Edith Cavell was a nurse who was executed by the Germans
during World War I. Her death did much to excite anti-German feelings in Great
Britain and make the British more determined to win the War.
A notable statue
This statue stands in St Martin’s Place in central London,
opposite the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery and facing towards
Trafalgar Square. It is therefore seen by thousands of people every day, many
of whom may not know the story behind it.
The woman portrayed is Edith Cavell, a nurse who died during
the First World War, shot by a German firing squad. The wording on the statue
gives the details of her death: “Brussels Dawn October 12th 1915”
but not her birth, which was in 1865. Below this is a quotation of words she
spoke shortly before her execution: “Patriotism is not enough, I must have no
hatred or bitterness for anyone”.
Behind the statue is a high stone plinth, twice the height
of the statue, with the words “For King and Country” at the top and four words
around the sides of the plinth: Humanity, Fortitude, Devotion and Sacrifice.
The statue, by Sir George Frampton, was erected in 1920 and
unveiled by Queen Alexandra. The quotation mentioned above was added in 1924.
Edith Cavell
So who was Edith Cavell? She was a London-trained nurse who
established a clinic and nursing school in Brussels, Belgium, in 1910. On the
outbreak of World War I in 1914 she had been in England but returned to
Brussels to continue her work there. Belgium was quickly overrun by the German
army and Nurse Cavell was kept very busy treating wounded soldiers of several
nationalities, including Germans.
She became involved in a scheme to smuggle British and
French soldiers out of Belgium to neutral Holland, from where they could be
repatriated rather than taken prisoner. She allowed her house to be part of the
chain of safe houses through which the scheme was conducted, and for this
reason she was arrested by the Germans in August 1915. The total number of
British and French prisoners of war, and Belgian civilians, that she helped to
escape was probably around 200.
Despite representations made from many quarters, including
the still neutral United States, Edith Cavell and another conspirator faced the
firing squad. She died instantly from four bullet wounds. Her body was
initially buried in Brussels but was later (after the end of the war)
repatriated to Britain where she was finally laid to rest in Norwich Cathedral,
not far from her home village.
A spy or a traitor?
It is sometimes implied that Edith Cavell was executed for
espionage, but this is not so. Her activities counted as treason according to
the German military law that now applied to Belgium, and the law made no
distinction between German nationals and those of other countries who happened
to be living in German-occupied territories.
Whether or not Germany was legally justified in executing
Edith Cavell, and the facts do seem to point in that direction, doing so was
probably unwise because the event became something of a recruitment poster in
Great Britain at a time before conscription was introduced. Much play was made
of the fact that Edith Cavell’s actions had been entirely humanitarian and that
she made no distinction between nationalities when it came to treating wounded
soldiers.
On the other hand, Germany could be painted in the British
press as a source of evil and a regime that condemned women to death, which was
something that Britain never did during World War I, whatever the
circumstances. Not much was needed to cast Germany in the role of monster, and to
persuade young men to join the army to prevent more such horrors taking place,
but the death of Edith Cavell was one such happening.
The impressive statue will continue to remind passers-by of the
brave and remarkable woman who displayed those qualities of humanity,
fortitude, devotion and sacrifice in equal measure.
© John Welford
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