KATHERINE MARY GERALDINE DAVIES (1874 – 1928) – BRITISH NURSE

Mary Davies was born on 8th December 1874   Her parents were Sir Robert Henry Davies (1824 – 1902), Governor of the Indian Province of the Punjab from 1871 – 1877, and his wife Mary Frances nee Cautey.

Mary was training to be a bacteriologist at the Pasteur Institute in Neuilly, France when the First World War broke out.  The American Hospital was established at the Pasteur Institute and there Mary worked with Dr. Kenneth Taylor, who was a bacteriologist who qualified at Minnesota University.   Dr Taylor was working on a serum of Quinine Hydrochloride to treat Gas Gangrene, experimenting initially on guinea pigs.  

In October 1915, Mary deliberately injected herself with the bacteria used to infect the guinea pigs and asked Dr. Taylor to treat her.   The treatment was successful and after some days in hospital, Mary was sent home to England to recuperate.  She wrote a treatise suggesting that if the cloth used to manufacture British Army uniforms were treated with Quinine Hydrochloride, the incidences of Gas Gangrene might be reduced.

It is perhaps worth noting here, that the Canadian Army Doctor, artilleryman and poet, John McCrae, commented upon his shock on discovering that the heavy use of manure used to fertilise the fields in Flanders and northern France, contributed to the infection of wounds sustained by soldiers on the battle fields of the Western Front in the First World War.

Mary, a member of the Bath Club in London, died in Cannes on 31st March 1928.

With many thanks to Geoff Harrison and other friends who sent me links to articles about Mary, and to ‘The Times’ for re-printing the story they ran about Mary's exploit from their edition of September 23rd 1915 in their 23rd September 2015 edition.  

Geoff also found an amazing cartoon which illustrates this story from the St. Petersburg Times of 9th August 1931 (I imagine that would be St. Petersburg in Florida...)  I am still hoping to find a photograph of Katherine Mary Geraldine Davies - can anyone help please?

Sources:

GRAVES, Diane. "A Crown of Live The World of John McCrae" (Spellmount Ltd., Staplehurst, Kent, 1997)

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19310809&id=6q0KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0U0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7255%2C775711&hl=en

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/14ffba82a4a760bc?projector=1http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16453665

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16453665

http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/library_and_heritage_services/library_collections/rcn_archive/historical_nursing_journals/browse_journals?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZyY25hcmNoaXZlLnJjbi5vcmcudWslMkZkYXRhJTJGVk9MVU1FMDU1LTE5MTUlMkZwYWdlMjcyLXZvbHVtZTU1LTAybmRvY3RvYmVyMTkxNS5wZGYmYWxsPTE%3D

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19151111&id=_mkWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_iAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1788,4736926&hl=en

http://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Citation/1928/04000/For_Americans_in_France_.2.aspx

A Belgian Nurse in WW1 - Florina Flamma (1892 - 2000) - Belgian

Those of you who follow this weblog closely will know that I am trying to trace nurses of all nationalities to illustrate the global impact of the First World War.  Here, courtesy of William Bukcke and his Facebook Groups about the conflict, is a Belgian nurse:

Florina was born on 10th May 1892, the daughter of a Belgian artillery officer. In August 1914, Florina fled with her parents to Antwerp but when the city fell, they followed the Belgian Army first to Westhoek. When they reached Ostend, Florina volunteered to help with the evacuation of the wounded to Dunkirk. Florina travelled to France and trained as a nurse with the Belgian Red Cross.  She was assigned to the ambulance unit at "Porte de Gravelinnes" in the Nord Pas de Calais region near Dunkirk. 

In 1917, Florina married Camille Pirotte, a 22 year old Sergeant Major of the French 4th regiment of Engineers In 1917, Florina married Camille Pirotte, a 22 year old Sergeant Major of the French 4th regiment of Engineers (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/4e_régiment_du_génie).
At around that time, she transferred to nurse at the Belgian Artillery hospital in Le Havre - "establishment d ' Artillery Belge Du Havre'. 

As WW1 ended, Florina was working in the Belgian Military Hospital in Aachen.

Florina and Camille had a son who died of Meningitis at the age of seven.  Florina Flamme died on 11th February 2000 in Gembloux at the age of 107.

French Military Nurses in WW1 - Elisabeth Jalaguier (1890 - 1918) - French

Juggling with kettles, buckets and bowls of boiled water during the Lancashire contaminated water crisis of August 2015, I am reminded of the sacrifices made by those who nursed during The First World War.  They travelled to all the war zones, suffered the most awful deprivations and saved many, many lives with precious little in the way of medical supplies. Many of them were killed during air raids or by shell fire or died having contracted some of the terrible diseases that were rife at the time.  I salute them all, no matter which country they were from and whether they were women or men.  

Sue Robinson of the Group Wenches in Trenches - The Roses of No Man's Land is organising memorials to the memory of those nurses.  To find out more visit www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk 

Elisabeth Jalaguier was born in 1890 and trained as a French Red Cross nurse.  She became a military nurse in 1914 and in 1918 was sent to Pierrefonds, where there was a military hospital in the Hotel des Bains.    Pierrefonds is a small town in France on the D973 road, between Compiegne and Villers-Cotterêts.

The hospital was bombed (it is not clear whether it was shelled or whether this was an aerial bombardment) during August 1918 and Elisabeth was among those killed.  After the bombardment, a white stone was placed where Elisabeth was standing when she was killed.

Elisabeth was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by Georges Clemenceau on 30th May 1919.  In 1933, a collection was made by Dr. Ferrand, who had been in charge of the military hospital in Pierrefonds during the First World War, and a nurse known as 'Mother Perdon'.  A committee was formed to gather funds and the chairman was Albert Lebrun, at that time President of France.   The monument was finally put in place in 1955 where the white stone had been.  In 1996, the Union Nationale des Combttants sold the memorial to the Town of Pierrefonds.  It was restored and inaugurated on 12th Ocrtober 1996, when the Mayor explained that there are not many such memorials in France.   The bronze statue which you can see in the photograph at the base of the memorial stone, was made from a plaster sculpture by Maxime Real del Sarte, who fought and was wounded during WW1 and had an arm amputated.

Source:  Speech made by the Mayor of Pierrefonds during the dedication ceremony in 1996.

http://www.pierrefonds-tourisme.net/monument_infirmieres.html

I followed up a post on William Bulcke's Facebook Page Women of World War One, where he posted a photograph of the memorial to the nurses who were killed while serving in France during the First World War.  Thank you William.

Commemorative Group 'Wenches in Trenches' seeks modern inspirational women

Here is a message from Sue Robinson, who runs the amazing WW1 commemorative Group 'Wenches in Trenches - the Roses of No Man's Land'.  Sue works extremely hard and does so much to keep alive the memory of the contribution of women to the First World War.  The Group is now looking for more members:

"Each year we organise a special WW1 women's commemorative event on the Somme and we are looking to recruit more females to join our little organisation.  We have meet ups and loads of fun. We just expect you to raise funds at least once a year with us. If you are interested email me at sue@wenchesintrenches.co.uk
Fund raised go towards memorials for ww1 nurses and VADS and other related causes. Thanks.  Sue Robinson"

http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk

Book Review: "Images of the Great War" by Lawrence Dunn, published by Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd., London, 2015

In his book "Images of the Great War 1914 - 1918", Lawrence Dunn, an artist from Sunderland, guides us through a brief history of the First World War featuring a selection of images by some of the British and Empire artists, cartoonists, poets, photographers and sculptors of the time -  paintings, drawings, illustrations and photographs, many of which are from the author's own collection.  With the skill that only an artist has, Lawrence encourages us to have a closer look at some of those works and in so doing brings the conflict to life as never before. In many instances, Lawrence also invites the reader to compare the styles of artists who have painted the same view or person. I understand that this is the first Art History book about this subject which includes all the official British female war artists, alongside their male colleagues, rather than in a separate book about them.   This point was raised by Norah Nelson-Grey to Lady Norman, when she offered her first painting of the French military hospital to the Imperial War Museum in 1918. Nelson-Grey insisted that her painting was not exhibited in a female artists only exhibition (Illustration No. 262 in book).

I particularly liked the fact that First World War poetry is added in between each artist featured, creating a bridge to the next artist. 

Female artists, sculptors and photographers of the First World War are also featured in this wonderful book, where you will also find portraits of some of the most influential and inspirational women of the war and mention of others, such as Flora Sandes, Mabel St. Clair Stobart, Mairi Chisholm, Elsie Knocker, Lady Dorothie Fielding, Lady Priscilla Norman,Princess Helena Victoria, Ellen Terry, Mrs Norrie, Dame Maude McCarthy and Miss R.L. Linton-Orman.

In the chapter featuring photographer Olive Edis on page 194, it is wonderful to see a photograph of Betty Stevenson's grave (page 196, illustration no. 185) being tended by a member (during WW1 that was the female equivalent of a Private) of the WAAC.  Betty was a volunteer with the YMCA and worked in France until she was killed during an air raid near Etaples on 30th May 1918 (see my blog on 3rd March 2014 about Betty). 

Beginning with Lady Elizabeth Butler, you will find women artists featured in the book, for instance, Olive Mudie-Cooke, Flora Lion, Anna Airy, Elizabeth Kemp-Welch, Norah Nielson-Gray, Clare Atwood, Joyce Dennys, Clare Atwood, Dorothy Josephine Coke and photographer Olive Edis.

I already knew the names of most of the female artists and quite a few of the male WW1 artists that Lawrence has included but there were many that were new to me.  I was interested to see that Lawrence has dedicated the book to his second cousin, Corporal Michael Davison of the Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Irish).  Michael was an underground putter at Ryhope Colliery when he enlisted in 1914 and was killed on the first day of the Battle of Arras - Easter Monday, 9th April 1917.  My great-uncle James Yule was a Private in the Northumberland Fusiliers, 23rd (Tyneside Scottish) Battalion and he too was killed on 9th April 1917, as were the poets R.E. Vernède and Edward Thomas,  

Summing up, artists of all disciplines are represented in the book - painters, cartoonists, photographers, sculptors and so on.  But this book is not just about the artists, poets and pictures of WW1, Lawrence goes into detail about some of the battles and includes personal stories about the artists and the areas and subjects depicted.   On page 137 you will find paintings by the artist William Patrick Roberts, who was at the Battle of Arras on 9th April 1917 and is therefore of special interest to me.

I have written up panels for some of the female poets featured in Lawrence's book for the Female Poets section of my exhibition project. In "Images of the Great War" you will find poems by Beatrix Brice Miller who went to France in 1914 as a 'lady helper' with her mother who was a trained nurse, Jessie Pope who was a volunteer at St Dunstan's Home for the Blind (now Blind Veterans UK) and whose poetry these days I feel has been misunderstood, Lucy Foster Whitmell, Vera Brittain who was a nurse during WW1, Lady Margaret Sackville, Iris Tree, Winifred Mabel Letts, who was a masseuse/physiotherapist with the Almeric Paget Unit during WW1, May Wedderburn Cannan, who helped out at the Coffee Stall on Rouen station, Anna Gordon Keown, Alice Meynell, Katharine Tynan, Elinor Jenkins, Muriel Elsie Graham, May Hershel-Clarke, Mary H.J. Henderson, Eileen Newton, Emily Orr and Doprothy Una Ratcliffe.

Incidentally, I have also written panels up for some of the male poets from Lawrence's book under the heading "Forgotten Poets of the Great War". In Lawrence's book you will find poems by Laurence Binyon, Rupert Brooke, John McCrae, Charles Hamilton Sorley, Alan Seeger, Thomas Kettle, Isaac Rosenberg, Francis Ledwidge,  Edmund Blunden and Edward Thomas.  Also featured are poems by Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen but they don't need to be on the Forgotten Poets list…

If I had to choose one picture by a female artist, it would have to be an old favourite of mine "The Ladies' Army Remount Depôt, Russley Park, Wiltshire, 1918" by Lucy Kemp-Welch and one by a male artist would be "Merry-Go-Round" by Mark Gertler. If I had to choose a poem written by a male and one by a female poet, I would choose "Vlamertinghe Passing the Château, July 1917" by Edmund Blunden, who was a 2nd Lieutenant with the Royal Sussex Regiment, and "An Incident" by Mary H.J. Henderson, who was a VAD with the Scottish Women's Hospitals.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it.

"Images of the Great War" by Lawrence Dunn, published by Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd., London, 2015. 

   

The Employment of Girls in the First World War

Everyone did their bit

A fascinating snippet in a recent copy of "The Times" mentioned a piece published in that newspaper on the 13th of April 1915 and describes some of the advertisements under the "Situations Vacant" heading.

At that time, and for many years after the First World War, it was customary for children to leave school at the age of fourteen and go out to work.   As the war progressed and the lads employed as messengers, delivery boys, shop assistants and so on were called up for military service, so the need to employ girls became evident.

Here are some of the ads mentioned:

"Girl required to take charge of bookstall aged 15 - 16"

"Girls, age 14 or 15, for bookstalls, wages 8s. a week.  (One shilling back then would be worth approximately £10 today)

"Girl wanted as messenger in City and West End".

According to the report, "...the District Messenger Company has followed the example of Reuter's Agency by enrolling a number of girls as district messengers.  At each of the main offices of the company there are now half a dozen girls above school age ready to undertake, with a few obvious exceptions, any of the hundred-and-one tasks performed by a District Messenger boy."

"The bookstall girls has been with us for some weeks.  Both Messrs WH Smith and Son and Messrs Willing and Co (Limited) are gradually substituting girls aged from 14 to 16 for boys who leave their stalls on the Underground Railway stations.   The work is light, and though the hours are long - from 8 am to 7 pm in at least one case - the girls are quite contented.

The life-girl, who has had a place for a considerable time in one or two of the larger West End shops, has justified herself, and others of her kind are likely to appear.  In some of the booking-offices at railway stations younger women are now to be found and, as has already been stated, women porters and ticket collectors are being given a trial.  The van-girl is yet to come."

But come she did to drive vans and much more...

"The Times", 13th April 2015

Picture:  Google Images - Propaganda poster WW1

Florence Stoney (1870 - 1932) and her sister Edith Stoney (1869 - 1938)

With many thanks to Dorothy Clare for bringing these two inspirational women to my attention.

The sisters, who were born in Dublin, studied medicine in London.  In 1899 Edith lectured on physics at the London School of Medicine for Women and in 1901 Florence became a medical electrician at the Royal Free Hospital in London. 

Many women rushed to offer their help at the outbreak the First World War, among them Florence and her sister who offered their services to the Red Cross but were turned down because they were women.  Nothing daunted, Florence set up her own ex-ray unit with the Women's Imperial Service League, and went to work in Belgium while Edith organised things in London and served on the League's Committee.  Florence's unit was mainly staffed by women, apart from two part-time male chauffeurs and a technical assistant.

The unit was extremely successful and was ordered to go to Serbia where medical assistance was urgently required.

Both sisters received recognition and medals for their bravery and work during WW1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Anne_Stoney