The Story Behind The Statue

World War I Nursing Sister Gladys Elizabeth (Matheson) Crim

R-A 26, 772, #14

Canadian General Hospital, East Bourne, February 1918

Gladys enlisted for military service on May, 25, 1917, and departed with the 25th Draft on December 12, 1917, as a Lieutenant Nursing Sister. Gladys arrived for duty on January 8, 1918, in East Bourne, England, at the No. 14 Canadian General Hospital Operating Room, as seen in the photo. Gladys explains her first experiences: " Here for the first time, I saw the torn and mutilated bodies of strong young men...and assisted in radical operations to save them from death, but often through the amputations of limbs, and seldom with hope that they could be restored to complete health again."

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Last Updated: May 13, 2008