Lives of the First World War

Jessie M McDiarmid, Canadian Army Medical Corps. Drowned when the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle was torpedoed 27 June 1918.

The Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle, bound from Halifax, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool, was torpedoed on June 27th, 1918, 114 miles south-west of the Fastnet Rock by U-86. Despite regulation Red Cross lights, the ship was deliberately torpedoed and most survivors, including 14 Nursing Sisters were machine gunned. The Llandovery Castle became the rallying cry for the Canadian troops during the Last 100 Days offensive. Only 24 people in one remaining lifeboat survived.

Detail image of part of the "Women of the Empire" memorial panels in York Minster.

Overview image of the "Women of the Empire" memorial panels in York Minster.

A Memorial to Voluntary Aid Detachment and Professional Nurses who lost their lives in the 1st and 2nd World Wars, at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, dedicated and unveiled on 4th June 2018 at an event attended by HRH The Countess of Wessex GCVO, Royal Patron of the Nursing Memorial Appeal. The memorial takes the form of hands cast in bronze holding a globe carrying the names of nurses who lost their lives in service in the two World Wars. Further information about the memorial can be found on the Nursing Memorial Appeal website at www.nursingmemorialappeal.org.uk