Angels of Mercy in our Midst
From the time the Armistice was signed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 right up through the present day, acts of remembrance have focused on the masculinity of war. There is nothing wrong with this, to be sure; over one thousand men from across old Victoria County, most of them in the prime of life, answered the call to serve their King and Country in the “war to end all wars.” Much was made about “our glorious ladies” marching as to war in defence of peace, justice, and other solidly British-Canadian values so belligerently trampled upon by the Kaiser in his desperate attempts to conquer western Europe.
​
Regardless of their stories, which radiated with a spirit of self-sacrifice and adventure, the nursing sisters mentioned here have generally faded into the mists of time. Ironically, memories of their brothers remain solid. Oda Weldon’s brother, Frank, served for over four decades as Clerk of Victoria County. Winnifred Hardy’s brother, William George (1895-1979) made a name for himself as a lecturer in classics at the University of Alberta and as vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Maude Dayton’s brother, Stanley, earned a place in the collective folklore of Little Britain. The challenge for historians today is to ensure that the sisters of these gentlemen take their rightful place in the history of old Victoria County.
But what about the women? What about the women of old Victoria County who sought to make a lasting contribution of their own to the war effort, and in particular, the nearly two dozen young women who volunteered to serve as Nursing Sisters during the Great War? Their names are scattered across the county and elsewhere in Ontario, mostly on a long-forgotten headstone in some lonely corner of a cemetery. Occasionally they are immortalized on a memorial plaque or honour roll in a church. Mostly, though, they go unheralded and unremembered. Only recently have some of their stories re-emerged. The following stories represent a smattering of those who donned the white veil and blue uniform of the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
These seven nurses are listed in the Roll of Honour at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Lindsay. While many of them -- such as Matilda Mann and Olive Williamson -- were long-time parishioners, others may have been adherents, who attended services while undertaking their training in Lindsay.
Prior to 2015, this author had no idea what a Nursing Sister was. During the summer of that year, I had the opportunity to work with First World War Comes To Life, a federally-funded travelling museum exhibit administered by the Victoria County Historical Society and focusing on the lesser-known stories of Canadian men and women who served behind the frontlines. It was through this project that I gained a greater appreciation of the Nursing Sister story, and Victoria County’s place in that story.
