Noncombatant servicemen and women are not free from danger. Such was the case of the medical corps during World War I. Medical units were located close enough to the front to see and hear bombardments. Sometimes camps were bombed — either accidentally or on purpose — ambulances hit land mines, and hospital ships sunk. (This post […]
Violet Jessop: The Unsinkable Nurse Who Survived Two Downed Ships
Violet Jessop was born October 2, 1888, in Argentina. Born to Irish parents, Jessop had several siblings. Her family moved to Britain after her father’s death. (This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year, available wherever eBooks are sold.) Jessop followed in her […]
Gabrielle Petit: Belgian Symbol of Martyrdom and Wartime Resistance
Gabrielle Petit was born February 20, 1893, in Tournai, Belgium. (This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year, available wherever eBooks are sold.) Born into a working class family, Petit had a difficult childhood. She worked several jobs and had no permanent residence until […]
Mary Borden: Supplying and Paying for a Mobile Hospital
Mary Borden, the daughter of a Chicago millionaire, was born May 15,1886. She left home as soon as she was of age and traveled to India where she married a Scottish missionary and had two daughters. (This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment […]
Books & Publishing Hettie's World History Nonfiction Women's history World War One Writing & Editing
Vera Brittain: World War One Cost Her Every Man She Loved
Vera Brittain was born December 29, 1893, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England. She is best known for her 1933 memoir Testament to Youth which talks about her wartime experiences. Brittain also was a pacifist who wrote poetry and 28 other books. (This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left […]
Nursing School in the 1910s — the School of Nursing Toronto General Hospital
Hettie Steward, my main character in Angel of Mercy, is a 1913 graduate of the School of Nursing Toronto General Hospital. By the time of her graduation, it was the largest and among the most prestigious nursing schools in Canada. Competition to be accepted into the program was stiff and had been since 1894. (This post […]
Canadian Army Nursing Service
The Canadian Army Nursing Service (CANS) plays a pivotal role in my novel Angel of Mercy, yet it is little mentioned in the history of World War One. (This post is a companion piece to my WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year, available wherever eBooks are sold.) The CANS was founded in […]
The True Stories of World War One Nurses
My novel, Angel of Mercy, focuses on Hettie, a young woman serving during the First World War with the Canadian Army Nursing Service. While her experiences are fictional, she and her colleagues are based on the brave nurses who served overseas during nearly five years of war. (This post is a companion piece to my WWI […]
Edith Cavell: Saving Lives Regardless of Political Affiliation
Edith Cavell was a heroine even before her name became internationally known. She became a nurse in 1900 and devoted her life to saving the lives of others. (This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year, available wherever eBooks are sold.) Born Dec. 4, […]