Among
the poets who were nurses during WW1 was Rosaleen Graves, sister of the soldier
poet and writer Robert Graves.
Rosaleen's poem "The Smells of Home" was the first poem
written by Rosaleen that I read. I was so impressed that I had to find out more
about her.
Rosaleen was born in Wimbledon
on 7thMarch 1894. Her father was Alfred
Perceval Graves, the second son of The Rt. Rev. Charles Graves, Bishop of
Limerick (1846 – 1931). Alfred was a
school inspector originally from Taunton, Somerset, and her mother was Amalie
(‘Amy’) Elizabeth Sophie (or Sophia) von Ranke (1857 – 1951), eldest daughter
of Professor Heinrich von Ranke MD, of Munich.
Rosaleen’s grandmother was the daughter of Norwegian astronomer Ludwig
Tiarks. Rosaleen’s father was an
Anglo-Irish poet, born in Dublin.
Rosaleen
was not only a poet but also an accomplished musician. She joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment on 17th
September 1915 and, after initial training in Chislehurst and London, was sent
to No. 54 General Hospital in Wimereux, France on 23rd November 1917. Rosaleen served in France until 14th March
1919.
No.
54 Hospital in Wimereux was one of the Base Hospitals known as "London
General Hospital" and was in operation from July 1917 until May 1919 - not in time to help Kitty Treveleyan.
You
can find a comprehensive description of the Base Hospitals in France and
elsewhere during the First World War, by following the
link http://www.1914-1918.net/hospitals.htm
Rosaleen's
poem "The Smells of Home" - which awakened my curiosity and made me
find out more about Rosaleen - was first published in "The Spectator"
on 30th November 1918 and is included on page 269 of the WW1 Anthology
"The Winter of the World Poems of the First World War", edited by
Dominic Hibberd and John Onions, published by Constable and Robinson Ltd.,
London, 2007.
Kitty Trevelyan
was 19 years old when she died. Kitty had volunteered
at the outbreak of war, which would have been quite difficult for her as she
was under age. She joined the British
Army Service Corps Canteens and was sent to France. Kitty's parents were the late Captain Walter
Raleigh Trevelyan from Dublin and his wife, Alice, who had re-married and
become Mrs Sinclair. Kitty lived with
her mother in the village of Meany in Devon before the war.
Sue
Robinson of the Group Wenches in Trenches The Roses of No Man's Land has been
researching Kitty for many years and regularly visits Kitty's grave in Wimereux
Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
Sue has managed to get Kitty's name inscribed on the War Memorial in
Meany and a special service of dedication is to be held there today - Sunday,
27th February 2017.
Along with Kitty in Wimereux Communal Cemetery, you will find the graves of some of the other women who died while serving during the First World War: Mildred Clayton-Swan, Emily Helena Cole, Isabella Duncan, Margaret Evans, Jessie Hockey, Nita King, Alice Lancaster, Rubie Pickard (who at 67 is among the oldest of the volunteers during WW1), Barbara St. John, Anna Whitely, Christina Wilson and Myrtle Wilson. "We will remember them…"
Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission List of
Female Casualties of the First World War, Sue Robinson of Wenches in
Trenches The Roses of No Man's Land and "The Winter of the World Poems of the First World War" Eds. D. Hibberd and J. Onions (Constable & Robinson Ltd., London, 2007)
