BRUSSELS – Belgium is commemorating the execution of British World War I nurse Edith Cavell by the German forces that occupied the country, lauding her outstanding contribution to humanity.
Germany accused Cavell of helping injured Britons escape and shot her at dawn on October 12, 1915. Around much of the world, she has largely been forgotten but at the time, the allied nations considered her a martyr in the war effort and saw her death as more proof of German brutality.
On Monday, the Belgian senate met in a special session with Princess Anne of Britain in attendance to mark the event.
Cavell, 48, was the head of a nursing school in Brussels when Germany invaded Belgium in 1914. While caring for all victims, she also helped many allied soldiers escape.
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