Nursing Sister Bertha Evelyn McDonald,

Nursing Sister Bertha Evelyn McDonald served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during WW1. She is not entitled to any military medal.

She was born on March 3rd, 1895 in Alexandria, Ontario

She was hospitalised at Laurentide Sanatorium in Sainte Agathe, Quebec from April 1^st to April 30^th, 1918.

Her enlistement papers show that she joined the CEF on September 18, 1918 in Montreal, Quebec.

Height: 5′ 4″             Weight:122 lbs.           Religion:Roman Catholic

Her address 112 Saint-Luc Street, Montreal, Quebec

She was declared medically unfit on January 6th, 1919 in Montreal, Quebec.

She was hospitalised for influenza at Montreal General Hospital in April 1919 following which was marked debility.

She was hospitalised at Sainte Anne de Bellevue Hospital from May 2^nd to June 2^nd, 1919.

She was hospitalised again at Sainte Anne de Bellevue Hospital from June 18^th to June 27^th, 1919.

She was declared medically unfit and demobilised on July 28^th, 1919.

Because she never left Canada, she did not receive any military medal for her service

In two places in her WW1 file it is stated that her military service began near May 1917 but her certificate of service date her appointing as nursing sister as September 18^th, 1918 but she was hospitalised in a military hospital before that date.

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Inscription on her gravestone

1917-1919 C.A.M.C. – SISTER – W.W.1

IN LOVING MEMORY OF BERTHA E. MACDONALD

DAUGHTER OF DR D. D. MACDONALD

AND

CATHERINE MACDONNELL SPOUSE OF CHARLES KERR

AND OF

SCOTT E. BIRD

BORN ALEXANDRIA MAY 3 1894

DIED – OTTAWA DEC 16 1973

MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE

BLESSED ARE THEY THAT PUT

THEIR TRUST IN HIM

PSALMS 2:12

Some WW2 Nursing Sisters gravesites near Ottawa, Ontario

On this day we celebrate V E Day (Victory Day in Europe) here are some pictures of gravestone of a few Canadian Nursing Sisters who served during WW2. Let’s not forget that Canadian women wore khaki and also served during that conflict.

Matron Donalda Maud Robertson

Obituary from the Ottawa Citizen Friday December 2nd 1949, page 58

Robertson, Donalda Maud – In Toronto Western Hospital, December 2, 1949. Donalda Maud Robertson, Reg. N. daughter of Mrs Robertson and late Donald Robertson of Maxville, Ont. Funeral at Maxville United Church Sunday, December 4 at 2 p.m.. She is buried at Maxville Cemetery, Ontario.

Nursing Sister Thelma Hilda Wallace

She was born in 1916 and she died on April 19 1988 and buried in Bellevue Cemetery in Aylmer, Quebec

Nursing Sister Patricia Hession

She was born in 1921 and she died in 1993. She is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario.

Nursing Sister Mary G Mitchell

She died April 27th 1946 and she is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario.

Nursing Sister Margaret Andrew (née Irvine)

She was born on July 19th 1911 and she died on January 9th 2007. She is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario.

Nursing Sister Dorothy M Hunter

She was born in 1919 and died in 2004. She is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario.

Nursing Sister Clarice Lilian Tanner (née Ogden)

She was born January 29th 1915 and died February 8th 1992. She is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario.

Nursing Sister Miriam Eastman Baker

Nursing Sister Miriam Eastman Baker served as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during WW1. She is entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

She was born on August 20^th, 1886 in London, England.

Height:5′ 5″     Weight:136 lbs.          Religion:Church of England

She graduated from Saint-Rubis Hospital, New-York in 1915

She enlisted in London, England on October 2nd, 1917.

She was posted at the 16th Canadian General Hospital on November 1st.

She was posted at the 15th Canadian General Hospital on March 14th, 1918.

She was admitted to the 15th Canadian General Hospital on August 22nd.(inflammation of the bladder)

She was discharged from the 15th Canadian General Hospital on September 3rd.

She was admitted at the 15th Canadian General Hospital on October 3rd.

She died on October 17 th, 1918 from a broncho-pneumonia at the 15th Canadian General Hospital at the age of 32.

Her Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll were sent to her brother Edwin Godfrey Phills Baker living at 500 Northern Crown Bldg, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Her British War Medal and Victory Medal were sent to her sister, Miss Doris Howard Baker, at 119 Wielmot Place Winnipeg, Manitoba

Since her mother had preceeded her no Memorial Cross was issued.

Picture of Nursing Sister Miriam Eastman Baker

Nursing Member Margaret Louise Sampson

Margaret Louise Sampson # C 801 served with the #231 Nursing Division, St Catharines, Ontario with the St-John Ambulance of Canada. She received the The Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem , Officer Sister’s Badge and the St. John Service Medal, with 1 gilded clasp

She was born on May 16th 1913 in St-Catherine, Ontario

She joined St. John Ambulance Brigade in 1944 as a Nursing Member, Divisional Officer and Divisional Superintendent with #231 Nursing Division, St Catharines.

1956 : She received the St. John Service Medal for 12 years service with the St-John Ambulance of Canada.

February 8th, 1957 : She received a Priory Vote of Thanks for Valuable assistance rendered in the furtherance of the work of the Order in connection with the Priory of Canada.

1960 : She was promoted to the rank of Corps Staff Officer (Secretary) with the Lincoln Corps. She held this position until her death.

1961 : She received her first long service clasp for 17 years of service with the Ambulance.

1966 : She received her second long service clasp for 22 years of service with the Ambulance.

May 18th, 1969 : She had completed 25 years service and was rewarded by becoming a Serving Sister of the Order of St. John.

1971 : She received her third long service clasp (27 years).

1972 : She promoted to the rank of Officer Sister with the Order of St-John

1976 : She received her gold clasp long service bar denoting 32 years of service

1980 : She died on that year and was still serving with the St-John Ambulance after 36 years.

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Her Serving Sister Promotion Certificate

Priory Vote of Thanks for Valuable assistance certificate

Matron Agnes Brooks R.R.C.

Matron Agnes Brooks (civilian) served with the British Medical Service during WW1. She is entitled to the Royal Red Cross 1st class, the British War Medal. She also received a silver badge from the Vice-Chairman of the King Edward VII Hospital Silver.

1906: She began her training at the Old Infirmary, she finished in 1909. She received her certification and her nurse’s registration number is 14764.

1910 : She became Sister

She worked for the British Red Cross and the Order of Saint-John of Jerusalem

November 25th 1914 : She arrived in France and organised the X-ray department for the 2nd British Red Cross Hospital in Rouen

1915 : She was promoted Matron at the King Edward VII Hospital

February 16^th, 1920: She awarded her Royal Red Cross on that day and her investiture ceremony on March 3^rd, 1921

May 18th, 1923 : She registered herself for the first time on the State Register of Nurses.

September : She retired from her job at the King Edward VII Hospital

1928 : Her address was 19 Trinity Place, Windsor

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Matron Agnes Brooks WW1 medal and badge

Doctor Helen Hanson

Dr Helen Hanson served with the Auxiliary Hospital Unit in Antwerp during WW1. She is entitled to the 1914 Star with clasp, the British War and Victory Medals, the Order of St. Sava, 2nd type from Serbia, 4th Class breast badge and a Red Cross Decoration.

She was born in 1874.

She graduated M.B. & L.S.A. in 1901 and received her M.D. from the University of London in 1904 having trained at the London School of Medicine for Women (The Royal Free Hospital).

For three years she served as Medical Officer to the Kinnaird Memorial Hospital at Lucknow, India.

In 1911 she was awarded the Diploma in Public Health of Oxford University and was appointed Assistant School Medical Officer to London County Council.

Shortly after the outbreak of war Dr Hanson went to Belgium with the St. John Unit forming the Auxiliary Hospital at Antwerp commanded by Mrs St. Clair Stobart. The unit served during the siege of Antwerp and were amongst the last civilians to leave before the city was occupied by the Germans. The unit then operated in a chateau at Cherbourg until April 1915 when it transferred to Serbia.

After serving there for 6 months, she returned to London and early in 1916 addressed the Royal Society of Arts on her experiences in Serbia as a Red Cross worker. During that time she served for 6 weeks at the Scottish Women’s Hospital Unit at Kraguijevatz.

Later Dr Hanson served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Malta and Salonika, holding the honorary rank of Captain. Very few women served with the Royal Army Medical Corps during WW1.

Picture of her medals (sold at Dix noonan Webb in December 2012)

click on the image to enlarge

After the war she served with the Black Sea Expeditionary Force at Constantinople, returning to London in 1920 to work once more for the L.C.C.

On 6 July 1926 she was killed in a motor accident. She was buried at Finchley. A Requiem Service was held for her at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on 20 July 1926.

click on the image to enlarge

Doctor Agnes Forbes Blackadder-Savill

Dr Agnes Forbes Savill served with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals as a radiologist, at the Royaumont Hospital during WW1. She is entitled to the British War and Victory Medals, French Médailles des épidémies 1st class. She also received the Scottish Women’s Hospitals Medal 1914, bronze. Her medals were sold at auction in December 2012.

She was born on 4th December 1875 in Dundee, Scotland. Her father, Robert, was an architect and civil engineer.

29 March 1895: She graduated first from the University of St. Andrews and received the degree of Master of Arts. She was the first female graduate from St-Andrews University.

She went on to study at University College, Dundee in 1897/1898 and Queen Margaret College for Women in the University of Glasgow. According to the University of Glasgow website “She was a gifted medical student. In addition to taking first prize in Practical Pathology in 1896, she had a string of First Class Certificates in Materia Medica, Surgery, Midwifery, Ophthalmology and Insanity and a Second Class Certificate in Anatomy,”

She graduated on 21st July 1898 obtaining an MB and ChB, and her MD in 1901.

She married Dr. Thomas Dixon Savill at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Forfarshire in 1901.

After her marriage her career took her to London, where she became a consultant in Dermatology and Electro-therapeutics. She also gained experience in radiological work, which would prove very useful during the war.

In 1904 she became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

June 5th, 1905: She arrived in Glasgow, Scotland from New-York, United-States on the Numidian

In 1907 she had the distinction of being appointed as a consultant to a hospital which was not exclusively for women, St. John’s Hospital for Skin Diseases. In addition she was a consultant at the South London Hospital for Women. At the same time as making a successful career for herself in London, she was a respected suffragette.

1910: Her husband died

1911 United Kingdom Census: Listed as a physician and living at 38 Audley House, Margaret Street, London W

November 12th : She arrived in Glasgow, Scotland from New-York, United States on Caledonia

In 1912 she was one of three distinguished doctors (the other two being male surgeons), who conducted an inquiry into the appalling treatment of women hunger strikers in prison and published papers on the subject.

At the same time, she also went out to France for several work periods, returning to her post in London when she could, usually in the winter when there was a lull in the fighting. Her great contribution was in making the best use of a state-of-the-art x-ray car which they had been given, courtesy of the French General Le Bon. She had an acute appreciation of the dangers and mechanisms of gas gangrene and worked hard to mitigate its effects with prompt diagnosis and treatment. Her studies of the x-ray appearances of the gangrene were pioneering. She trained staff and threw herself into the work so selflessly that in July 1918, during a particularly busy period, it was noted that she looked ill and ‘absolutely cavernous’.

She developed an interest in Dermatology and became a Physician to the Skin Hospital, Leicester Square, London.

Early in the Great War she joined the staff of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, entering France in May 1915. Serving at Royaumont Hospital, about 25 miles from Paris, she was placed in charge of the x-ray and electro-therapy departments. She served there until the end of 1916.

Her military medals

click on the image to enlarge

She returned to London after the war and lived first at 66 Harley Street and later 7 Devonshire Place.

July 24th, 1919: She arrived in Glasgow, Scotland from Boston, United State on the Massilia.

While continuing to pursue her own career, she also undertook to edit her husband’s textbook, Savill’s System of Clinical Medicine, a task she continued to do up to 1942. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, only the sixth woman to receive this honour. Her intellectual interests continued to grow.
Agnes recognised how powerful an influence music could be, and wrote a book about its importance to well-being, entitled Music, Health and Character. Its publication in 1923 caused a stir and later led to the establishment of the Council for Music in Hospitals.

From 1923 to 1938 she was living in St Marylebone, Westminster

October 11th, 1937: She arrived in Southampton, England from New-York, United States o the Berengaria

She was the author of several books and papers on her own subjects; she was also editor of her late husband’s Clinical Medicine.

In 1955 she published the book Alexander the Great and his Times which can still be bought on Amazon

She was still seeing patients into her seventies.

She died on 12 May 1964. She left 58 552 GBP

Picture of Doctor Agnes Forbes Blackadder-Savill, she is forth from the right

click on the images to enlarge

Worker Mary Bourne

Worker Mary Bourne served in the Woman Army Auxiliary Corps and the Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps (QMAAC) during WW1. She is entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Her service number was 1799.

She was born on February 11, 1885 in Paddington, London, England

Trade: household waitress       Religion: Church of England

Status: single              Height: 5′ 0″              Weight : 95 lbs.

Address of her mother : 71 Kisdale road, Kensal Rise, London

July 16th, 1917 : She enlisted in the Woman Army Auxiliary Corps in London as a waitress.

Woman Army Auxiliary Corps recruitment poster

(source Imperial War Museum website)

click on the image to enlarge

August 13th : She embarked for France in Southampton and arrived in Dieppe, France on the 14th.

She was posted with the 3rd B.R.D. at Bakery Camp.  She was employed at the QMAAC quarter.

The Woman Army Auxiliary Corps was renamed Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps in 1918

May 10th, 1919 : She was transfered to M R Depot and posted at the Bakery Camp to unit #1 in Dieppe, France.

July 1st : Attach to 43 Auxiliary Pet Company

July 14th : She was discharged on compassionate ground. She had to take care of her mother.

In her file there is a lot of correspondence between her and the government and her, showing that she had problem receiving the 5 £ demobilization benefit for the clothing allowance given on discharge.

If you want to see a small video on the British Pathé website of first inspection of the  Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps done by Queen Mary on the click here

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British War Medal and Victory Medal

click on the image to enlarge

Nursing Sister Margaret Lowe

Nursing Sister Margaret Lowe served as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War One. She was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

She was born on January 26^th, 1888, in Moyayshire, Scotland.

Height : 5′ 6″     Weight:140 lbs.          Religion : Presbyterian

She trained as a nurse at the Winnipeg Civic Hospital.

She enlisted on May 24^th, 1917 in Winnipeg, Canada.

She sailed from Halifax on May 29 and arrived in Liverpool June 8. She was posted at the Ontario Military Hospital in Orpington in United Kingdom.

She was posted at the 10th Canadian General Hospital on October 5th.

She was transferred to the 1st Canadian General Hospital on November 29th.

She was transferred to the 4th Canadian General Hospital on December 5th.

She arrived in France on January 26^th, 1918 and posted with the 10th Canadian Stationary Hospital.

She was transferred to the 1st Canadian General Hospital on March 8th.

She was wounded in the air attack by the Germans of the 1^st Canadian General Hospital on May 19^th, 1918. She had a fractured skull and chest penetration.

She died on May 28^th, 1918 from her wounds at the 24^th British General Hospital, Etaples. She is buried at the Etaples Military Cemetery in France.

Her British War Medal, Victory Medal, Memorial Plaque and Scroll were sent to her father Thomas Lowe in Binscarth, Manitoba

No Memorial Cross was issued, her mother had preceeded her.

The complete scan of her military file can be found on the website of Library and Archives Canada

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Picture of Nursing Sister Margaret Lowe’s funeral

click on the image to enlarge

Picture of her gravestone in Etaples Military Cemetery

(source Veterans Affairs Canada)

A memorial bears her name in Binscarth, Manitoba

The memorial in 1919

The memorial in 2012

Nursing Sister Margaret Lowe’s name is the first from the top

Welfare Officer Lilian Joan Jansen

Welfare Officer Lilian Joan Jansen  served with the British Red Cross in Malaya. She is entitled to the General Service Medal 1918-1962 with clasp Malaya and the Voluntary Medical Service Medal.

The British Red Cross was present at all the major military conflicts of the 20th Century. Its role was to provide some comfort to the men and women serving under the flag. One of the many responsibilities they took was to run canteen, rest area and look at the wellbeing of every military personnel present. In these situation the Welfare Officer would have to make sure that men where feeling as comfortable as possible under the circumstances and this would imply doing many tasks as looking for their hygiene, mail from home, organising social activities etc.

She was born on February 22nd, 1925

September, 23rd 1953 : Listed as a Welfare Officer on the ship Antilochus. Sailed from Port Swettenham, Malaya, Singapore and arrived in Liverpool, England.

Proposed address 15 Munden street, W Kensington, London.

1965 : She married Harry Hancock

From 1948 until 1975 she was living at that same address (15 Munden Street)

Her Voluntary Medical Service Medal was issued in the 1960′s for 15 years of service.

August 1985 : She died in Peterborough, United Kingdom

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Nursing Sister Agnes Estelle Alpaugh

Nursing Sister Agnes Estelle Alpaugh served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during WW1. Her military file mention that she received the British War Medal, although there was not a long period of time between her enlistment and her death. It is very unlikely that she went to UK and came back to Canada in October.

She was born in 1892 and enlisted on July 4th, 1918.

Died on October 12th, 1918 from Spanish  flu (pneumonia) in a military hospital in New – Brunswick at the age of 26. It was her second attack of this disease.

Her medal (probably entitled only to the British War medal), Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll were sent to her father, Robert Alpaugh

The Memorial Cross was sent to her mother at the same adress.

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Nursing Sister Agnes Estelle Alpaugh gravestone in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu Roman Catholic Cemetery

click on the image to enlarge

Nursing Sister Addie Allen Tupper

Nursing Sister Addie Allen Tupper served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during WW1. She is one of a few women who died while serving in the Canadian Army for her country at war. She is entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

She was born on October 13th, 1870 in Dartmouth Nova Scotia

She enlisted on September 24th, 1914 in Quebec, Quebec with the 2nd, Canadian General Hospital.

Height : 5′ 4″     Weight : 120 lbs.          Religion : Baptist

On enlistment she was a widow.

Hospitalized for six weeks on May 28th, 1915 she had pain in both legs

She was still sick on August 10th, 1915 she received another one month for convalescence

She was awarded the Royal Red Cross 2nd class on June 3rd, 1916 (London Gazette 29608)

Posted at the Canadian Convalescent in Hillingdon on November 8th.

Admitted at the Canadian Convalescent Hillingdon on December 9th, 1916. Reported dangerously hill on admission. She died of a pneumonia on December 9th 1916 at the Canadian Convalescent Hillingdon at the age of 46.

Her medals along with the Memorial Plaque and Scroll and Memorial Cross were sent to her mother Mary E. Trefry in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

She is buried in Uxbridge Cemetery (Hillingdon), Middlesex, United Kingdom.

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Pictures of Nursing Sister Tupper gravestone

Picture source – Veterans Affairs Canada website

Nursing Sister Marjorie Beatrice Moberly – UPDATED

Nursing Sister Marjorie Beatrice Moberly served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during WW1. She served only in Canada and was born in 1895 Totnes District, Devon, United Kingdom.

She graduated from the Nursing School of the Royal Jubilee Hospital, Vernon, British-Columbia

Her parents were Major and Mrs. Guy Moberly of 1630 Haro street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her father enlisted in the 7th battalion Canadian Expeditionary Forces in September 1914.

October 26th, 1918 : She died at the Coquitlam Military Hospital of influenza. Her funeral was held on October 30th and she was buried at the Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, British Columbia

Excerpt from the Vancouver Daily Province  October 28, 1918 : The death occurred at the Coquitlam Military Hospital on Saturday of Nursing Sister Marjorie Beatrice Moberly, aged 23. She had applied for overseas’ service eighteen months ago, but was not called on until the influenza outbreak, when she immediately went to Coquitlam. After a few days she contracted the disease. She was the first military nurse to die from the epidemic. She was the daughter of Major Moberly of the Board of Pension Commissioners.

According to her death certificate she had been at the place of death (Coquitlam) only for 14 days and was previously living at  1630 Haro Street, Vancouver.

This is where her story gets bizarre. Nursing Sister Marjorie Beatrice Moberly is not commemorated as a casualty of war on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission nor the Canadian Book of Remembrance . She was a member of the Canadian Forces at the time of her death so, technically, she should be recognized to that effect, but she is not. I also tried to locate her in the Library and Archives Canada database of WW1 Canadian Soldiers and Nursing Sisters, again, I am unable to find her there. If her military file exist, it is somewhere else.

If you look at her grave site

Picture of Nursing Sister Marjorie Beatrice Moberly grave

She is buried amongst other soldiers who do have the official veteran gravestone but she does not. It’s like her official veteran gravestone was removed and replaced by a civilian stone flat on the ground.

Even if a nurses or soldiers did not served overseas and died of cause related to their military service in Canada, they were to be recognized as a casualty of war and receive the proper honours. They would get an official military grave stone, one next-of-kin would received the Memorial Plaque with the Memorial Scroll and the mother  of the deceased received the Memorial Cross. Some Canadian nurses died on active duty during WW1, served only in Canada and are recognized as official casualties of war.

The big question is “Was she officially in the Canadian Army” There are some traces of her in official Canadian Army documents. Her name can be found in some 23rd Infantry Brigade Canadian Army official documents.

One of the three official document where her name is mentionned

It is really bizarre why she is not recognized as an official casualty of war.

Five things could have happened ;

• 1 – Since she died very shortly after enlisting, her enlistment papers may not have not been processed in the system before she died and she was not considered officially enlisted in the Canadian Army.
• 2 – Her obituary mentioned that she got sick a few days after arriving, maybe she did report for duty already sick and was sent directly to the hospital as a patient and never did nursing work, meaning she did not serve one day in the Canadian Army.
• 3 – Maybe there was a qualifying period before you could be eligible to official honours if you died and did not served oversea. I am almost sure there wasn’t a such a period but I am not 100 % sure.
• 4 – Maybe she was enrolled not as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (C.E.F.) but as part of the Canadian Reserve Forces, this is really a minor administrative difference but this means that technically she was not serving for the war effort as part of the C.E.F. and only members of the C.E.F. were entitled to the official honours.
• 5 – Maybe her file got lost and was never found again

I think that options 4 or 5 are more likely to be the explanation of that mystery.

Although an administrative detail prevented her from being commemorated officially by the Canadian Government, it is clear that she died of causes related to her military service.

UPDATED NOVEMBER 22nd 2012

The information was sent to me by a relative of Nursing Sister Moberly

“Her father was a professional soldier in the Indian Army (he spoke Persian and Pushtu) and seems to have emigrated via England to Canada sometime after resigning his Indian Army commission in 1897.     That is why he joined the Canadian forces (7th Canadian Infantry Battalion) in WW1.    His father and grandfather were also in the Indian Army.  

Not surprisingly, several of Marjorie’s female Moberly cousins were also nurses in WW1.    Marjorie has a particularly close link with one of them, although she will not have known of it – my grandfather’s sister was a Nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), working in a convalescent hospital at Merton College, Oxford, but she too died in the flu epidemic in 1918 just 2 days before the end of WW1.  She is buried in Christ Church College, Oxford, where her father had been a professor“

Her official Death Card list her as a Nursing Sister but civilian, this add another twist to this mystery. Canadian Nursing Sisters were not civilian but according to the card she is. I wonder if she was not like a contractual nurse and not part of the military but rather working with the military.

Nursing Sister Beatrice Moberly Death Card

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Pictures and obituary sources - Great War Forum

Nursing Sister Christina C. Frederickson

Nursing Sister Christina C. Frederickson served during WW1 in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She is one of the few women who died while serving her country at war in the Canadian Army.  According to her military file she was never sent overseas and served only in Canada. Technically she was not entitled to the British War Medal but her Medals Card indicates that one of those was sent to her mother.

She was born on July 9th 1886 in Skagafjord, Iceland

She enlisted on January 10th 1918 in Edmonton, Alberta. She was employed and living at the Stratchona’s Military Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta.

Height : 5′ 6″               Weight : 160 lbs.

She entered the Strathcona Military Hospital, Edmonton on October 24th, 1918. She was relieved of duty at noon.

She signed her last will on October 25th.

On October 28th her medical report give this information at 12:15 Pulse 128 to 136 – respiration 48 to 54 – cyanosis apparent

Died in the isolation section of the hospital on October 28th, 1918 at 5:30 p.m. at the age of 32. Primary cause of death, epidemic influenza. The immediate cause of death was bronco-pneumonia.

Her British War Medal and Memorial Cross were sent to her mother, G.S. Frederickson. The Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll were sent to her father, Frederick Frederickson Box 13 Glenboro Manitoba.

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Picture of Nursing Sister Frederickson gravestone

Picture source – Veteran Affairs Canada Website

Nursing Sister Amy Madeline Alice Turner

Nursing Sister Amy Madeline Alice Turner served in the Army Nursing Service Reserve with the British Army during the Boers’ war. She is entitled to the Queen South Africa Medal (no clasp). It is very difficult to have information on her military service because Nursing Sister were not considered military personnel but rather civilian, so they had no service file.

She was born in Bham, Warwickshire, England on November 2^nd 1872

1881 United Kingdom census taken in Westfield Bellevue Road, Harborne, Staffordshire, England

Her father was a coal merchant and they had one servant Elizabeth Greaves

1891 census taken in Ombersley Worcestershire

Father: George Thomas Turner (born 1848)             Mother: Emma (born 1849)

Sister: Elsie Emma A (born 1872)                             Sister: Mignon A (born 1882)

She completed her nursing education at the South Staffordshire Hospital in Wolverhampton.

June 1900: She joined the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service Reserve 41 as # 600 to serve in the Boer’s War.

She sailed from England on June 27^th, 1901 on the Assaye. They left Southampton in the afternoon with 34 nurses (from London Times)

August 8^th: Reported at the 3^rd General Hospital in Kroonstad, South Africa

May 1^st, 1902: The Simla left South Africa for England Apr. 27, with the following invalids … Nursing Sister A.M.A. Turner (from the London Times)

May 22^nd: The Simla arrived at Plymouth yesterday and then sailed for Southampton. The following were listed Nursing Sister A.E. Turner (from the London Times)

1910: She married John Hearn

1974: She died at the Brookfield Hall Nursing Home in Broadclist, Devon at the venerable age of 102 in the second semester (April-May-June) of the year.

In an entry of the London Gazette of July 29 th 1974, the post-nominal M.B.E. appears after her name, so I guess she received the award at some point in her life but I cannot find a trace of that award.

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Queen’s South Africa Medal with no clasp