Edith Cavell Memorial Service.

This report has been contributed by Jane Kemp following her attendance.

Edith Cavell Memorial Service
12th Oct 2015
Sacred Trinity Church, Salford
Edith Cavell – background

Edith Cavell was born in Norfolk in 1865 and trained as a nurse at the London Hospital (now the Royal London Hospital) Whitechapel (1905-1906) under Matron Eva Luckes.

In 1906 she moved to Salford to work at the Manchester and Salford Sick Poor and Private Nursing Institution at one of the Queen’s District Nursing Homes, and in 1907 she took moved to Brussels where she became Matron of L’Ecole Belge d’Infirmieres, a newly established nursing school.

Her contribution to nursing and nurse education is significant; as well as launching a journal for professional nurses she was responsible for nurse training in several Belgian hospitals.
At the outbreak of WWII the her hospital was taken over by the Red Cross and once Belgium was occupied Cavell became involved in helping over 200 British troops to escape through Holland.

In 1915 she was betrayed by a German collaborator and arrested. After being imprisoned for only 10 weeks she was found guilty of treason*. She was informed of the sentence the night before it was carried out, allowing no time for appeal. At 7am on October 12, 1915 she was taken from her cell, tied to a post, blindfolded and shot by a German firing squad.
* (‘Treason’ is interesting as she was a British citizen)

Her execution caused international outcry. There was extensive press coverage and the resulting British propaganda coup doubled the numbers of men joining-up to 10,000 a week and precipited the US’s involvement in the war.
Cavell became the most prominent British female casualty in WWII.
She was buried in Belgium but her remains were returned to Britain after the war, and following a state funeral in Westminster Abbey her body was buried in Norwich Cathedral.

Salford service
During her time in Salford Cavell was a member of Sacred Trinity Church and her name is inscribed on the war memorial in the church grounds.
The Royal College of Nursing History of Nursing Society worked together with Sacred Trinity Church to celebrate her life and work at a memorial service on the 100th anniversary of her death. A wreath was laid in her memory and after the act of remembrance Professor Christine Hallet spoke about Cavell, her life and legacy as a nurse and humanitarian.

The statement Cavell made to her pastor the evening before she was shot, “Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone” formed part of her beliefs to help all those who needed it, both German and Allied forces alike. It has since been was widely quoted and is inscribed beneath her statue at St. Martin’s Place in London.

Children of the church school designed a collage using her words and this was displayed in the church. The words in the collage are covered in maps of areas which had special significance to Cavell’s life.

Below left Estephanie Dunn, RCN NW Regional Director; David Walker, Bishop of Manchester and Jane Kemp with Jacob and Nicole from St Philip’s Primary School. They are in front of a piece of art created by the children of the school in remembrance of Edith Cavell and the famous words she spoke before her execution.