A plaque on the wall of the Summerside Armoury at 33 Summer Street, Summerside (now home to the International Fox Museum and Hall of Fame) is dedicated to Georgina Pope.
Cecily Jane Georgina Fane Pope was born in 1862, the daughter of William Pope (a Father of Confederation) and Helen DesBrisay. Georgina was one of nine children. She trained as a nurse in NY, then worked in the US before being appointed to serve with a contingent of Canadian nurses 1899, in support of the British Army during the South African War.
Born in Charlottetown, Georgina Pope chose nursing as a career. After training and working in the United States, she was selected in 1899 to superintendent Canada’s military nurses in the South African War. She was the first Canadian to receive the Royal Red Cross. Appointed to the permanent Army Medical Corps in 1906, two years later she became Canada’s first Nursing Matron, having charge of all Canadian military nurses. Stationed principally at Halifax, Matron Pope served overseas briefly during World War I, but was invalided home in 1918 and retired the following year. She died in Charlottetown.
Georgina Pope is one of 14 valiants near the National War Memorial in Ottawa. Katherine Dewar’s book, Called to Serve: Georgina Pope, Canadian Military Nursing Heroine, is an excellent biography.
British nurse Edith Cavell was executed on October 12, 1915 for helping Allied soldiers escape occupied Belgium. Her death became a rallying cry for the Allies. In honour of Cavell, the Monday Monuments and Memorials this October will feature nurses who served in WW1.
Belated welcomes to several new followers. I hope you enjoy the journey and I look forward to your comments.
Great War 100 Reads 