Remembrance Day: Unsung heroes to be honoured in Lindsay

As Remembrance Day observances continue across Canada, staff with the Victoria County Historical Society and the Old Lindsay Jail Museum felt it was time to remember a group of unsung heroes who have fallen through the cracks of history.  Over 7,000 Canadian women served as nurses in Canada and overseas, at hospitals, field surgeries and casualty clearing stations.

Eighteen women from the Lindsay area were members of what was called the Bluebirds, after the colour of their uniforms. The Victoria County Historical Society has photos, letters and uniforms that belonged to some of these women and will form the basis for a service of remembrance on Sunday at 7 pm at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in Lindsay.

“We’ve all been commemorating the battles and the bloodshed and the soldiers and we thought as we go toward the end of the war commemoration we should concentrate on some of the people who are often overlooked,” David Wesley of the historical society, said.

As was common during that era, those overseas kept in touch with those at home by mail. The service — at St Paul’s Anglican Church — will feature readings from letters by Lindsay-area nursing sisters.

“One poor lad told me he prayed for death in the trenches.  He said to me ‘Sister, why did you ever leave your happy home in Canada to come to this awful place?’ I told him it was to heal a poor lonely heart like his. He is only 18 past, he has both limbs broken and a gunshot wound in the abdomen. He will never be able to walk without crutches,” wrote Catherine McKinnon in 1917.

Along with the readings, the service will include period music and refreshments.

“The Saint Paul’s Choir will be singing a couple of anthems from the time period that have been specifically chosen for the occasion, and afterwards there will be a reception with some goodies that are being prepared from First World War recipes,” Ian McKechnie, Old Gaol Museum curatorial assistant, said.