The Canadian Embassy in Athens announced that the Government of Canada will honour the memory of two Canadian nurses from the First World War buried on the Greek island of Lemnos, and the contribution of nurses from Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.
The memorial initiative, led by the Canadian Embassy in Athens, was made possible with funding provided by the Government of Canada and the dedicated support of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
The Embassy of Canada also acknowledges the assistance of Jim Claven, historian and Secretary of the Melbourne-based Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee.
"Canada salutes the selfless dedication and sacrifice of Canadian nursing sisters Matron Jessie B. Jaggard and Mary Frances Elizabeth Munro, who are buried on Lemnos. We also salute the contribution of nursing sisters from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as the world marks the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign," said Robert Peck, Canada’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic.
Ambassador Peck also noted that a memorial to nursing sisters was erected in the Hall of Honour of Canada’s Parliament in 1929.
On the eve of centenary of the Gallipoli campaign on April 25th, 1915, a memorial will be unveiled on April 17th at the Portianos Military Cemetery in Portianos, Lemnos, where Matron Jessie Jaggard and Nursing Sister Mary Frances Munro were laid to rest in 1915 after succumbing to dysentery. A total of 70 Canadian nurses served on Lemnos in 1915 with the 1st and 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospitals. These hospitals were located on the Turks Head peninsula, West Mudros.
The memorial designed by the CWGC is made from stone called "Nabresina" which comes from a quarry near Trieste, Italy, and was carved by CWGC stonemasons at their facility adjacent to ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey. It is to be located on the right hand side of the gravel pathway leading to the Cross, set within the existing cemetery wall at the Portianos Military Cemetery.
The 1st and 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospitals arrived in Lemnos in August, 1915. Like their Australian counterparts, the Canadian nurses and their hospitals were rushed to Lemnos from England in response to the unexpected number of casualties at the Gallipoli Peninsula.
The 1st Canadian Stationary Hospital opened with 500 beds, later expanded to 720 beds, and the 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital had 500 beds. Pending the establishment of the Canadian hospitals, some Canadian nurses were assigned to the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital. Doctors and nurses were confronted daily with poor sanitation, illness, and the life threatening injuries of soldiers. The heat, lack of sanitation, poor diet and scarce water, in combination with the dust and flies, inevitably caused illness throughout the medical personnel.
The two Canadian nurses were the only ones to die during their service on Lemnos. Nursing Sister Mary Frances Elizabeth Munro of the 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital died on September 7th, 1915 at age 49. Munro was born in Wardsville, Middlesex County, Ontario, and attended Bishop Strachan School.
The second nurse to die on September 25th, 1915, at age 44, was the Matron of the 3rd Canadian Hospital, Jessie B. Jaggard, born in Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of John Lothrop Brown and Elizabeth Whidden Brown.
A poem entitled "The Sisters Buried at Lemnos" written by British activist and nurse Vera Brittain, mother of politician Dr. Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, honours the sacrifice of the two Canadian nursing sisters.
Seven Newfoundlanders are also buried on Lemnos, three sailors or soldiers at the Portianos Military Cemetery and a further four at East Mudros Military Cemetery. The men of the Newfoundland Regiment, later given the designation "Royal", helped in covering the evacuation of Allied troops from the Gallipoli Peninsula and onto waiting ships. They were among the last Allied soldiers to leave Turkey in January 1916.
Source: Canadian Embassy in Athens.
Edited by: Yallou