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List of Canadian nurses who died in World War I

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Poster of sailor in the water
Propaganda poster showing a dead Canadian nurse after the sinking of Hospital Ship HMHS Llandovery Castle

This is a list of Canadian nurses who died during World War I. Canadian nurses were given the nickname "Bluebirds," because of their blue dresses and white veils. Out of the over three thousand Canadian nurses who volunteered their services 53 nurses died while serving their country.[1] The military history of Canadian nurses during World War I began on August 4, 1914, when the United Kingdom entered the First World War (1914–1918) by declaring war on Germany. The British declaration of war automatically brought Canada into the war, because of Canada's legal status as a British Dominion which left foreign policy decisions in the hands of the British parliament.

When Canada entered the war there were five Permanent Force nurses and 57 listed in reserve. By 1917 the Canadian Army Nursing Service included 2,030 nurses, of which 1,886 were overseas, with 203 on reserve. By the end of the war, 3,141 had enlisted.[1] The First World War had Casualty Clearing Station, an advance unit, that was close to the front line. Being near the front these stations were often bombed or hit by artillery. In one such incident in May 1918 a number of nurses were killed when the building they were tending wounded was bombed by Imperial German Aircraft. In another incident, on June 27, 1918, 14 nurses were killed when their hospital ship Hospital Ship HMHS Llandovery Castle was torpedoed while travelling from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool, England.[2]

War wasn't the only threat to nurses as at least six died in late 1918 of "pneumonia," probably related to the Spanish flu which raged throughout the world during the winter of 1918/1919.

List of Canadian nurses who died during WWI

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Other Allied nations

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Out of the 3,141 nurses who served during World War I, 53 died. Below are other nations and their nurse casualties.

Nationality Number of nurses killed Notes Total nurses enlisted References
 Australia 29 29 Australian nurses died from disease or injuries; 25 of these died on active service, and 4 died in Australia from injuries or illness sustained during their service 2562 (Officially 2139 nurses served overseas and 423 in Australia but as many as 5000 may have served according to some reports.[42]) [43]
 New Zealand 16 16 New Zealand nurses died during the war, including 10 who died in the sinking of the hospital ship SS Marquette. 550 [44]

See also

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Bibliography

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Notes

  1. ^ a b Veterans Affairs Canada 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r CBC Radio 2018.
  3. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Alpaugh 2022.
  4. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Baldwin 2022.
  5. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - M Baker 2022.
  6. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Baker 2022.
  7. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Bartlett 2022.
  8. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Champagne 2022.
  9. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Dagg 2022.
  10. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Davis 2022.
  11. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Petty 2022.
  12. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Forneri 2022.
  13. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Frederickson 2022.
  14. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Garbutt 2022.
  15. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Grant 2022.
  16. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Green 2022.
  17. ^ a b Veterans Affairs Canada - Hennan 2022.
  18. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Hunt 2022.
  19. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Jaggard 2022.
  20. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Jarvis 2022.
  21. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Kealy 2022.
  22. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - King 2022.
  23. ^ a b c Habkirk & Farrugia 2021, p. 153.
  24. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - McDougall 2022.
  25. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - MacIntosh 2022.
  26. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - MacLeod 2022.
  27. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - MacPherson 2022.
  28. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Mellett 2022.
  29. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Munro 2022.
  30. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Nourse 2022.
  31. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Pringle 2022.
  32. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Roberts 2022.
  33. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Rogers 2022.
  34. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - E Ross 2022.
  35. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Ross 2022.
  36. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Sparks 2022.
  37. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Trusdale 2022.
  38. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Tupper 2022.
  39. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Twist 2022.
  40. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Wake 2022.
  41. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada - Whitely 2022.
  42. ^ Harvey 2014.
  43. ^ Witton & Hillier 2021.
  44. ^ New Zealand History 2021.

References

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