Just as she brought First World War veterans of Simcoe County to life, Jan Coward has turned her focus to a different kind of veteran – the nursing sisters who served from 1914 to 1918.
They may not have fought in the trenches, but the conditions they faced were often just as harsh.
At a meeting of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association, Coward described a military tent hospital set up at West Mudros, on the Island of Lemnos. Before setup had even been completed, the first convoy of 125 patients arrived, both “medical and dysenteric… Five days later, there were over 500 patients in hospital.”
The water supply was inadequate, the food was “scanty and of poor quality,” and “the flies and the dust caused intense discomfort,” according to reports at the time, Coward said.
And without the means to ensure proper sanitation, nursing sisters, officers and other personnel quickly came down with dysentery, a severe intestinal infection, making conditions even more miserable.
Coward shared the results of her research with members of the history association and guests at the BWG Public Library on Saturday afternoon.
During the past two years, she has uncovered the names of 23 nursing sisters from South Simcoe and surrounding area, and through the archival records, was able to trace the training and careers of 21.
They were called "nursing sisters" not because of any connection to religion, rather it reflected the British training system for nurses at the time.
“The ones that entered the war early mostly went to the Mediterranean” after an initial posting to England, Coward said, noting they ended up in Malta, Salonika in Greece, and Lemnos, near Gallipoli.
West Mudros, she said, “looked like it was the armpit.”
According to records, the hospital had initial supplies only for 400, but it quickly filled 600 cots. Nineteen out of 20 of the people at West Mudros, or 95 per cent, developed dysentery.
Wherever possible, Coward found a photo of the nursing sister to go along with the written records, and a signature – putting faces to the names.
The images show the nursing uniforms of the day: long dresses that brushed the ground, stout boots, and veils. As the war progressed, hemlines rose.
Some were experienced nurses, who had several years of nursing before enlisting. Others came to the war fresh from their training.
Coward began her descriptions with Mae Belle Sampson.
From Duntroon, Sampson finished her three years training at Hamilton City Hospital in 1913, and was among the first group to go overseas in 1914. Of the 23 nurses, “she’s the only one who died,” Coward noted.
At first serving in England and France, she was posted to Salonika for 10 months as a member of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, but she was sent back to England, suffering from diptheria. Once out of quarantine, she returned to Canada on a two-month medical leave, but then sailed for England to take up her nursing duties again in 1918.
She was aboard the Llandovery Castle when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat, and she was among the 234 casualties, including doctors and nurses, who drowned or were machine-gunned down while in the lifeboats. The Llandovery Castle became a rallying cry among the allies during the last 100 days of the war, Coward said.
Sampson received the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, the Victory Medal, and a Memorial Cross, and was mentioned in dispatches.
All of the known details of each nursing sister were presented “in order of when they enlisted” – from the very beginning of the war to the final days of 1918.
Ada Winifred “Winnie” Hammell of Beeton was in her 30s when she enlisted in 1914, a graduate of Toronto General Hospital, said Coward.
She followed the usual route: posted to England, then France, before heading to the Mediterranean. For a year and five months, Hammell nursed at West Mudros, that “armpit,” before being sent back to England, suffering from malaria.
She returned to Toronto in 1919, where she eventually married – and, in 1940, divorced.
Myra Wood of Bradford was one of the best known of the nursing sisters.
“Canadian nursing sisters were part of the military organization. They were given rank,” Coward said.
Wood, who enlisted in 1915, was a lieutenant in the army medical corps.
“She had a career filled with illness,” starting with acute gastroenteritis while serving in Salonika, Coward said.
“Served, then sick, served, then sick” – Wood suffered from gall bladder problems and an inflamed appendix, which wasn’t diagnosed until 1919, when she returned to Canada.
Wood, who died in 1960, received the 1915 Star, Victory Medal, and British War Medal.
Another local name was Martha Young Elliott Morton. Born in Ireland, she was living in Bradford when she enlisted in 1916, and she returned to Bradford after her discharge. She was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross (2nd Class) medal, which is now embedded in her headstone.
Luella Blanche Lee of Bradford started as a reserve nurse in Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service in 1916 – but resigned after a year, to re-enlist with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Her more than 100 photos and diaries of wartime have been donated to the archives. Family member Sam Lee was among those in the audience at the history association meeting.
Each nursing sister had a unique story that Coward traced from training, to service, to their life after the war, when most continued in a nursing career.
Of the 23 names on her list, three came from Bradford, four from Beeton, two from Cookstown, one from Craigvale, one from Creemore, one from Tottenham, one from Painswick, and seven from Alliston. They ranged in age from 24 to 49 when they enlisted.
“I started with four names and three pictures,” said Coward. Now at 23 local names, two still remain a mystery: T. Donnelley, and M.E. Wallace.
Although their names appear on the Alliston Union School memorial, she could find no further information on either. Coward was hoping that family members might recognize the names, and provide more details at the meeting.
All of the nursing sisters played a significant role in the Great War, Coward said. “They did their bit. I think they did a great bit.”
The next meeting of the BWG Local History Association will be a show and tell on April 18 at 7 p.m. at the BWG Public Library. Members and guests are invited to bring family heirlooms, records, and collectibles, and share their stories.
