S , P.E.I., along the shores of Colville Bay, Rena McLean’s life was shaped by the forces of the sea. She was the only living daughter of John and Matilda McLean; one sister had died in infancy and another sister drowned at Mt. Stewart at age twelve. She had two brothers. Rena’s father, John McLean, was a prominent merchant and Conser- vative politician in Souris, P.E.I. He was co-owner of a thirty-boat fishing fleet, three canning factories, and extensive real estate.48 Rena’s mother was Matilda Jury, daughter of Charlottetown jeweller and clockmaker John Jury. Rena appeared Rena McLean’s family home in Souris, P.E.I. to have a very special relationship with Author photo her father; he was protective of his only surviving daughter. She was educated at a local school and then at age eleven went to Mt. Allison Ladies’ College in Sackville, New Brunswick, from 1891 to 1892. She graduated from the Halifax Ladies’ College in 1896 and graduated in nursing from the Newport Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1908. When the war broke out she was the Head Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 15

This picture of the McLean family was taken in 1916 when Rena was home on furlough to P.E.I. Back row, L-R, her brother Harry, mother Matilda, brother Roy, and father John. The three children in front of them are John, Jean and Mary McLean, Rena’s nephew and nieces. At front left is Roy’s wife Adele, holding Margaret, then Harry’s wife Annie, then Gordon, and Rena holding baby Rowan. The child on Annie’s lap is not identified. MacLean family photo

Nurse in the operating room of the Henry Hayward Memorial Hospital in Gardner, Massachusetts.49 At word of being accepted into the CAMC, Rena McLean made her way to Valcartier, Quebec, to join the First Contingent to go overseas. The comfortable lifestyle to which Rena McLean was accustomed in the “Boston States” came to an abrupt halt when she arrived at her military lodgings at Valcartier, Quebec. The cold and sparse accommodations at Savard Park’s Immigration Hospital were described this way by Nursing Sister Mabel Clint, a sister “Mayflower” of Nursing Sister McLean’s:

The main floor of the building consisted of a huge draughty space, filled with three-tiered wire bunks, on which we lay sandwiched at night, with our military rugs and “martial cloaks” around us. Not taking our rest however, as creaks, coughs, and colds precluded that, while a chill rain dripped steadily outside . . . all night long marching troops clanked past.50 16 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S

The Matthew & McLean Store in Souris, P.E.I., co-owned by Rena McLean’s father John, dominated the local economy in northeastern P.E.I.in the early 1900s. PARO 3466/74.225.35

Nursing Sister Clint also noted that the bunks had no mattresses, no pillows, and no bedding. It was a hectic ten days preparing for embarkation. Nursing Sister McLean and the other nursing sisters knew how to be nurses and ladies; however, they did not yet know how to be commissioned officers in the CAMC. They had a crash course in reading orders posted in military parlance; they were measured for uniforms, had full medical examinations, and were given their forty-one orders and responsibilities as nursing sisters in a military hospital. The orders clearly prescribed that they were accountable to the Matron, a woman who had the power to advance or end their careers. The orders spelled out such things as the responsibilities associated with managing the physical and psychological welfare of the patients and co-workers on the ward, plus the onerous responsibility of keeping track of all matériel of the ward — from needles to coal, from drugs to the oxygen tanks. It was also Nursing Sister McLean’s responsibility to teach those of lower rank, and to immediately report any infractions of the rules to the matron. The rules prescribed what she wore and when, how to interact with other ranks, when to go to bed, where she could eat, and when she could leave the base and with whom. Her entire Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 17

day revolved around rules.51 It was not a completely new environment for Nursing Sister McLean; as a nursing administrator she was accustomed to creating and enforcing rules. In the midst of being deluged with rules, McLean and fellow nurses found time to be measured for their uniforms — strikingly sophisticated ones that were the envy of every nursing sister in every other nursing unit in WWI. The army nurses’ uniforms had been designed for the Boer War by Island nurse Georgina Pope; after that war, at the beginning of the CAMC, Matron Pope had recommended a change in colour of the uniforms from khaki to blue. The unique blue colour led to the Canadian nurses being nicknamed “The Bluebirds.” The nurses with the First Contingent were provided with a full dress uniform and a working dress uniform. Nursing Sister McLean was attested as an officer and swore allegiance to the King. She also signed a contract to serve for the duration of the war plus six months. Nursing Sister McLean and the other nursing sisters learned that as commissioned officers with the rather impressive rank of Lieutenant Nursing Sister, they were entitled to a batman or batwoman to assist them (a servant who looked after the laundry of uniforms, did errands, or did any other miscellaneous duties requested by the nursing sisters), and all other amenities associated with the relative rank of Lieutenant. Canadian nursing sisters were the only nursing sisters in WWI who were commissioned officers.52 After ten days of whirlwind activity at Valcartier, Quebec, the 100 nursing sisters embarked on 30 September 1914 on the Franconia, the flagship of the fleet of thirty-two transport ships that carried the almost 32,000 men and women who composed the First Canadian Contingent. As Nursing Sister McLean struggled up the gangplank with her kit, she and the other nurses were cheered on by the men of the 90th Winnipeg Rifles, also known as the “Little Black Devils.”53 This was a possible sign that these men accepted and respected their women peers for going to war. Silently, in the dead of night, the Franconia slipped its mooring and went down to the sea and to war. On shore, Nursing Sister McLean’s parents, John and Matilda, looked down at the fleet and were “much impressed” by it.54 No doubt they wondered if they would ever again see their dear “Bird,” as Rena was affectionately known to her family and friends. By 3 October the entire convoy had assembled off Gaspé, weighed anchor, and “steamed out into the open sea, taking their stations in three parallel columns about a mile apart, headed and followed by their escorting cruisers.”55 In a fury of patriotic fervour, the Fleet of the First Canadian Contingent was described in the British Press as “unparalleled since William the Conqueror.”56 Another writer compared the fleet to the Spanish Armada.57 While onboard ship Nursing Sister McLean and her fellow nursing sisters were kept busy in the daytime with lectures given by Colonel Jones and Matron Macdonald on such topics as the ethics of army nursing, discipline, camp sanitation, and military routine. 18 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S

Matron Macdonald insisted that her nursing sisters partake in formal drills and exercises as well as music, song, and dance. In the evenings the troops often put on a concert or “smoker.” The officers of the 90th Mounted Winnipeg Rifles treated the nurses to a dinner dance, which apparently lasted into the wee hours of the morning.58 All activities of the nursing sisters were closely monitored by Matron Macdonald. She patrolled the decks lest there be a breach in proper decorum and ladylike con- duct. Reports of “hugging couples” had occurred.59 The only excitement during that voyage to Eng- land was the rescue by the Franconia of a sailor who had fallen overboard while painting on the Royal Edward. He was turned over to the nursing sisters who were happy to finally have a patient.60 When the news Nursing Sister Rena McLean goes to war aboard the Franconia in hit less than a year later, on October 1914. This photo is of a church service on the ship.

LAC PA022742 14 August 1915, that the Royal Edward was sunk by the German submarine UB- 14 with the loss of 935 lives,61 the nursing sisters must have wondered about their first patient. The sea gods were in a state of tranquility for most of the voyage, as the weather remained calm and mild. However, that changed when the convoy reached the English Channel. It was a cold and windy sea that greeted the Canadians and caused great rolling of the ships and a greater rolling of the stomachs. If the seas were rough and uninviting, the welcome awaiting the Canadian Contingent when it dropped anchor on 14 October 1914 at Plymouth Harbour was anything but. Thousands lined the docks to cheer the arrival of the Canadians.62 As Nursing Sister McLean watched and listened, perhaps she momentarily became again the little girl of eight years who was cheered on by a thousand Souris residents lining the wharf as she christened her father’s schooner Nutwood.63 Might a dark shadow have crossed her thoughts as she remembered that the Nutwood had sunk during a violent storm? For now, it may be presumed her thoughts were on the future, not the past. What would lie ahead for her? Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 19

Nursing Sister Rena McLean did not have long for her reveries when she stood on the deck of the Franconia looking down on the crowd of well-wishers on the Plymouth dock. Shortly after docking, the harbour pilot came onboard the Franconia, accompanied by the director of voluntary organizations in London. Prompted by the War Office, he brought great tidings from the Board of Governors of St. Thomas’ Hospital in London to invite the nursing contingent to be guests of their hospital while in London.64 This was just the beginning of their two-week whirlwind of being feted and entertained in London. Upon debarkation the nursing sisters were met by Mrs. Waldorf Astor (Viscountess Astor, M.P.) who extended a more official invitation. As well, she invited them for a drive to Lorna Doone country, an invitation they declined due to time con- straints. In compensation, Mrs. Astor arranged for several pails of rich Devonshire clotted cream to be sent with them to London. Her friendship with the Canadian Nursing Sisters would endure throughout the war.65 In contrast to the special welcome afforded the nursing sisters, the 30,621 troops of the First Canadian Contingent66 were marched off to Salisbury Plain where they set up a giant tent city surrounded by the ancient ghosts of the Druids, Neolithic man, Romans, and Saxons. Like the ancient armies, they would “lie down at night on unknown plains.” They subsequently endured the worst autumn and winter of rain, wind, and cool weather known by even the oldest of inhabitants. The soil became a quagmire, and disease became the first enemy of the Canadians. The cold, leaking tents were replaced by huts, mainly erected by the soldiers. This attempt to mitigate the soldiers’ discomfort created a new health hazard, as the overcrowded and poorly ventilated huts were a fertile breeding ground for influenza, enteritis, and cerebrospinal meningitis.67 Canadian nurses were sent to care for these soldiers. Because of the glutinous mud that the nurses had to navigate on their rounds, they had to shorten the skirts of their uniforms and don gum boots as the order of the day. They were also issued waterproof hats and jackets.68 Organizational changes to the CAMC took place shortly after its arrival in England. Matron Margaret Macdonald was made Matron-in-Chief of the Nursing Corps with the relative rank of major, the first woman in the British Empire to hold that rank.69 Most nurses had a two-week furlough as they waited for their assignments. Some nurses were assigned to British hospitals, while others were sent overseas.70 Nursing Sister McLean made good use of her furlough to explore the sights of London. She visited such historic sites as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Harrow. She was entertained by hospitals and the Ladies’ Empire Club, was lavished with theatre tickets, and toured many historical sites.71 Nursing Sister McLean enjoyed this whirlwind activity, as she recounted in a letter to one of her two brothers (probably Harry) dated 1 November 1914 from London. She noted with a bit of annoyance that it took a long time to get around and that many days 20 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S were spent having their uniforms adjusted, as no one’s fit. The teas and functions where they were presented to Princess Alexandra of Teck and Countess Minto were all very interesting but “spoiled the whole afternoon for anything else.”72 Finally, accompanied by a friend, Nursing Sister McLean broke loose and showed where her interest really lay as she went in search of the Old Curiosity Shop and the Cheshire Cheese Inn. The Inn, she noted, was where Dr. Johnson “used to expound various doctrines to all who would listen to him.”73 It was

a favourite resort of many famous literary men . . . back of a little dark alley, just as it was in the olden days . . . chairs and benches now dark with age . . . over the walls interesting pictures sketched by famous men . . . upstairs Dr. Johnson’s chair and a copy of his dictionary.74

Her letter described all the rooms with loving detail, as if she were transported back in time with Dr. Johnson. Then she “wandered through narrow alleys and courts” to find the spot where his house had been. From there they continued on their literary and his- torical tour to the Admiralty Courts, again described in detail. But when they started into the Divorce Court they were stopped at the door “by an old fellow who was not going to let us in, but when he found out we were Canadian Nurses, he did.”75 A divorce was granted while they were there, and Nursing Sister McLean said “the husband was a horrible looking creature and the wife was very young.”76 From there they went to the Parliament Buildings and the Bank of England. It was not the usual custom of the Bank of England to receive the public, but the nursing sisters found “our uniform does wonders for us.”77 “Bird” confided to Harry that she thought she would soon get orders “to pick up her traps and move on, before many moons.”78 She said the word was that one hospital unit would be staying in England and the other would be going to France. She sounded a note of caution: “The Germans had arrived near Calais, and it was too dangerous for us to proceed”79; but later word had it that they had been pushed back: “We expect that they [British Authorities] will soon decide what they are going to do with us. In the meantime, we just have to look pleasant.”80 Nursing Sister McLean’s premonition of an imminent departure was dead on. Six days after writing the November 1914 letter to her brother, Nursing Sister McLean boarded the hospital ship Carisbrooke Castle at Southampton, which had just discharged 600 wounded from Flanders. Nursing Sister McLean and thirty-four other nursing sisters were on their way to France with No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital (CSH).81 The Officer Commanding of the Unit, Lieutenant Colonel A. T. Shillington, and Matron Ridley Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 21

combed the countryside around two districts of France — Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, Département de Pas-de-Calais and Étaples-sur-Mer, Département de Pas-de-Calais — looking for suitable housing for the first Canadian hospital in France. Meanwhile, Nursing Sister McLean was attached to a hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Département de Pas-de- Calais. With their arrival in France, the No. 2 CSH unit made history — they were the first Canadians in France in WWI.82 Although Nursing Sister McLean was the only Island nurse, the quartermaster, Captain James Walker, was from Charlot- tetown as well as Quartermaster Sergeant William Hughes. These three Islanders were awarded the 1914 Star in recognition of the distinction. Only 260 Canadians received the 1914 Star, and fifty-five of those were Canadian nursing sisters.83 The luxury Hôtel de Golf at Le Tou- quet-Paris-Plage, nestled in the woods near the ocean and resplendent with the high- est-rated golf course in Europe, was chosen for the hospital. The No. 2 CSH staff swung into action, and within three days the hotel was converted to a hospital: stripped of its luxurious Persian rugs, silk wall hangings, Nursing Sister Rena McLean holds the mascot expensive artwork, fine crystal, and Limo- Rags of No.2 CSH, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, ges china. The nurses were housed in a villa France, 1914. PARO HF 74 225.13 owned by Count Constantinovitch, a Serbian nobleman who had gone back to Serbia as a soldier. The officers were quartered in another villa and the men in the golf course’s clubhouse. One of the doctors praised the nurses for their work ethic. He noted,

Those splendid girls, not too proud to work, washed woodwork and windows, helped to put up unruly beds, swept the floors and did a hundred other menial labours –— menial only because only in our artificial life we call them so –— cheerfully and speedily.84

The first wounded from the front would arrive 4 December 1914: “It was a clear, cold night. The ground was hardened by the frost, and the pale quarter moon cast a faint chill light over the trees.”85 The wounded always arrived in the dead of night. A startled orderly, 22 T H O S E S P L E N D I D G I R L S

The wounded arriving by ambulance. Nursing Sister Christine MacDonald, Bellevue, P.E.I. stationed at No.2 CGH, Le Treport, France may be the nursing sister in the ambulance.

Christine MacDonald/Bev Murphy Collection not accustomed to the phone ringing, answered it. Three hundred wounded were on the way! They would be at the station at 2:00 a.m. Soon all ten wards of No. 2 CSH, named after the ten provinces of Canada, were ready for their first patients. It was not Canadian soldiers who arrived but “Old Contemptibles,” members of Britain’s Expeditionary Force in France in 1914. Their name allegedly came from the German Kaiser’s reference to them as a “contemptible little army.” Some had minor gunshot wounds; many had trench foot and frostbite and could hardly walk. Trench foot, caused by prolonged immersion in cold water or mud in the trenches, was a new condition to the medical and nursing staff. One patient said he had been standing in water up to his waist for five days.86 It was a caring Nursing Sister Rena McLean who helped the battle-weary soldiers out of their mud-caked clothes, gave them a warm bath, clean pyjamas, a cup of hot cocoa or soup, a slice of bread and butter, and then a cigarette. It was daylight before she and the rest of the medical staff had seen to all the wounds and could finally get some rest.87 As the war progressed Nursing Sister McLean nursed patients with trench foot, trench fever, gunshot wounds, gas gangrene, amputations, shell shock, gas poisoning, and various infections. Her earliest patients, the British “Tommies,” were especially appreciative of her care, as shown in a letter by a former patient who had been transferred to England. He thanked her “for the many kindnesses shown . . . of which I shall have pleasant memories.”88 Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War 23

In January of 1915, in the midst of this busy spell, Nursing Sister McLean had had surprise visitors: her brother Harry from Souris and his friend George Buntain of Char- lottetown, who had just delivered a load of oats to Havre, France, to feed the Canadian army’s horses. Being in the neighbourhood, not to mention a war zone, they thought they would pop over to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. Nursing Sister McLean was so busy that she was unable to visit when they arrived, but she later managed to get special permission from her Officer Commanding to go to England to see Harry. However, returning from England proved a problem. When she left Boulogne-sur-Mer on her way to England, she was told by the officers on the ship that she would need a passport to get back into France. While in London she paid a visit to Matron-in-Chief Margaret Macdonald, who assured her that a passport was not necessary. But the officials at the port disagreed — so what to do? How to be sure she would get back on board? Possessed with good observation and assessment skills, Nursing Sister McLean soon figured out a battle plan. She observed that civilians on one side of the ship were being asked for their passports, but the soldiers on the other side were not. She hurriedly ran around to the soldiers’ gangplank, mingled with them, and got on board ship. While this demonstrates that nurses are ever the prob- lem-solvers, what it says for British security measures is that they left much to be desired.89 After her return from England, and shortly after receiving the British soldier’s letter of thanks, on 8 February 1915 she wrote a letter to Brent Matthew, her father’s business partner in Souris, P.E.I. She thanked him for the box of chocolates he had sent via her brother Harry. She also noted, “The British Tommies were all so grateful for any little thing that we do . . . why shouldn’t we do all we can for them when they are doing everything for us.”90 In her letter, she told Brent Matthew that there had been no wounded for a week or so. But, she added in a guarded, understated way, “the last lot were in pretty bad condition . . . and we had six Germans among them. Some of the Germans are still here and are very good patients.”91 Nursing Sister McLean’s letters were censored, and she would not have been able to express any negative opinions or to elaborate on patients’ conditions. In a short six months, Nursing Sister McLean had enlisted in the CAMC, trained at Valcartier, Quebec, crossed the North Atlantic, enjoyed a whirlwind furlough in London, and helped to set up the first Canadian hospital in France. Being close to the war zones of France, Nursing Sister McLean was well aware that the “great adventure not to be missed,” which was supposed to be over by Christmas, showed no signs of abating. The era of trench warfare had begun and would last until 1917. More nurses were needed and were on their way. One nurse still hoping for a posting overseas was Matron Georgina Pope. Up to this point in the war, Nursing Sister McLean and Matron Pope had not crossed paths. But in the spring of 1918, both would suffer from German atrocities.