Dr. Vernon Coleman reminds us of Edith Cavell, a nurse who helped about 200 Allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium during World War I.
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Edith Cavell (1865-1915)
How many of the thousands of people who walk past Edith Cavell’s statue in St Martin’s Place, London, know who this woman was or what she did to deserve her monument? It’s a tragedy that she should be just another largely forgotten hero, just another one of London’s many statues.
The truth is that Edith Cavell was an extraordinarily courageous, patriotic woman. Well aware that the penalty for being caught was death, she helped around 200 Allied soldiers to escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I. She was executed for this.
The daughter of a Norfolk vicar and the eldest of four children, Edith Louisa Cavell was born in 1865 in a village called Swardeston. She received her early education at home from her father, Frederick Cavell. Her upbringing was reputed to have been rather stern and certainly didn’t sound to have been a lot of fun; with the exception of The Bible, no books were allowed inside the house.
During her teenage years, Edith attended Laurel Court school, Peterborough, where she was taught French. It was soon discovered that Edith had a talent for the language. Edith’s French was so good, in fact, that she was recommended for a governess post in Brussels in 1890. She worked there for five years before returning home to nurse her seriously ill father. It was nursing her sick father that helped Edith realise that she wanted to follow a career in nursing, and when she was 30, she began her formal training at the London Hospital. While there, and still a student nurse, Edith Cavell found herself looking after typhoid fever victims. She received the Maidstone Medal for her work. Following her training at the London Hospital, Edith Cavell worked at St Pancras Infirmary for a while and later worked as an Assistant Matron at Shoreditch Infirmary, where she pioneered the idea of visiting patients at home after they had been discharged from hospital. Edith believed that this would help reduce the number of re-admissions.
In 1907, because of her efficiency and the fact that she could speak French, Edith was recruited as head of nursing staff for a pioneer training school for nurses in Belgium. Edith became a very influential pioneer of modern nursing in Belgium. She was soon providing top-quality nurses for hospitals and schools.
Edith happened to be visiting her mother in England when the Great War started. She immediately insisted on going back to her clinic in Brussels, which was now being used as a Red Cross hospital.
Once back in Brussels, Edith helped nurse wounded soldiers. She hid a couple of fugitive British soldiers, and subsequently helped them to escape from German-occupied Belgium to neutral Holland. But Edith didn’t stop there, with an underground organisation, she managed to help many Allied soldiers escape to safety, saving the lives of around 200 soldiers.
In August 1915, Edith Cavell was arrested. The German occupation authorities had suspected for some time that she was hiding soldiers in her hospital. At her trial, Edith confessed to harbouring and aiding Allied soldiers and was sentenced to death by firing squad.
On the early morning of 12 October 1915, Edith Louisa Cavell, wearing her nurse’s uniform, was taken out and shot dead. Her body was buried nearby. Her last words were reported to be: “Standing as I do in the view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”
Just what sort of men could pull the trigger to shoot a nurse who had been accused only of saving lives isn’t known.
There was, quite rightly, a worldwide outcry following her execution; the press coverage was phenomenal. Edith was seen as a martyr as well as a heroine. The Government used the media coverage of her death as a propaganda tool in order to enlist British men for the War. (There was no conscription at that time.) The following year, Edith’s body was exhumed and returned to England. Her coffin was taken to Westminster Abbey for a spectacular memorial service; one of the people who attended was King George V. Edith Cavell’s body was subsequently taken to her home county of Norfolk to be buried outside Norwich Cathedral.
Note: This biography is taken from the book `Vernon Coleman’s English Heroes’, which contains mini-biographies of 100 of Vernon Coleman’s heroes. Some of the names are well-known but there are a number of surprises. For details of the book, please CLICK HERE.
About the Author
Vernon Coleman, MB ChB DSc, practised medicine for ten years. He has been a full-time professional author for over 30 years. He is a novelist and campaigning writer and has written many non-fiction books. He has written over 100 books, which have been translated into 22 languages. On his website, HERE, there are hundreds of articles which are free to read. Since mid-December 2024, Dr Coleman has also been publishing articles on Substack; you can subscribe to and follow him on Substack HERE.
There are no ads, no fees and no requests for donations on Dr Coleman’s website or videos. He pays for everything through book sales. If you would like to help finance his work, please consider purchasing a book – there are over 100 books by Vernon Coleman available in print on Amazon.
Featured image: Edith Cavell statue, London, 1997. Source: Geograph
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Categories: Breaking News, UK News