Artifact #1

Canadian Army Medical Corps

This photograph are Canadian women who died whilst overseas supporting their soldiers in WWI. Women were valuable members within the Canadian Army Medical Corps from 1914-1918, and without their active participation in war efforts, the number of casualties would have risen. Canadian women who served overseas were typically nurses who tended to wounded or ill soldiers who fought in the frontlines. The hazardous work was stationed on board hospital ships, near frontlines, and in combat zones with field ambulance units.[1] Throughout the first world war, it was estimated that nearly 200 women died serving the Canadian military. [2] In this photograph, there are three women who served in the Canadian Army Medical Crops and their photograph; “Jessie Mc.Mc.Diarmid, M.Lowe, and Evelyn Ferrall Mc.kay”. Their manner of death were enemy bomb wounds, drowning, and pneumonia. This photo portrays the unavoidable death and destruction associated with war work regardless of gender and duties. Women who served and died in WW1 acted on the grounds of patriotism, and their experience was just as horrific as those serving in the frontlines.

Bibliography

[1] Canada, Veterans Affairs. “Lest We Forget Her: Canadian Women Who Have Died in Service.” Canadian women who have died in service - Veterans Affairs Canada, December 9, 2020. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/those-who-served/women-veterans/fallen?filterYr=1917.

[2] Canada, Veterans Affairs. “Timeline.” Women and War - Remembering those who served - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada, March 5, 2024. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/those-who-served/women-veterans/timeline.

Jessie M. Mcdiarmid; M. Lowe; Evelyn Ferrall Mckay. C.A.M.C. Portraits Of Women Who Died During War Work. Supplementary Material. n.d. MS SUPP. 21/61, Women, War and Society, 1914-1918. Imperial War Museum. Archives Unbound (accessed October 12, 2024). https://link-gale-com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/apps/doc/SC5108179707/GDSC?u=edmo69826&sid=bookmark-GDSC&xid=0c9cce75&pg=1.

Artifact #1