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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

EDITH CAVELL 1865-1915


chris basey

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Is it known that there are unreleased relevant papers?

Anthony

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Visited the Cavell Flower Festival at Swardeston Church today (where her father was Rector).

Chris Basey had two excellent photographic displays, one on 'The Cavell name in Brussels today' - based on his recent visit there and the other on 'First World War soldiers and Edith Cavell' - part of his continuing research.

Chris also wrote an interesting two page article on Edith Cavell for the Eastern Daily Press Sunday supplement. I was hoping that it would be online but does not appear so.

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I can personally attest to the beauty of Mount Edith Cavell here in Canada, having been there many times...

I live in Alberta, not all that far from Jasper National Park. I don't have any good pictures of it except this one of a glacial pond at the bottom:

2067521_1ceaf70b16.jpg

And for a sample of all the different pictures of the mountain from Flickr webhosting site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/mountedithcavell/

Many mountains here in Canada are named for significant individuals, I suspect there are other mountains named for war heroes, if I get the chance I may try to check into that.

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"Was hoping someone might know more than I do. Official documents in UK are sealed against public scrutiny for different lengths of time. My GUESS is that the relevant papers were sealed for 90 years and so should be open shortly. "

Tom

The NA Press Release says, "On the 90th Anniversary of Edith Cavell's execution, a recently completed cataloguing project of Prisoner of War files has revealed the ineffectual efforts of Government officials to prevent the death of the British World War One hero (sic)"

Doesn't look as if the docs were time-barred and neither does their content seem to warrant it. I can't help wondering if they have only just been discovered!

However, they also mention FO docs about WW1 POW camps, treatment of prisoners, camp conditions and personal correspondence but don't go into detail. These, too, will be launched next month.

For my money they promise to be of much greater impact that the Cavell related papers. No catalogue numbers are given.

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Doesn't look as if the docs were time-barred and neither does their content seem to warrant it.  I can't help wondering if they have only just been discovered!

For my money they promise to be of much greater impact that the Cavell related papers.  No catalogue numbers are given.

I think you may well be right. Something must have turned up when cataloguing. I also agree that these innocuous sounding files could hold some very interesting information. Something to look forward to.

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I was in London last weekend with my wife and we saw the statue of Edith Cavell just off Trafalgar Square. My wife had never heard of Edith but I explained to her what she did and what had happened to her. Today she came home from the Library having gone to do some research on her, because she wanted to know more.

What was also nice was to see that oridinary people, not just organisations, had left individual flowers in rememberance.

Martyn

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Martyn

Your wife couldn't do better than get from the library: "Edith Cavell" by Rowland Ryder, published by Hamish Hamilton in 1975. IMHO it is the Cavell "bible" because of the depth of his research. There's little of consequence to know about the lady that is not in that book. Obvioiusly out of print, but second hand copies can be found c£15.

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Chris,

Many thanks for the info it has been duly passed on.

Regards

Martyn

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To Chris,

Up until now, the article on Edith Cavell, published in the belgian newspaper 'De Standaard', has not been put on this forum, since it is written in Dutch.

If you want, I can send a scan to you.

Gilbert Deraedt :huh:

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There were 280 spies executed by a firing squad after having been trialed by the German occupier in the Great War. Only two of them are still known to the public. Edith Cavell and Gabrielle Petit (she was named in the lis of 100 great Belgians). The weird thing is... only ten of these 280 were women...of which two are still known to the public. Does anyone know any others spies executed by the Germans? There are several reasons why this is... .

regards,

Jan

Passchendaele Archives

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Trust The Guardian to put a stupid spin like: "How British diplomats failed Edith Cavell" on the subject. Anything to distract attention from the act. As Lord Cecil is quoted as saying,"Any representations we might make will do more harm than good." Of course the best course would probably have been to threaten to execute some Germans in reprisal - the kind of measure that penetrates the Teutonic mind best.

"Patriotism is not enough" a thought never more timely...

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I fail to see what the FCO could have done to prevent the Germans from executing Edith.

As a spy and as someone who helped the escape of a number of prisoners of war she was guilty (I'm not saying she had to be shot). She was shot as an example so that others would not follow her lead.

It is unfortunate, but I am sure we also shot German spies (at the Tower of London).

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I fail to see what the FCO could have done to prevent the Germans from executing Edith.

As a spy and as someone who helped the escape of a number of prisoners of war she was guilty (I'm not saying she had to be shot).  She was shot as an example so that others would not follow her lead.

It is a while since I read in depth the "doings" of Edith Cavell but was she really a spy? I thought that her failing was in purely aiding escaped POWs and providing a link that enabled them to return to their homeland.

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You're right I think. In hindsight I must have typed Spy as my colleague at work was going on about spies...

But the point remains the same though. Aiding and abetting the escape of PoW was illegal.

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Edith Cavell was not a spy. She just got involved in helping allied soldiers to the Dutch boarder. She was part of a network. Her role was hiding the soldiers in the hospital.

The Germans executed her as an example.

regards,

Jan

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Jan,

I sent you an email regarding the document you wrote on the Resistance movement in Belgium during WW1.

Did you receive the mail and can you send me the document?

thanks,

Tim

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  • 2 weeks later...

I thought people might be interested to know that there were special ceremonies held in Brussels to mark the 90th Anniversary of Edith Cavell's death. I have just received these photographs from a contact in the city.

The first picture shows the guard at the statue outside the Institut Medical Edith Cavell - a statue in memory of Edith Cavell and Marie Depage.

The second is taken during the playing of the Last Post at the Tir National - the place of execution.

A great tribute by the people of Brussels!

post-702-1131307991.jpg

post-702-1131308028.jpg

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Tim,

The document is my master dissertation. It contains more than 400 pages, relating to all the spies that have been executed in Belgium and Northern France. It file is too heave to be emailed. Besides that it has been written in Dutch. I'd like to publish an article in english sometime, but where do I get the time...?!

If you have a more specific question, I might be able to help you out.

Kind regards,

Jan

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I can personally attest to the beauty of Mount Edith Cavell here in Canada, having been there many times...

I live in Alberta, not all that far from Jasper National Park.  I don't have any good pictures of it except this one of a glacial pond at the bottom:

2067521_1ceaf70b16.jpg

And for a sample of all the different pictures of the mountain from Flickr webhosting site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/mountedithcavell/

Many mountains here in Canada are named for significant individuals, I suspect there are other mountains named for war heroes, if I get the chance I may try to check into that.

If you want a start go to www.peakfinder.com and enter Mount Bolton. He was a Private in the 1st Canadian Pioneers, no stripes, no medals, his only claim to immortality was that he gave his life for King and Country.

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Chris, your opening message said she was shot at 0700. Did you notice in the Brand Whitlock article that he said she was shot at 0200? What's your take on that?

Regards!

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Keith

Sorry, I have only just seen your post!

Yes, I have wondered about this and the fact that recent papers at NA apparently also quote 0200 as the time of execution.

0700 has always been accepted as the time in view of the report that she completed the diary entry in her copy of The Imitation of Christ "Died at 7am, etc"

This would be in line with some of her nurses going to the St Gilles prison at 0300 and waiting until they saw cars leave for the Tir National at 0500.

I hope to see the latest papers at NA and wonder if some confusion may have arisen due, somewhere, to a badly written continental figure seven?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello,

During my research I discovered that most of the spies/agents/...were shot early in the morning. Some kind of shot at dawn. Most of them staued up all night together in one cel, chatted with eachother, prayed, eat something. Then they went to the mass (? christian celebration thing, you know what I mean). Then they were guided out of the prison in a car/wagon toward the location where they will be shot. All the germans were already there doing an honoursalute. Then they were blindfolded, the priest came by and then they were shot.

Kind regards,

Jan

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  • 1 year later...

I just found this in amongst some postcards I was sorting and I knew I'd find out who it was in this Forum :)

thought I might post it here if that's ok

edithcavell.jpg

Mary

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  • 4 years later...

Just came across the following:

From St Andrews Church Magazine (Dearnley Littleborough) December 1915

A local soldier, Eli Kershaw, wrote "The weather has changed now and it is quite cold ...... There is a bitter feeling over here about Nurse Cavel being shot .... Things are going all right .....at times a bit rough. We have good officers ....... There is no getting away from the fact that all the men and boys ought to be made to join now after the latest crime of the Germans"

The ........... are no doubt due to censorship but the feeling is obvious.

Bernard

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