Nursing Sister Winifred Grace MacLeod: The First Islander to Serve in the Mediterranean with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force During the First World War
Like many men who went overseas to serve during the First World War, women went over as nurses for adventure, new experiences, work, and a desire to help and serve. These women often assumed they would serve in England, France, Belgium, or on the homefront.
Salonika (Macedonia), Malta, Egypt, Palestine, Russia, and Germany were not exactly places they expected to be sent.
Depending on where they served, nurses had different experiences during the war. Initially, I was going to profile a few Nursing Sisters from PEI. But, then I found out about Nursing Sister Winifred Grace MacLeod - the first Islander to serve in the Mediterranean with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF). Her career in the MEF is what I will be looking at today. She served in other battles (such as the Battle of the Somme), but I am going to focus on her time in the Mediterranean.
Pre-Military Service
Winifred Grace MacLeod was born to John MacLeod and Margaret Scott of Charlottetown on May 7, 1883. In 1907, she graduated from the New York Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing. In 1912, she headed up the Social Services Department of the Vancouver General Hospital.
MacLeod enlisted at the age of 32 on September 14, 1915.
Pre-Military Service
Winifred Grace MacLeod was born to John MacLeod and Margaret Scott of Charlottetown on May 7, 1883. In 1907, she graduated from the New York Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing. In 1912, she headed up the Social Services Department of the Vancouver General Hospital.
MacLeod enlisted at the age of 32 on September 14, 1915.
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| Nursing Sister Winifred Grace MacLeod (Image Credit: PARO 2320/108-13 and The Splendid Girls) |
The Mediterranean
In Autumn 1915, she was sent to the Middle-East. She was not informed where exactly she was going or what her role would be. She was sent to serve with the medical services in the Gallipoli Campaign.
For those of you who have not heard of the Gallipoli Campaign - Russia requested the British take some action in the area to convince the Turks (who were opposing Russia) to withdraw. If they achieved their objective, it would also open up a supply line to Russia. 500,000 Allied soldiers were sent...it didn't go well...
Although Canadian soldiers did not participate (Newfoundland did, however, they were not part of Canada at the time) they were asked to supply five hospital units. A request Minister of Militia and Defence Sam Hughes protested - if there were to be no Canadians fighting there, Canadian medical units should not be there. Canada sent three medical units in August 1915, No. 1 CHS, No. 3 CHS, and No. 5 CHS to support the campaign. Two of these went to Greece and one went to Egypt. By the end of 1915, the No. 4 CGH and No. 5 CGH were sent to Salonika.
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| The location of Salonika. It was an important strategic position. (Image Credit: Australian War Memorial) |
MacLeod was part of the No. 5 CGH, who sailed from Liverpool on December 4, 1915.
Going to the Gallipoli Campaign must have been a shocking experience for MacLeod. Before being sent to the front she spent about three months at the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital on Lord Astor's Estate in England. The estate was comprised of 375 acres and was very posh and elegant. Going from that to the front would have been very different!
Even the ship that took them to Salonika would have been very different - at night the portholes were closed and darkened and no one was allowed to smoke on deck. Precautions to keep the ship safe from the Germans. One of MacLeod's fellow Nursing Sisters described the conditions on their ship as hot, smelly, and rough seas. According to this nurse, there were 53 nurses in one ward, sleeping on little cots in rows.
They arrived in Malta on December 16, 1915. For the following two days, the nurses went sight-seeing and shopping before reboarding the ship to head to Alexandra, Egypt. This trip was not a pleasant one either as the seas were rough and people got sick. Again.
From Alexandria, the nurses went to Cairo. But, they did not immediately get to work. In fact, because authorities were still trying to figuring out logistics, the Nursing Sisters got a little vacation before going to their posts, something they were eager to do!
In Cairo, their hotel was located on the Nile with views of the pyramids. They visited the pyramids, sailed the Nile, shopped at Bazaars, rode camels and donkeys, and took pictures with the Sphinx.
But, then she was ordered to Salonika with her unit. They sailed aboard the Egypt from Alexandria to Salonika. Once again, it was a rough trip and many got seasick. When they arrived, they spent the night on the ship but did not get a good nights sleep. They were woken up by the ship shaking violently from German air raids. As one of MacLeods fellow Nursing Sisters put it,
Even the ship that took them to Salonika would have been very different - at night the portholes were closed and darkened and no one was allowed to smoke on deck. Precautions to keep the ship safe from the Germans. One of MacLeod's fellow Nursing Sisters described the conditions on their ship as hot, smelly, and rough seas. According to this nurse, there were 53 nurses in one ward, sleeping on little cots in rows.
They arrived in Malta on December 16, 1915. For the following two days, the nurses went sight-seeing and shopping before reboarding the ship to head to Alexandra, Egypt. This trip was not a pleasant one either as the seas were rough and people got sick. Again.
From Alexandria, the nurses went to Cairo. But, they did not immediately get to work. In fact, because authorities were still trying to figuring out logistics, the Nursing Sisters got a little vacation before going to their posts, something they were eager to do!
In Cairo, their hotel was located on the Nile with views of the pyramids. They visited the pyramids, sailed the Nile, shopped at Bazaars, rode camels and donkeys, and took pictures with the Sphinx.
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| The Semiramis Hotel in 1909. This is the hotel MacLeod stayed in for a few days while in Cairo. It's beautiful! (Image Credit: Tulipe Noire) |
But, then she was ordered to Salonika with her unit. They sailed aboard the Egypt from Alexandria to Salonika. Once again, it was a rough trip and many got seasick. When they arrived, they spent the night on the ship but did not get a good nights sleep. They were woken up by the ship shaking violently from German air raids. As one of MacLeods fellow Nursing Sisters put it,
"We had a baptism of fire from the air."
In Salonika, both nurses and soldiers lived in tents. The tents fit four nurses (and two packing crates to act as a dresser, washstand, stool, and trunk) and a stove.
The conditions were very different and one of the hardest things they had to handle was dysentery and malaria.
Another challenge MacLeod faced as a nurse with the MEF was a lack of water. Normally, soldiers were bathed and their flea and lice-infested clothes were taken away (and these clothes were infested! Some nurses claimed they saw bags of clothes move there were so many lice in them!). But, because there was a water shortage, they couldn't wash the soldiers.
Nurses like MacLeod were not immune to lice and fleas either. Some nurses would apply gasoline to their hair to treat the lice!
One large danger they faced was, of course, the Germans. The hospitals were frequently the targets of German air raids. During these raids, nurses helped soldiers unable to run get under the beds. Able-bodied patients were ordered to run.
The nurses also had to deal with a lack of sterilization. Due to a lack of supplies, they did not have access to an autoclave (a heated container used for steam sterilizations of equipment) and had to improvise. Some of their improvisations included using methylated burners to sterilize instruments.
In Spring of 1916, the nurses and the hospital moved into huts. Four nurses lived together per two-room hut - two nurses per room. The huts also had floors, something their previous accommodation did not have, and they had access to a bathhouse and toilets. The hospital wards were also placed in huts and had built-in bathrooms.
While the Nursing Sisters worked long hours they did have some downtime. Sometimes they were invited to have tea with officers, they had the opportunity to visit a submarine, sporting events were sometimes organized, the Serbian band put on a concert on one occasion, and sometimes there were picnics.
But, make no mistake, nurses had a difficult job and the work and disease took its toll. Many nurses had to be evacuated to England to recover. As a result, reinforcements were needed!
This led to MacLeod working with fellow Islander, Nursing Sister Rena McLean. McLean was not new to the front, she helped set up the first Canadian hospital in France before being sent to Salonika as reinforcements.
Unfortunately, by this point, MacLeod was not in the best of health. She had lost about 30 pounds, was dealing with chronic dysentery, fever, and chest pain. The Medical Officer finally had her admitted to the hospital in Malta and recommended she be evacuated, or invalided, to England to recover.
The Medical Officer's orders were followed and she departed Salonika to Malta on January 2, 1916 (from there she went to England), but on her first night in England at the nurses' convalescent home in Margate, she experienced yet another German air raid.
By the end of the war, MacLeod had served in England, Salonika, Malta, France, Transport (North Atlantic-Acting Matron), and Canada.
Personal Side
Nurses were not allowed to keep diaries. If they were captured, a detailed diary could be of use - place names, soldier names and locations, troop movements, etc. But, they could keep an autograph book of poems, paintings, etc. Some of these were done by the nurses, others by their soldier patients.
One soldier wrote the following poem in MacLeod's autograph book:
I’ve joined at last the happy few
After the war, MacLeod returned to Charlottetown and became the Matron the Rena McLean Memorial Hospital. As the name of the hospital tells you, Rena McLean, MacLeod's fellow Islander serving in Salonika, did not service the war. On June 27, 1918, she drowned when a German submarine sank the Llandovery Castle off the coast of Ireland.
MacLeod was the second public health nurse on PEI and pioneered public health nursing in the province.
She died at the Phoenix Maternity Home in 1936 from chronic nephritis. She was 52 years old. She was buried on PEI and her military funeral was well attended. Members from the Overseas Nurses Association, Canadian Legion, Ladies' Auxillary of the Legion, and the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire all attended.
If you want to see MacLeod's military service records, they are available through the Library and Archives Canada - here.
Rena McLean's are available here.
Nurses were not allowed to keep diaries. If they were captured, a detailed diary could be of use - place names, soldier names and locations, troop movements, etc. But, they could keep an autograph book of poems, paintings, etc. Some of these were done by the nurses, others by their soldier patients.
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| A drawing one soldier patient created in MacLeod's autograph book. (Image Credit: The Guardian) |
One soldier wrote the following poem in MacLeod's autograph book:
I’ve joined at last the happy few
Who scorn ambition,Wealth.
I’d rather far be sick, with you
To nurse me back to health.
I cannot say a single joy
That Fate for me reserved
Since I was quite a tiny boy,
Has ever been deserved.
But surely that’s no reason why
My mind should be distressed
I take what comes! You can’t deny
That stolen fruits are best.
And so I’ll swing the lead and stay
As long as I’m allowed
And bless the land which gave the day
To Winifred MacLeod.
Signed Val Nye
Another soldier, wounded at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, wrote:
Hospital life is indeed most depressing
But one thing that I have always avowed
A heavenly moment is when I get dressing
Gently applied by dear Sister MacLeod
Signed: Gunner E.H. Smith
Post War
After the war, MacLeod returned to Charlottetown and became the Matron the Rena McLean Memorial Hospital. As the name of the hospital tells you, Rena McLean, MacLeod's fellow Islander serving in Salonika, did not service the war. On June 27, 1918, she drowned when a German submarine sank the Llandovery Castle off the coast of Ireland.
MacLeod was the second public health nurse on PEI and pioneered public health nursing in the province.
She died at the Phoenix Maternity Home in 1936 from chronic nephritis. She was 52 years old. She was buried on PEI and her military funeral was well attended. Members from the Overseas Nurses Association, Canadian Legion, Ladies' Auxillary of the Legion, and the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire all attended.
If you want to see MacLeod's military service records, they are available through the Library and Archives Canada - here.
Rena McLean's are available here.
Dewar, Katherine. "PEI nursing sisters keep a record of their service." The Guardian. January 14, 2017. http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/community/katherine-dewar-pei-nursing-sisters-keep-a-record-of-their-service-112755/
Dewar, Katherine. Those Splendid Girls: The Heroic Service of Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War, 1914-1918. Charlottetown: Island Studies Press, 2014.
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