Edith Blake (1885 - 1918)

Sister Edith Blake

Edith Blake was born in 1885 in Sans Souci, New South Wales (Australia). She was the eldest child of Charles Blake and Catherine Canham. ^[1] The family later settled in Redfern, in Sydney's inner southern suburbs.

Having trained at the Coast Hospital, Little Bay, New South Wales (later Prince Henry Hospital and now Prince Henry Hospital site), Edith was one of almost 130 Australian nurses who volunteered to serve in the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) during the (First World) War, having enlisted on 4th April 1915. She nursed in the 1st Australian General Hospital in Cairo for eighteen months before transferring to the 17th British General Hospital in Alexandria. Soon afterward she began serving aboard the HMHS Essequibo and from May 1917 nursed Germans at the Belmont Prisoner of War Hospital, Surrey, before successfully requesting a transfer to the HMHS Glenart Castle in November 1917. ^[2] The Glenart Castle was formerly the Galician, taken into service by the Royal Navy in October 1914 and refitted as a hospital ship. On 25th February 1918, Glenart Castle left Newport, South Wales, heading towards Brest, France, to collect patients. A little before 4am on the 26th, Glenart Castle was hit by a torpedo fired from the German U-boat UC-56 in the No. 3 hold. The blast destroyed most of the lifeboats, with the subsequent pitch of the vessel hindering attempts to launch the remaining boats. The ship sank within seven to eight minutes, with just 29 of some 182 on board surviving. All eight QAIMNS nurses, including Edith, died; no doubt putting their patients before their own welfare. ^[3]

Next-of-Kin plaque

She bequeathed her life policy, wages due and her personal belongings to her mother. ^[4] her campaign and service medals were issued to her mother after the war: 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Edith's name is recorded on the Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton. Her family placed a small memorial notice in the Sydney Morning Herald on the first anniversary of her death:

"For her there were no flowers

To adorn the unmarked surface of the water;

The ocean alone decks her grave with gifts of pearls and shell,

And wreathes her brow with seaweeds rare." ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #3151/1885; registered at Sydney
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Australian War Memorial: Next of Kin Plaque - Sister Edith Blake, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service; accessed 24 Feb 2022
3. ↑ Vane-Tempest, Krista. Edith Blake’s War. New South Publishing, Sydney NSW, 2021. ISBN 9781742237398
4. ↑ Prince Henry Hospital; accessed 24 Feb 2022

See also

• Vane-Tempest, Krista. Edith Blake’s War. New South Publishing, Sydney NSW, 2021. ISBN 9781742237398.