Three nurses who lost their lives in the mysterious explosion aboard HMS “Natal on 30th December 1915 are remembered on the Chatham Memorial in Kent, UK:
Nursing Sister, CAROLINE MAUD EDWARDS, Served aboard H.M.H.S. "Drina.", Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. Killed in destruction of H.M.S. "Natal" in Cromarty Firth, 30 December 1915. Grave Reference: 15.
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| Caroline Maud Edwards |
Nursing Sister, ELIZA MILLICENT ELVENS, Served aboard H.M.H.S. "Drina.", Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. Killed in destruction of H.M.S. "Natal" in Cromarty Firth, 30 December 1915. Grave Reference: 15.
ROWLETT, Nursing Sister, OLIVE KATHLEEN. H.M.H.S. Served aboard HMHS "Drina.", Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. Killed in destruction of H.M.S. "Natal" in Cromarty Firth, 30 December 1915. Grave Reference: 15.
From the CWGC List of Female Casualties of the First World War; photos from the Imperial War Museum, London - the collection made by Agnes Conway - historian and archaeologist, who from 1917-1929 collected information concerning women's work in the First World War. Agnes was Chairman of the Women's Work Sub-Committee of the Imperial War Museum in London. Her father, Martin Conway, was first the honorary Director-General of the IWM.
HMS Natal was a Warrior-class armoured cruiser built for the British Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She escorted the royal yacht in 1911–1912 for the newly crowned King George V's trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar. During the First World War, the ship was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, but did not participate in any battles. Natal was sunk by a mysterious internal explosion near Cromarty on 30 December 1915 with the loss of at least 390 crewmen and civilians.
On 30 December 1915, Natal was lying in the Cromarty Firth with her squadron, under the command of Captain Eric Back. The captain was hosting a film party aboard and had invited the wives and children of his officers, one civilian friend and his family, and nurses from the nearby hospital ship "Drina" to attend. A total of seven women, one civilian male, and three children were in attendance that afternoon.
I am sure everyone knows about the wonderful work done by Agnes Conway in collecting photographs
of the women of WW1 so that they could be remembered. The i mages are available from the Imperial War Museum's website.
https://inspirationalwomenofww1.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-spirit-of-british-womanhood-agnes.html
