NOVEMBER 10, 2022 | THE WELLINGTON ADVERTISER | 15
Remembrance Day LEST WE FORGET
Who was ‘bluebird’ Alice Hindley? By Jordan Snobelen Nursing Sister Alice Hindley. Courtesy of WCMA
ABOYNE - When nurse Alice Hindley boarded the S.S. Adriatic in Halifax on May 19, 1916, she couldn’t have known what lay in store on the other side of the Atlantic. It’s true that nearly two years into the First World War, the allure of battle had since been drenched in the blood of millions of lives that had been wiped from the Earth. But Alice still couldn’t have prepared for what she would see in England, and later in France, not far from the Western Front. The nursing profession was in its infancy. Nurses accounted for about two per cent of the female workforce in Canada in 1911, according to Canada’s fifth census. The war provided thousands of nurses short on job prospects a way to make money and answer a gripping sense of duty. So, at 32 years old, unmarried, and educated at the Hamilton General Hospital Training School, Alice Eva Hindley left her job at Scott Hospital in Saskatchewan and enlisted as a nursing sister in the First World War, following in the spirit of Florence Nightingale, who died just four years before Britain declared war on the German Empire, and is widely credited
Remember
Thank you Veterans
ON NOVEMBER 11TH
THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED
for laying the foundations of modern nursing. Nursing in war was an even newer concept at the time. Nightingale trained nurses and cared for soldiers in Constantinople, during the Crimean War, proving nurses’ usefulness to the wounded. When war broke out in 1914, Canada, woefully ill-prepared militarily and on the medical front, was dragged into the fray only having used nurses for the first time in battle during the Boer War in 1899. The same year, the Militia Medical Service was formed and later absorbed into the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1904, with only five permanent nurses. The first contingent of 100 nurses was dispatched from across Canada to England in 1914. By the end of the war, at least 2,411 Canadian women had served overseas as nursing sisters. *** Over a century later, on Oct. 26, Alice’s relatives, some who have never met before, are gathered in a textile storage room at the Wellington County Museum and Archives (WCMA). Alice’s nursing uniform, a lightblue cotton dress with a white apron and two First Lieutenant’s stars affixed at the shoulders, is cleaned
and mounted for display. The complete uniform, with a white veil worn while on duty, led to the nurses being known as “bluebirds” by soldiers. Alice’s uniform has two small rips on the right sleeve, and accompanying straps and cuffs are yellowed with age. Next to the dress, is a navy-blue coat with golden buttons. Rudimentary tools of the trade, including scalpels, scissors, forceps, and an old thermometer, have been laid out and organized neatly in a box. In other boxes are medals, clasps and buttons, all displayed for the roughly 14 family members who discuss the memorabilia and their memories of “Aunt Allie,” as she was affectionately known. Before arriving here, the instruments had been confined to a desk drawer, out of sight and out of mind, says Cathy Parr Hughes, who received the items from her mother. As for Alice’s uniform, also in Hughes’ care, it was used as a Halloween costume on more than one occasion, she admitted. “It’s a miracle it survived,” she remarked. Norma Hindley can be credited for the gathering and reuniting of Alice’s wartime wares. SEE FIRST WORLD WAR » 18
Lest We Forget
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REMEMBERING &
HONOURING OUR HEROES Pictured above Canadian Flat Roofing President Troy Mason and Second World War Vet, 100 year old Alfred Grubb
Honouring our Hero
A couple of days after a phone call for a quote, we met the most incredible man! Not only did he become our customer but now a cherished friend. President Troy Mason stated “I am so glad to have met such an honourable man. Thank you Alfred, for the opportunity to work with you. It’s a pleasure and honour to listen to your experiences, knowledge and zest for life!” Alfred Grubb of Teeswater, a second World War veteran is now 101 years old.
Alfred
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t e g r o F e w t s Le
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