Remembering Gladys Maud Mary Wake
Wake, Gladys Maud Mary, Government of Canada, Library and Archives
Gladys Maud Mary Wake was born on December 13th, 1883, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. In the year 1912, Gladys had gone on to graduate as a Graduate Nurse from the Victoria’s Jubilee Hospital School of Nursing prior to her enlisting with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces as a nursing sister. In the year 1916, Gladys decided to join the war effort as a nursing sister, in January 1916 her attestation paperwork to serve overseas was finalized and signed and she was off and, on her way, to serve her country as a nursing sister. Over the course of two years, Gladys served as a nursing sister at the Duchess of Connaught Canaian Red Cross Hospital at Taplow, then the Canadian General Hospital in Salonica Greece before heading to the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital in Etaples, France a week before her passing. On May 21st, 1918 Gladys Maud Mary Wake succumbed to her injuries sustained in an air raid attack lead by German forces, her cause of death was listed as “bomb wound leg” and as well as a “fractured Femur” according to her official documents provided by the Government. The death of Gladys Maud Mary Wake is a clear demonstration of the degree of danger that the nursing sisters were exposed to as they served during the First World War, their work was not without sacrifice.
Sources:
Cefrg. “Gladys Maude Mary Wake: Nursing Sisters: Great War.” CEFRG, 4 May 2023, cefrg.ca/blog/nursing-sister-gladys-maude-mary-wake-in-the-great-war/.
Canada, Veterans Affairs. “The Nursing Sisters of Canada.” Women and War - Remembering Those Who Served - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada, 7 Sept. 2022, www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/those-who-served/women-veterans/nursing-sisters.