Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 115 continued ... continued ... Clare Gass 1887 - 1968 Born in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Clare Gass served as a Nursing Sister with the CanadianArmy Medical Corps. Overcoming brutal conditions and countless patients, nurses were the unsung heroes of the First World War. Working at No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill University) in France, Gass became friends with John McCrae, a military doctor. McCrae showed her a draft of his iconic poem, “In Flanders Fields.” She copied it into her diary. Asked what she thought, Gass encouraged him to publish it in Punch magazine, which he did in 1915. Together with the poppy, it remains at the heart of Remembrance Day ceremonies in Canada. Remarkably, four of Gass’s younger brothers also fought in Europe, with one dying in the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917. She returned to Canada after the war and became a pioneer in the field of medical social work. Laura Hubley 1875-1964 Born in St. Margarets Bay, near Halifax, Laura May Hubley served as Matron of the Dalhousie University No. 7 Stationary Hospital during the First World War. After graduating from Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, Hubley went into private practice before joining the Canadian Army Nursing Corps. The Dalhousie unit, established in 1915, saw frontline service and treated approximately 60,000 patients in France and England. As Matron, Hubley not only supervised her 26 nursing sisters but also organized social functions for hospital staff and patients. On one occasion she even arranged a visit from Canadian flying ace Billy Bishop, who put on a display overhead. Hubley was awarded the Royal Red Cross (1st Class) for exceptional service in military nursing. She is buried at Camp Hill Cemetery in Halifax. Image: Mrs. Gertrude Henderson (niece) Image: Dalhousie University Archives
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