Page 18 - QARANC Vol 14 No 12 2016

16 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Edith Cavell Commemorative Tour
On a cold wet September morning members of the Millbank branch gathered to commence their 4 day Edith Louisa Cavell Commemoration Tour in Belgium. We were welcomed by our Chairman Linda Kibbey and tour guide Dr John Richardson, both we thank for their organisation and hard work to give us an excellent tour.
Our first introduction to Edith Cavell was to drive past her Monument in Trafalgar Square. This was a very significant tour being the centenary year of Edith Cavell’s death by a German firing squad on October 12th 1915 for treason though she was not a German National but British through and through. Her sister Lilian Wainwright had suggested that no monuments be erected, but funds for a public memorial were raised. A Statue was commissioned and across the world there are memorials to this courageous lady.
The statue which is in St Martin’s Place London was designed and sculpted by Sir George Frampton (who declined his fee). The inscription reads Edith Cavell Brussels Dawn October 12th 1915.
On the night before her execution she was given Holy Communion and had said to the Reverend Stirling Gahan “Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.” Those words were added in 1924 to the pedestal beneath her statue at the request of the National Council of Women. Other inscriptions on the memorial are Humility, For King and Country, Devotion Fortitude and Sacrifice. The Memorial was unveiled by Queen Alexandra in 1920.
All our information on Edith was given by Dr John Richardson who had obviously done a great deal of research and gave us a very comprehensive account of her life history throughout our journey.
Having visited the War Graves in Belgium, Holland and France on numerous occasions this was one of the best tours I have been on. The tour was not just about Edith Cavell but about how the Belgium people with their courageous resistance was crucial in giving Britain time to move an expeditionary force across the channel.
We visited the Fort de Loncin which was a ring of ancient forts that defended Lie’ge. Belgium as we know to-day became an independent nation around the 1830’s In 1888 a far seeing General had 12 forts built as a defence against Germany using their country as a corridor to France. This fort made of huge blocks of concrete had an operating theatre
and ward, proper toilets and showers /laundrette with ironing room/a system for lighting and even a system to allow fresh air to circulate. In peace time the fort accommodated 70 people but once WW1 broke out 550 soldiers were billeted there.
In August 1914 Loncin was the only fort at Liege that did not surrender. At that time the Germans had a huge gun called “Big Bertha” and one of the magazines with 12 tons of explosive destroyed the fort killing 350 of the soldiers. The site to-day is a war grave and a fascinating museum. Our guides were volunteers who were enthusiastic and very proud of their heritage.
The 2nd museum I loved housed the WW1 exhibition but in addition to that was the history of their country a huge museum with lots to see unfortunately time was short and we had to move on. The rest of this 3rd day was visiting the sites where Edith Cavell had lived and worked both as a Governess prior to returning to England to nurse her ill father and after his death only then did she complete nurse training and going back to Brussels where she was the Matron at a training school for nurses. The houses used as the school was also her home and it was from here that she hid lost allied soldiers (we were told that 200+ were sheltered but that number was subsequently increased to 900) before they were smuggled to the border to neutral Holland.
They have a hospital named after Edith and at the back of the hospital in a very small garden away from the hustle and bustle of hospital life her original tomb stone has been placed.
We then visited the Senate Chamber where Edith’s trial along with 35 other members of the resistance was carried out. A commemorative plaque hangs on the Senate wall. The Senate one of two chambers of the Federal Parliament of Belgium. Very interesting place.
We then went to St Symphorien War Cemetery it is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have visited. The cemetery was established by the German Army during the First World War as a final resting place for British and German soldiers killed at the Battle of Mons. Among those buried is Private John Parr of the Middlesex Regiment, who was fatally wounded during an encounter with a German patrol two days before the battle, thus becoming the first British soldier to be killed in action on the Western Front August 1914. It also contains the graves of Commonwealth and German soldiers who died in the final days of the conflict, including George Ellison of the Royal Irish
Terri Pitts and Sue Roberts at Edith Cavell’s execution site Belgium
Terri reading a prayer