AMERICAN NURSES DIED IN THE WAR

[TOOTH]

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND A LIST OF ALL AMERICAN NURSED WHO DIED IN THE WAR?

THANKS

[4thGordons]

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND A LIST OF ALL AMERICAN NURSED WHO DIED IN THE WAR?

THANKS

If you discover a comprehensive list I would be very interested in it.

Nurses (and other women serving) are usually listed in county "Rolls of Honor" but there seem to be a number of different volunteer organisations and I have not found a comprehensive listing. The American Red Cross indicate that 18,000 - 24,000 (depending how they are counted) nurses served under the asupices of that organisation in Europe.

EDIT:

I just found this reference of which I was unaware until moments ago! There are numerous copies on ABEBOOKS

Gavin, Lettie. American women in World War I: they also served. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1997. 295 p.

Contains a list of all women from the military or social service organizations who were killed or wounded, died, or were decorated during World War I. Includes sections on Navy and Marine yeomen, army nurses, army signal corps members, reconstruction aides, YMCA, women physicians, red cross volunteers, and salvation army members.

Hope this helps

Chris

[Jim Strawbridge]

Lettie Gavin's is a good book. But there are one or two inaccuracies in it such as duplications, omissions or, indeed, Canadian women who have slipped in even though they were born, bred and served in Canadian units. But on the whole the best printed list available (so far !!!).

[Ally Sloper]

Lew

I was walking around Brookwood Military Cemetery near Woking the other day and in the American Section I came across two or three WWI nurses, but unfortunately I cannot remember their names.

Ally Sloper

[Sue Light]

The American Red Cross indicate that 18,000 - 24,000 (depending how they are counted) nurses served under the asupices of that organisation in Europe.

I'm always amazed at the quoted figures for American nurses during the Great War. My reading of the above link is that somewhere between 18,000 and 20,000 'nurses' served, of which approximately half served in 'Europe'. I take it that 'Europe' must signify that some of these got as far as the UK, but not to France. It also goes on to mention that they staffed 50 Base Hospitals, with 100 nurses each. Now, this suggests that at any one time, the US possibly had more hospitals and trained nurses in France than the whole of the UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa put together. As most of these nurses didn't arrive until well into 1917, I would be interested in a source that gives the size and location of American hospitals, both in the UK and the rest of Europe. I find the size of their organization, and their need for nurses, compared to the number of their soldiers, puzzling to say the least.

Sue

[Jim Strawbridge]

Lew

I was walking around Brookwood Military Cemetery near Woking the other day and in the American Section I came across two or three WWI nurses, but unfortunately I cannot remember their names.

Ally Sloper

Florence L. Athay, Tula Lake Harkey, Alice V. Murphy, Teresa M. Murphy and Hattie M. Raithiel.

[Ally Sloper]

Thanks Jim, you saved me a journey. I was going to go back to Brookwood Cemetery this weekend to check their names.

Ally Sloper

[4thGordons]

I'm always amazed at the quoted figures for American nurses during the Great War. My reading of the above link is that somewhere between 18,000 and 20,000 'nurses' served, of which approximately half served in 'Europe'. I take it that 'Europe' must signify that some of these got as far as the UK, but not to France. It also goes on to mention that they staffed 50 Base Hospitals, with 100 nurses each. Now, this suggests that at any one time, the US possibly had more hospitals and trained nurses in France than the whole of the UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa put together. As most of these nurses didn't arrive until well into 1917, I would be interested in a source that gives the size and location of American hospitals, both in the UK and the rest of Europe. I find the size of their organization, and their need for nurses, compared to the number of their soldiers, puzzling to say the least.

Sue

Sue - you are quite correct - apologies for my sloppiness, the source I linked apears to indicate, as you say about 9,000 served in Europe.

Even at this reduced level I share your puzzlement.

Chris

[Williamwalt]

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND A LIST OF ALL AMERICAN NURSED WHO DIED IN THE WAR?

THANKS

[Williamwalt]

We have posted details on the deaths of American nurses EDITH AYRES and HELEN BURNETT WOOD on the U.S. Mongolia in 1917 - these are usually said to have been the only two American nurses killed in a "Combat-Related incident" during World War I. To our knowledge the exact circumstances of their deaths have never before been explored. The site includes Zella Maude Judy's account of their deaths - she was a good friend of both and standing next to them when they died, the story of their funerals and a brief account of the very strange congressional hearings into their deaths that followed. These will be found in the sections of the site labeled "Death on the Mongolia" and "Honoring the Nurses." The Their deaths are ususlly said to have been the result of a "gun accident" but, in fact, the whole affair and what followed was a good deal more complicated. The site, also noted above in this section is: http://home.earthlink.net/~zellamaude.

Williamwalt