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| Edith Cavell, shot by Germans during WWI, celebrated 100 years on | Edith Cavell, shot by Germans during WWI, celebrated 100 years on |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| On 12 October 1915, British nurse Edith Cavell was shot at dawn by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping hundreds of allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium. | On 12 October 1915, British nurse Edith Cavell was shot at dawn by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping hundreds of allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium. |
| Related: From the archive, 22 October 1915: The execution of Miss Cavell | |
| A century later, she is being celebrated in exhibitions and concerts in Norwich Cathedral and in public buildings in the city, and in the nearby village of Swardeston where her father was vicar and where she grew up. | A century later, she is being celebrated in exhibitions and concerts in Norwich Cathedral and in public buildings in the city, and in the nearby village of Swardeston where her father was vicar and where she grew up. |
| Cavell was hailed as a Christian martyr concerned only with saving the lives of allied soldiers. Her execution provoked outrage in Britain. Egged on by the government, she was dubbed “our Joan of Arc” by the press. | Cavell was hailed as a Christian martyr concerned only with saving the lives of allied soldiers. Her execution provoked outrage in Britain. Egged on by the government, she was dubbed “our Joan of Arc” by the press. |
| “Everybody must feel disgusted at the barbarous actions of the German soldiery in murdering this great and glorious specimen of womanhood,” wrote Arthur Conan Doyle. | “Everybody must feel disgusted at the barbarous actions of the German soldiery in murdering this great and glorious specimen of womanhood,” wrote Arthur Conan Doyle. |
| A headline in the Manchester Guardian on 22 October 1915 read: “Merciless Execution of Nurse Cavell,” while an editorial dwelled on the “callousness” and “brutality” of the German occupiers in Belgium, and the way Cavell’s execution was carried out quickly and secretly. | A headline in the Manchester Guardian on 22 October 1915 read: “Merciless Execution of Nurse Cavell,” while an editorial dwelled on the “callousness” and “brutality” of the German occupiers in Belgium, and the way Cavell’s execution was carried out quickly and secretly. |
| Her death, at a time when the war was going badly for the allies, led to a huge increase in the number of volunteers signing up to join the British army. | Her death, at a time when the war was going badly for the allies, led to a huge increase in the number of volunteers signing up to join the British army. |
| Cavell is remembered in Norwich above all as a pioneering nurse. One of her lasting legacies is the Cavell Nurses’ Trust, which provides financial support for nurses in need. She had returned to Belgium, where she had set up the first secular training hospital for nurses, after the outbreak of war in 1914, saying: “At a time like this, I am needed more than ever”. | Cavell is remembered in Norwich above all as a pioneering nurse. One of her lasting legacies is the Cavell Nurses’ Trust, which provides financial support for nurses in need. She had returned to Belgium, where she had set up the first secular training hospital for nurses, after the outbreak of war in 1914, saying: “At a time like this, I am needed more than ever”. |
| Nick Miller, the chair of the Norfolk Cavell 2015 Partnership said: “To me she seems to embody the Good Samaritan. Edith risked her own life over nine months to help men who came to her with no way home.” | Nick Miller, the chair of the Norfolk Cavell 2015 Partnership said: “To me she seems to embody the Good Samaritan. Edith risked her own life over nine months to help men who came to her with no way home.” |
| Related: Edith Cavell: nurse, martyr, and spy? | Vanessa Heggie | |
| But other, more uncomfortable, sides to her story are emerging amid renewed controversy over her legacy, and even the wording on her statue outside St Martin-in-the-Fields near Trafalgar Square in London. | But other, more uncomfortable, sides to her story are emerging amid renewed controversy over her legacy, and even the wording on her statue outside St Martin-in-the-Fields near Trafalgar Square in London. |
| Cavell’s biographer, Diana Souhami, records that following her execution, MI5 was anxious to suppress anything that would implicate Cavell in spying. Stella Rimington, a former head of the intelligence agency, said recently after researching Belgian archives: “Her main objective was to get hidden allied soldiers back to Britain but, contrary to the common perception of her, we have uncovered clear evidence that her organisation was involved in sending back secret intelligence to the allies.” | Cavell’s biographer, Diana Souhami, records that following her execution, MI5 was anxious to suppress anything that would implicate Cavell in spying. Stella Rimington, a former head of the intelligence agency, said recently after researching Belgian archives: “Her main objective was to get hidden allied soldiers back to Britain but, contrary to the common perception of her, we have uncovered clear evidence that her organisation was involved in sending back secret intelligence to the allies.” |
| The intelligence included information about a German trench system, the location of munitions dumps and aircraft. Details were written in ink on strips of fabric and sewn into clothes, or hidden in shoes and boots. | The intelligence included information about a German trench system, the location of munitions dumps and aircraft. Details were written in ink on strips of fabric and sewn into clothes, or hidden in shoes and boots. |
| Yet it remained unclear, Rimington told BBC Radio 4’s programme, The Untold Story of Edith Cavell, last month, what Cavell precisely knew about the spying network. | Yet it remained unclear, Rimington told BBC Radio 4’s programme, The Untold Story of Edith Cavell, last month, what Cavell precisely knew about the spying network. |
| Richard Maguire of the University of East Anglia (UEA), goes further. He told the Guardian: “Cavell was not merely acting as a nurse and treating the wounded – she could have done this without helping those soldiers to then escape”. | Richard Maguire of the University of East Anglia (UEA), goes further. He told the Guardian: “Cavell was not merely acting as a nurse and treating the wounded – she could have done this without helping those soldiers to then escape”. |
| He added: “I think we now have to accept that the likelihood is that Cavell was working for British intelligence, or at the very least was happy for the network to be used for its purposes. | He added: “I think we now have to accept that the likelihood is that Cavell was working for British intelligence, or at the very least was happy for the network to be used for its purposes. |
| “Does this make Cavell a spy? That depends upon your definition of the term. I would argue that the balance of evidence suggests that she was certainly an active and very successful agent for the British government’s war effort.” | “Does this make Cavell a spy? That depends upon your definition of the term. I would argue that the balance of evidence suggests that she was certainly an active and very successful agent for the British government’s war effort.” |
| Cavell was found guilty of treason, specifically by providing “reinforcements” to Germany’s enemies, rather than of spying. She confessed to helping wounded allied troops escape, mainly to neutral Netherlands, but insisted she was acting out of purely humanitarian motives. | Cavell was found guilty of treason, specifically by providing “reinforcements” to Germany’s enemies, rather than of spying. She confessed to helping wounded allied troops escape, mainly to neutral Netherlands, but insisted she was acting out of purely humanitarian motives. |
| Interestingly, the Red Cross took the view that Cavell was protected by the Geneva conventions only for her work for wounded soldiers (allied or German), not for helping people escape from Belgium. She was condemned at her trial, not as a nurse, but as someone committing a political act. | Interestingly, the Red Cross took the view that Cavell was protected by the Geneva conventions only for her work for wounded soldiers (allied or German), not for helping people escape from Belgium. She was condemned at her trial, not as a nurse, but as someone committing a political act. |
| Even the words on her London statue remain controversial. “King and Country” is engraved at its apex. After protests from the National Council of Women of Great Britain and Ireland in 1923 Labour’s prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, agreed the statue should include what were recorded as Cavell’s final words on the eve of her execution. The inscription, “Patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone”, added near the base of the statue. | Even the words on her London statue remain controversial. “King and Country” is engraved at its apex. After protests from the National Council of Women of Great Britain and Ireland in 1923 Labour’s prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, agreed the statue should include what were recorded as Cavell’s final words on the eve of her execution. The inscription, “Patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone”, added near the base of the statue. |
| “So Edith Cavell’s statue became a muddle monument of opposing views”, Souhami says. | “So Edith Cavell’s statue became a muddle monument of opposing views”, Souhami says. |
| Yet her final words to Stirling Gahan, the Anglican chaplain in Brussels, remain unclear. Those on the statue are taken from the typed version he sent to the American legation in Brussels, which passed them on to London. Gahan’s manuscript note, seen by Miller, records her saying: “Patriotism is not enough. It is not enough to love one’s own people, one must love all men and hate none ...” There is speculation among those concerned in the Cavell story that these words went too far and were too pacifist for the British government to accept. | Yet her final words to Stirling Gahan, the Anglican chaplain in Brussels, remain unclear. Those on the statue are taken from the typed version he sent to the American legation in Brussels, which passed them on to London. Gahan’s manuscript note, seen by Miller, records her saying: “Patriotism is not enough. It is not enough to love one’s own people, one must love all men and hate none ...” There is speculation among those concerned in the Cavell story that these words went too far and were too pacifist for the British government to accept. |
| “She could not endorse the patriotisms of the warring parties – German, British or Belgian”, Miller emphasised. The Cavell Nurses’ Trust is to launch a national “moment of thanks” to today’s nurses. | “She could not endorse the patriotisms of the warring parties – German, British or Belgian”, Miller emphasised. The Cavell Nurses’ Trust is to launch a national “moment of thanks” to today’s nurses. |