Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 49 The “Morning Chronicle” of Halifax, during WWI, reported the following incident from the “Nursing Times”. The Nursing Times contains a report of an interesting and brilliant speech made at the first quarterly meeting of the new Association of Hospital Matrons by Miss Margaret MacDonald, Matron-In-Chief of the Canadian Nursing Service. The meeting, which was held in the Medical Secretary’s Rooms in London, was attended by many of the chiefs of the Nursing Services in England. The Nursing Times reported Matron MacDonald as follows: Miss MacDonald, Matron-In-Chief Canadian Nursing Services, congratulated the members upon the formation of the Association and its admirable object. It had but one fault, that it had not been given birth earlier. She believed she had seen every phase of Army nursing from the Rhine to the Jura – regimental aid posts advanced and main dressing stations of the field ambulances, casualty clearing stations, barge, stationary and general hospitals, ambulance trains and hospital ships – and one never ceased to marvel at their completeness in organization and administration. From the time a man became a “casualty” until he was marked “fit for duty” nothing that science had invented or human skill devised for the alleviation of suffering was lacking. Could any tribute be more flattering than the following extract from a soldier’s letter, “I am in hospital, likely I’ll lose an arm, the nurses are called Sisters – they are all so good and kind, more like a fellow’s own sisters.” She had yet to hear of an instance where a soldier’s attitude towards a nurse in uniform was other than one of deep esteem. Professional qualifications alone would not have inspired such a high and enviable regard; and this brought to her a subject of which she never tired, the Army Sisters. Their work in the Great War eclipsed anything the nursing world had ever seen. These noble women, by their work, carried on without aggression, without parade or self-consciousness, had attained for the profession at large a recognition that years of peace might not have brought. The number of nurses employed in the combined theatres of war, totaled a colossal figure. It seems almost incredible that such vast organizations, composed entirely of women, governed by women, should during a crisis extending over four and a half years present an unbroken line. “The Eastern Chronicle”, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, contained the following account of the welcome afforded Matron MacDonald on her arrival home, by her native County, Pictou: An interesting gathering was held last evening in United Church Hall, when the Women’s Council of East Pictou tendered a welcome home to Matron-In-Chief Margaret MacDonald of Bailey’s Brook, Pictou County. Matron MacDonald was officer in command of the 3000 Canadian Red Cross Nurses who so heroically and devotedly gave their professional services on behalf of the wounded and ill during the Great War. Excellent speeches were made…, all extending the heartiest sort of a welcome home to Matron MacDonald, and giving expression to the magnificent work she carried on. Matron MacDonald replied in a graceful speech and tendered highest praise to the Red Cross women of Canada, who so nobly supported the Red Cross workers in the field and hospitals near the front trenches. She was deeply appreciative of the welcome extended to her by the East Pictou Council of Women and would never forget their kindness. Editor’s note: Our readers will notice that this entire article is written in the language of the 1914-1918 period, and taken from news reports of the same period. As a Canadian society we have changed a lot over the 100 years since the end of WWI, not necessarily for the better in the way we speak and write. It is understood that these books are sometimes used as reference material in our schools, and I would hope that the students who make use of these stories, will also take note of the grammar that their greatgreat grandparents used in their conversations and writings.
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