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Dianne Graves, In the Company of Sisters: Canada’s Women in the War Zone, 1914-1919 (Robin Brass Studio 2021) 384 pages, copious illustration, paperback
ianne Graves has done it again. her book, Graves brings these women D In the compelling In the Midst of to life again, sharing story after story of Alarms: The Untold Story of Women and courage, humour, and sacrifice. the War of 1812, Graves illuminated the As one might expect, In the Company of forgotten role of women in the midst Sisters details the service of nurses serving of that violent conflict. In her newest with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. offering, In the Company of Sisters, she These women received the rank and salary casts her gaze on the multilayered experiences of Canadian women in Graves brings these women the war zone during the First World to life again War. The result is a fascinating, brilliantly researched, and often poignant book that adds much to of commissioned officers and, as such, our understanding of the Great War. were often envied by military nurses of Each November 11, in services across other countries. Canada had a little over Canada, our war dead are commemorated, 3,000 professional nurses when the war along with the service of our military men began and there were a limited number and women. Yet, as the famous words of of positions for nurses in the CAMC John McCrae ring out and we especially recall the First World War, most people think of battlefields and the soldiers who fought on the front lines. Yet 30,000 Canadian women served overseas in various services between 1914 and 1919 and their names and stories are rarely mentioned. These women faced physical danger and witnessed terrible suffering, all the while contributing to the well-being of the men at the front as well as those civilians living in Mabel Anderson led an effective effort to provide relief to those Belgians the shadow of war. Some in the narrow sliver of land not occupied by the Germans. She’s seen here of the women themselves two Belgian officers. Energetic and resourceful, she was a daughter of the were wounded or became and married to an officer of a battalion (Princess Patricia’s) fighting in France. daily letters to her – which have been published – are a potent record of dangerously ill, and a small trenches. They both survived the war. Courtesy TPL, Baldwin Room, S259 number lost their lives. In
ianne Graves has done it again. her book, Graves brings these women D In the compelling In the Midst of to life again, sharing story after story of Alarms: The Untold Story of Women and courage, humour, and sacrifice. the War of 1812, Graves illuminated the As one might expect, In the Company of forgotten role of women in the midst Sisters details the service of nurses serving of that violent conflict. In her newest with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. offering, In the Company of Sisters, she These women received the rank and salary casts her gaze on the multilayered experiences of Canadian women in Graves brings these women the war zone during the First World to life again War. The result is a fascinating, brilliantly researched, and often poignant book that adds much to of commissioned officers and, as such, our understanding of the Great War. were often envied by military nurses of Each November 11, in services across other countries. Canada had a little over Canada, our war dead are commemorated, 3,000 professional nurses when the war along with the service of our military men began and there were a limited number and women. Yet, as the famous words of of positions for nurses in the CAMC John McCrae ring out and we especially recall the First World War, most people think of battlefields and the soldiers who fought on the front lines. Yet 30,000 Canadian women served overseas in various services between 1914 and 1919 and their names and stories are rarely mentioned. These women faced physical danger and witnessed terrible suffering, all the while contributing to the well-being of the men at the front as well as those civilians living in Mabel Anderson led an effective effort to provide relief to those Belgians the shadow of war. Some in the narrow sliver of land not occupied by the Germans. She’s seen here of the women themselves two Belgian officers. Energetic and resourceful, she was a daughter of the were wounded or became and married to an officer of a battalion (Princess Patricia’s) fighting in France. daily letters to her – which have been published – are a potent record of dangerously ill, and a small trenches. They both survived the war. Courtesy TPL, Baldwin Room, S259 number lost their lives. In
so many Canadians served in American, British, and French nursing corps. The nursing that they would do overseas, as Graves points out, would be far different from anything they would ever encounter in civilian nursing. They would minister to devastating wounds caused by bullets, shrapnel, flame throwers, machine guns and mines. They would treat meningitis, gastrointestinal complaints, the effects of poison gas, and complications such as hemorrhage, infection, and gangrene. Graves provides many intimate snapshots of the personal experiences of these courageous Canadian medical workers. Nursing Sister Edith Hudson describes gas casualties: “There they lay… fully sensible, choking, suffocating, dying in horrible agonies. We did what we could but the best treatment for such cases had yet to be discovered, and we felt almost powerless.” The working conditions of the nurses were appalling. In Lemnos it was baking hot, water supplies were often inadequate and flies were everywhere. Despite this, Nurse Katherine Wilson wrote “we were all young, earnest, unafraid, taking things in our stride.” In France, nurses faced muddy, cold weather and still living inadequate billets. They in 1915 with spent long hours caring for Cawthras the wounded and assisting Agar’s the war in the with surgery, sometimes B6 F13 during bombing raids.
ianne Graves has done it again. her book, Graves brings these women D In the compelling In the Midst of to life again, sharing story after story of Alarms: The Untold Story of Women and courage, humour, and sacrifice. the War of 1812, Graves illuminated the As one might expect, In the Company of forgotten role of women in the midst Sisters details the service of nurses serving of that violent conflict. In her newest with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. offering, In the Company of Sisters, she These women received the rank and salary casts her gaze on the multilayered experiences of Canadian women in Graves brings these women the war zone during the First World to life again War. The result is a fascinating, brilliantly researched, and often poignant book that adds much to of commissioned officers and, as such, our understanding of the Great War. were often envied by military nurses of Each November 11, in services across other countries. Canada had a little over Canada, our war dead are commemorated, 3,000 professional nurses when the war along with the service of our military men began and there were a limited number and women. Yet, as the famous words of of positions for nurses in the CAMC John McCrae ring out and we especially recall the First World War, most people think of battlefields and the soldiers who fought on the front lines. Yet 30,000 Canadian women served overseas in various services between 1914 and 1919 and their names and stories are rarely mentioned. These women faced physical danger and witnessed terrible suffering, all the while contributing to the well-being of the men at the front as well as those civilians living in Mabel Anderson led an effective effort to provide relief to those Belgians the shadow of war. Some in the narrow sliver of land not occupied by the Germans. She’s seen here of the women themselves two Belgian officers. Energetic and resourceful, she was a daughter of the were wounded or became and married to an officer of a battalion (Princess Patricia’s) fighting in France. daily letters to her – which have been published – are a potent record of dangerously ill, and a small trenches. They both survived the war. Courtesy TPL, Baldwin Room, S259 number lost their lives. In
women who championed it were often vilified. Grace Wales, a Canadian academic, supported the Women’s Peace Party in the United States, a feminist and pacifist organization. She developed the Wisconsin Plan, a proposal to convene a conference of representatives from around the world committed to finding a peaceful solution to the war. She attended the International Congress of Women at the Hague in 1915, where her proposal was adopted by the delegates. While Wales did not succeed in her goal of ending the war by peaceful means, she would work for peace for the rest of her life. If there is anything negative thing to be said about In the Company of Sisters: Canada’s Women in the war Zone, 1914-1919, it would be that it ends too soon and that every profile almost deserves a book of its own. Graves has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Great War, and this book should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding of the experience of Canadians in that long-ago conflict.
women who championed it were often vilified. Grace Wales, a Canadian academic, supported the Women’s Peace Party in the United States, a feminist and pacifist organization. She developed the Wisconsin Plan, a proposal to convene a conference of representatives from around the world committed to finding a peaceful solution to the war. She attended the International Congress of Women at the Hague in 1915, where her proposal was adopted by the delegates. While Wales did not succeed in her goal of ending the war by peaceful means, she would work for peace for the rest of her life. If there is anything negative thing to be said about In the Company of Sisters: Canada’s Women in the war Zone, 1914-1919, it would be that it ends too soon and that every profile almost deserves a book of its own. Graves has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Great War, and this book should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding of the experience of Canadians in that long-ago conflict.
Graves’ skill as a story teller and during the war), singer and actress Lena historian is especially clear in her inAshwell, peace activist Julia Wales, and depth portrayals of individuals such as artist Mary Riter Hamilton. These 29-year-old Dorothy Cotton. Raised in women rarely get even a passing mention a family with a strong military tradition, in Canadian histories of the Great War. Cotton trained as a nurse in Quebec and Yet they wielded tremendous influence at the outset of war was appointed to the on people both at home on the front lines. Canadian Active Militia. Two younger Among her many accomplishments, brothers enlisted for overseas service in Lady Drummond would found the 1914, along with a brother in law—all Canadian Red Cross Information Bureau, three of whom would later die in the providing news to families at home and conflict. In late 1915, Cotton travelled to Russia and helped working conditions of the nurses establish a military hospital there. were appalling She would witness the last days of the monarchy and the start of the Russian revolution. As the soldiers in hospital, “tracing troops missing war progressed, she made trips back to in action, maintaining files on Canadian Britain to mourn the loss of her brothers prisoners of war…arranging volunteer and comfort her mother and sisters. visitors for convalescent Canadian soldiers While seven chapters chronicle the in Britain, and informing families in medical work carried out by Canadian Canada about the status and condition of women (six focus on the work of their wounded, sick, missing, or captured professional nurses, one explores the loved ones.” contributions of voluntary nurses), the Ashwell, a prominent actress, theatre remaining chapters raise up the unheralded manager and suffragist, would become work of non-medical volunteers. These the first woman to arrange large-scale include women who gave their time and entertainment for serving troops during effort to organizations catering to the the First World War. Her “concerts at comfort of soldiers as well as civilians the front” scheme not only provided directly affected by the war. employment for entertainers during the My favorite among these is Graves’ war, it brought much needed comfort and description of Mabel Adamson’s enjoyment to war-weary troops. In one spearheading of the Belgian Canal Boat crowded, smoke-filled hut near Le Havre, Fund. Adamson, who was married to a singer Ivor Novello would sing “Keep the senior Canadian officer at the front, was Home Fires Burning” and Ashwell would deeply concerned about the situation of watch as troops joined in with gusto and civilians living in the sliver of Belgium called for more. that had not fallen into enemy hands. After the war, artist Mary Riter Constantly bombarded, they had little Hamilton was commissioned by the access to food, medical necessities, Amputation Club of British Columbia clothing and other basics. Adamson to go to the battlefields and paint “that and her supporters came up with the portion of the front line in France held by idea of buying a barge and distributing the Canadian Corps.” It took a prodigious supplies to residents via the waterways effort on her part, but Hamilton created that crossed the land. Though they often an impressive body of work that speaks faced “entrenched male chauvinism” and clearly about the terrible experiences of the physical threat of German bombing the men who fought and the devastation and shelling, Adamson raised money and the war created. brought relief to many suffering Belgians. No book about women and war would The concluding section of In the be complete without a chapter on pacifism Company of Sisters contains four chapters, and Graves does not disappoint. There each detailing the wartime life and work was a significant international movement of a woman “with a mission.” They include for peace during the Great War and the Lady Drummond (who lost her only son Debbie Marshall is a British Columbia writer and editor whose work has appeared in many local and national magazines. Her books include Give Your Other Vote to the Sister: A Woman’s Journey into the Great War (University of Calgary 2007) and Firing Lines: Three Canadian Women Write the First World War (Dundurn 2017).
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