Helen Kendall
Helen Kendall | |
|---|---|
 Helen Kendall in 1919 | |
| Birth name | Helen Mary Kendall |
| Born | 29 October 1892 Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | 4 December 1985 (aged 93) Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Branch | Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Awards | Royal Red Cross (Class 2) |
| Relations | Henry Ernest Kendall (father) |
Helen Mary Kendall ARRC (29 October 1892 – 4 December 1985) was a Canadian military nurse from Nova Scotia. She was one of 446 Canadians awarded the Royal Red Cross for her military service during the First World War. A graduate of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Kendall served with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during both the First World War and Second World War.
Life and career
[edit]Helen Kendall was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia on 29 October 1892,[1] the daughter of Henry Ernest Kendall, a respected physician who also served in the First World War.[2] She trained in surgical nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, graduating in 1916. Following her graduation, she briefly practised as an anaesthetist.[3]
In March 1917, Kendall sailed aboard HMHS Essequibo in March 1917 and served in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps as a nursing sister. She was one of about 3,000 Canadian women to serve in this way during the First World War. During the voyage the ship was intercepted by a German submarine, but was allowed to continue, arriving at its destination the following day on 16 March 1917. Her first posting during the war was at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital in Orpington, Kent, England.[3]
Later in 1917, Kendall was deployed to military hospitals in France.[4] In May 1918, she was stationed at a hospital in Étaples, which came under heavy bombardment from German bomber aircraft attempting to destroy a nearby bridge. For her service during this period, she was awarded the Royal Red Cross (Class 2) in 1919,[5] one of only 446 Canadians to receive the distinction.[4]
In 1920, Kendall participated in post-war medical and educational missions in Romania, where she worked in both hospitals and nursing schools.[6]
Following the First World War, Kendall continued to serve in England until 1919. She returned to military service during the Second World War, serving as a nurse at a hospital in Basingstoke until 1942, when she returned to Canada.[4]
Kendall died on 4 December 1985 in Cape Breton at the age of 93. She never married and had no children.[7]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Beaton Institute; Cape Breton Post (1985).
- ^ Beaton Institute.
- ^ a b Woodbury (2021); Caplan (1983).
- ^ a b c Woodbury 2021.
- ^ "No. 31482". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 July 1919. p. 9829.
- ^ The Winnipeg Tribune 1920.
- ^ Cape Breton Post (1985); Woodbury (2021).
Sources
[edit]- [Beaton Institute]. "Helen Kendall: Nursing Sister". Cape Breton and the First World War. Beaton Institute. Digital Museums Canada. Archived from the original on 10 February 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- [Cape Breton Post] (5 December 1985). "Obituary: Miss Helen Kendall, 93, Sydney". Cape Breton Post. Cape Breton Island, NS.
- Caplan, Robert (1 August 1983). "World War One Continues: Nursing-Sisters in England and France". Cape Breton Magazine. p. 6. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- [The Winnipeg Tribune] (9 September 1920). "Local Nurse Will Serve in Rumania". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, MB. Retrieved 6 May 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- Woodbury, Richard (11 November 2021). "'Nasty work': The forgotten role of Canada's nursing sisters during WW I". CBC News. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- Nicholson, Gerald W. L. (1975). Canada's Nursing Sisters. Toronto: S. Stevens. ISBN 0-8886-6567-9. LCCN 76361573.
External links
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| How to use archival material |
- Helen Kendall at Library and Archives Canada
- Lieutenant Helen Mary Kendall at Great Canadian War Project
