Executed World War I British Nurse. She was the daughter of The Rev. Frederick Cavell of Swardeston, England and became a professional nurse. She accepted the position of matron at Berkendael Medical Institute in Brussels. With the start of the war and German occupation of Belgium in 1914, the facility was converted into a military hospital treating German as well as captured British soldiers. Soon many were missing. Edith was charged in their escapes to neutral Holland and arrested by the Germans. Kept in solitary confinement for nine weeks, they successfully extracted a confession. She was pronounced guilty in a sham trial, sentenced to death, taken to a nearby rifle range and executed by a firing squad then buried on the site. Today, a marker listing her name along with 34 others who were executed stands at the site. This German blunder in killing a woman galvanized world opinion condemning their barbaric behavior in occupied Belgium. At war’s end, her remains were repatriated to England with great fanfare. After an elaborate funeral at Westminster Abbey in London attended by the Royal Family and hundreds of British notables, she was buried on the church grounds at Norwich Cathedral. Memorials to Miss Cavell abound: in the UK, memorial postage stamps have been issued and a statue in Trafalgar Square has her last words spoken before her death emblazoned, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone." In Brussels, the nursing school she founded has her name and in Alberta, Canada, Mt Edith Cavell rises some 11,033 feet given the name in 1931. In 2014, her story was retold as part of the story line in the first season 6th episode of BBC's "Crimson Fields", which was aired in the United States on Public Broadcasting Service in 2015, one hundred years after her death.
Executed World War I British Nurse. She was the daughter of The Rev. Frederick Cavell of Swardeston, England and became a professional nurse. She accepted the position of matron at Berkendael Medical Institute in Brussels. With the start of the war and German occupation of Belgium in 1914, the facility was converted into a military hospital treating German as well as captured British soldiers. Soon many were missing. Edith was charged in their escapes to neutral Holland and arrested by the Germans. Kept in solitary confinement for nine weeks, they successfully extracted a confession. She was pronounced guilty in a sham trial, sentenced to death, taken to a nearby rifle range and executed by a firing squad then buried on the site. Today, a marker listing her name along with 34 others who were executed stands at the site. This German blunder in killing a woman galvanized world opinion condemning their barbaric behavior in occupied Belgium. At war’s end, her remains were repatriated to England with great fanfare. After an elaborate funeral at Westminster Abbey in London attended by the Royal Family and hundreds of British notables, she was buried on the church grounds at Norwich Cathedral. Memorials to Miss Cavell abound: in the UK, memorial postage stamps have been issued and a statue in Trafalgar Square has her last words spoken before her death emblazoned, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone." In Brussels, the nursing school she founded has her name and in Alberta, Canada, Mt Edith Cavell rises some 11,033 feet given the name in 1931. In 2014, her story was retold as part of the story line in the first season 6th episode of BBC's "Crimson Fields", which was aired in the United States on Public Broadcasting Service in 2015, one hundred years after her death.
Bio by: Donald Greyfield
Inscription
"To the Pure and Holy Memory of Edith Cavell who gave her Life for England 12th October 1915. Her name liveth for evermore."
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