“Help Us, Serve England”: First World War Military Nursing and National Identities

Abstract

Historians generally argue that the First World War was a defining experience from which Canadians emerged with a strong sense of national identity distinct from their British roots. There is little historical research on women’s wartime experiences and even less on military nurses. This article explores the working relationships of Nursing Sister Emeline Robinson with British nurses, VAD volunteers, orderlies, and medical officers during her one and a half years with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve through her diary, which spans her enlistment, resignation, and re-enlistment with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.