Edith Cavell

Hero of the Resistance

On the 12^th October 1915, British nurse, Edith Cavell, was executed by firing squad for her involvement in helping allied soldiers escape to safety during the German occupation of Brussels.  The centenary of her death, October 2015, will commemorate Edith’s life in events across the UK and Belgium. 

The New Trail

The remarkable story of Edith Cavell captured my attention when I came across the Rue Edith Cavell, which is a short bike ride from where I live, just south west of the city centre.   There is a hospital named after her and a striking memorial also stands in Edith Cavell’s name.   Since then, I have pieced together the physical trail of Edith Cavell’s life as it unraveled throughout the war.   To follow the route and relive the life of Edith, go to the Edith Cavell Trailpage above.

Belgium’s Answer to Florence Nightingale

Edith Cavell was born in 1865 in the village of Swardeston, Norfolk.  Her first induction to Belgium came at the turn of the century when she was governess to a family living on the prestigious Avenue Louise in Brussels.  Edith then trained as a nurse in London and returned to Brussels in 1907, when Dr. Antoine Depage, the Belgian royal surgeon, appointed her as matron for a new professional nursing institute, which was situated on a quiet unassuming little street called Rue de la Culture.   The street name may have changed but the building where she worked remains.  The Berkendael Medical Institute was also her home, and the residents currently living here are captivated by the history of Edith Cavell’s subversive activities within these walls. Living in the French commune of Ixelles, Edith spoke French like a Parisian, attended the local Anglican Church and, according to letters that survive, was widely respected for her discipline and commitment to hard work. 

The Dogs of War

When the German onslaught began in 1914 and the Kaiser’s war machine overran the capital, Brussels, the Red Cross swiftly took over the hospitals.  Edith wrote that she could smell the burning and hear the roar of canon fire, which had already ravaged much of the country.  On a hot summer’s day on the 20th August 1914, Edith watched with her nurses as German infantry marched down Avenue Louise.  ‘Brave little Belgium’ had fallen.

“War is terrible in this little country where every one has a relative or friend in the army and where the fighting furthest from us must still be near at hand” – Edith Cavell.

Les Enfants Perdue

Edith instructed her nurses to care for all wounded soldiers regardless of whether they fought for the allies or for Germany.   Her mission was to save lives yet most of the injured were treated further afield, not far from the line of trenches that tore across Western Europe.   Edith’s chance came when thousands of French, Belgian and English troops were separated from their regiments after fierce battle on the front lines.  They became known as les enfants perdue - the lost children.  Many scrambled to find shelter with locals who saved them from falling into enemy hands but the stakes were high for all involved. 

Local Courage

Contemporary documents and letters tell us about the people and places of the local resistance connected to Edith and her work during the Belgian occupation.  Locals housed, fed and nursed the lost soldiers and then smuggled them into Brussels.  The goal was to get them to the safe haven of Holland.  From there, allied soldiers would return to England, or for a few, rejoin their regiments.

Saving Lives at all Costs

The stay in Brussels was perilous under the heavy weight of military occupation.  There were strict curfews and stringent rules of movement.  Anybody found guilty of housing allied troops could be shot and the growing web of spies and collaborators craved reward for spoiling any resistance efforts.  The remains of Edith Cavell’s diary and the letters written by others (including the soldiers she saved), show us how her nursing school became a safe house for allied soldiers smuggled to her from the front lines.  Edith hid them at great risk to her own safety, assigned them fictitious illnesses, got them false papers and surreptitiously accompanied them by foot and by tram to guides who would take them to the border with Holland.  

“I am not the only English soldier that your daughter (Edith Cavell) befriended, there are four more in my own Regiment besides the men of the other Regiments she helped.” – Private Arthur Wood, Cheshire Regiment

At one point, Edith’s nursing school housed eighty lost and wounded allied soldiers, but as the months went by, the risks of being found out became far greater.  One day, when the authorities inspected the school, Edith hid a soldier in a barrel and covered with him with apples.   Keeping the soldiers under wraps was tricky.  Sometimes the men she nursed and housed would socialize in the local, Bar Jules.  It now has a different name, but it is said that some of the original furniture remains.   Edith developed the art of deception in a city under strict military rule.  We know of her meeting places, how she evaded spies on the tram.  Local historians have carried out extensive research on the extent of the resistance network. 

Capture

After nine months of taking soldiers to safety, the net closed in on the resistance network.  Edith continued to save men from falling into enemy hands despite the fact that, as her letters tell us, she knew she was being watched.  The breaking point came when Georges Gaston Quien, a spy posing as a lost soldier broke the whole resistance network wide open.   After a plague of multiple arrests, Edith, along with Sister Wilkins was taken to Court B, in the Kommandabtur, Rue de la Loi.  She signed a number of depositions, which were dubious German to French translations.  The wording strongly implied that Edith had deliberately furnished the allies with soldiers.  This was treason, and it was on this flawed premise that the whole case against her would stand.   Edith, along with thirty-five others was taken to St Gilles prison.  It was in cell 23 where she would spend her final days.

Trial

On 7th October Edith Cavell’s trial began in the Senate along with the thirty-five accused.  Edith made it clear that her role was to save soldiers from a war zone, not supply them to the Allies but this was ignored.  Her Belgian defense lawyer had little voice against the German counsel.  The prosecution pushed for the death penalty, and because of the venom directed against the British, Edith Cavell grew especially vulnerable.   The authorities moved fast to make it a swift sentence, whilst diplomats and defense lawyers took little action to strongly intervene.   On her final night in cell 23, Edith penned her last letter to the nurses of her training school and prayed with the Chaplain.

‘We shall remember you as a heroine and a martyr,’ to which Edith responded, ‘don’t think of me like that. Think of me as a nurse who tried to do her duty.’ – Recorded by the Chaplain who last spoke to Edith on the eve of her death.

Death

Within twelve hours of her sentencing, Edith Cavell was executed.   Along with Philip Baucq, a key member of the local resistance, she was shot three times at the shooting range of the Tir National and then hastily buried.   It is recorded that in the face of her imminent death, she showed extraordinary courage.   Although the figures are hard to prove, Edith Cavell may have saved as many as 1,500 men.   It may be the case that only 12 of these men rejoined their regiments.

Tainted Pacifist

In the aftermath of her death, in Edith’s own words in life, the ‘dogs of war’ were unleashed when the British government used Edith Cavell's death as a propaganda tool to persuade soldiers to enlist.   Edith was martyred as a patriot, a far cry from how she wanted to be remembered.  Bold and high-level intervention saved the rest of the accused from execution and after the war; Edith’s body was exhumed and buried in grand ceremony at Norwich Cathedral.  Her martyred figure is carved out in monuments all over the world but on the centenary of her death, surely it is our duty to highlight the true sacrifice of Edith Cavell:  She was a fervent humanitarian who made her stand against the needless bloodshed caused by national enmity.  She believed it was her duty to save lives, whether ally or foe.   What stronger message could make Edith Cavell a woman for our time?

“Patriotism is not enough.  I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone”- Edith Cavell

Map of the Route. A Google Map with the route is near completion and can be found on this link: Edith Cavell Trail.

Archives.  I highly recommend the book, Edith Cavell, by Diana Souhami, which draws upon a diversity of archives, including the letters written by Edith and the accounts of her story by others. I had the pleasure of interviewing Diana at the British School of Brussels.


Research into the activities of the wider underground resistance, to which Edith was connected, is fairly recent. The book by historians Emmanuel Debruyne and Jehanne Paternostre: La Resistance Au Quotidien 1914-18, explores the daily struggle of the unarmed resistance in a time of ruthless occupation. The book explores the underground press and mail service and of course the dangerous escapes to the Dutch border. Je Serai Fusille Demain, written by Emmanuel Debruyne and Laurence Van Ypersele, includes the last letters that were written by some of the 300 patriots of Belgium and northern France on the eve of their execution.

Television. Flanders TV recently showed a program on the impact of the Great War in Belgium, focusing on foreign stories, such as the Chinese, Indian and Congolese experience. About 13 minutes in, there is the story of Edith Cavell. Here is the link to watch: Fans of Flanders. Film. Lots of original footage from the British Pathe has just been released, including the funeral of Edith Cavell and the impact of the war on Belgium. It looks like Flanders TV used footage from the 1939 film, Nurse Edith Cavell. There is a short film by Norwich University, which features an interview with Nick Miller and the village where Edith came from: Howest university College.

Exhibitions. There is currently an exhibition on (until April 2015) at the Museum of Military History in Brussels: It's Our History! - The original film footage of the German occupation of the city is on show, plus a reconstruction of a prison cell, very similar to the photograph of Cell 23 where Edith Cavell was incarcerated. There is also a reconstruction of the Kommandatur offices, where resistance operatives like Edith would have been grilled before being sent to prison. Edith Cavell's bible with her annotations is also on display plus a section of the German command post on the border with Holland. Further detail on what is on offer: centenarynews.A new exhibition, Brussels at war 1914-18, opens on 21st August 1914 until 3 May 2015. It will draw upon a rich and extensive archive to show the impact of the war on Brussels. A great deal of preparation is underway to mark the Edith Cavell Centenary in October, 2015, in the UK and in Brussels.