Victoria Community Hall was built in 1915 at the corner of Howard and Main Streets in Victoria-by-the-Sea, on the south shore of Prince Edward Island. During WW1, it was used a recruitment hall. Following the war, the School District of Victoria mounted a plaque on the east side of the hall “in honor of the boys who served in the Great War of 1914-1918.” Two were killed in action (Heath MacQuarrie and Arthur Collett), one died on military service (Bertram Penpraise). In addition to 31 other men who served, two nurses are named: Lucy Howatt and Olga Myers.
From Those Splendid Girls by Katherine Dewar:
Howatt trained as a nurse in the US. “In 1918 she answered the urgent call put out by the Red Cross for nurses to become involved in “War Work.” She was stationed at Camp Kearny, San Diego, California and listed as one of the nurses for U.S. Base Hospital No. 62 ready for service in Europe. It is unclear if she ever went overseas.”
Myers trained as a nurse in Charlottetown, PEI. She served in England, first in Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve in 1916-1917, then in the Canadian Army Medical Corps until 1919.
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 feature nurses who served in WW1.
Great War 100 Reads 