Nursing Sister Jessie Nelson King the daughter of Mrs C A King of Victoria, British Columbia. Nursing Sister King a graduate of the Royal Jubilee Hospital School of Nursing, Victoria, British Columbia, Class of 1916.
Sister of Lieutenant Albert Nelson King, who died while serving with the Royal Horse Artillery. At the time of his death, Jessie studying nursing at Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, B.C. Brother Cecil, sister Sybil, in addition, eldest daughter of the late Alfred Nelson Codrington King, and granddaughter of the late Captain J N King, Royal Navy.
Early life of Jessie Nelson King
Jessie came to Victoria aged 8, educated at South Park and Girls’ Central schools. She studied in Montreal with her brother, afterwards Rhodes Scholar and Lieutenant Nelson King. After her return to Victoria she entered the Jubilee Hospital, and later on 6 December 1916, joined the service of her country as a nurse. Her first work at Work Point.
Enlistment of Nursing Sister Jessie Nelson King
Nursing Sister Jessie Nelson King enlisted for overseas service on 28 April 1917 in Victoria, British Columbia. King sailed from Canada on 30 May 1917 and later disembarked in England on 14 June 1917. Later posted to No 9 Canadian Stationary Hospital on 21 June 1917.
King posted to No 12 Canadian General Hospital on 12 October 1917, but soon transferred to No 1 Canadian General Hospital on 8 November 1917.
No 1 Canadian General Hospital
The hospital left Quebec 30 September 1914 aboard SS SCANDINAVIAN, and after spending some time at Salisbury Plains, No 1 Canadian General Hospital arrived in France later on 14 May 1915. At 02h30 their transport ship docked at Boulogne-sur-Mer, and two days later, they headed for their new home – Étaples.
The first seventeen days of December 1917 allow all members of the CEF to participate in the Canadian Elections. The one question to be decided as far as the soldiers are concerned, that of conscription.
Lieutenant-Colonel Murray MacLaren pays his first visit since relinquishing command on 8 December 1917. A beautiful Wintery scene on the morning of 17 December, ruined the next morning when the beloved Sergeant Christopher Strang McGregor 34413 passes away from bronchial pneumonia. This is the first death within the unit of a member of the personnel while in France. A gloom cast over the entire snowy camp.
German Air Raid
A bombing raid on 19 May 1918 killed three Canadian nursing sisters serving at No.1 Canadian General Hospital – Margaret Lowe, Katherine Maud Mary MacDonald and also Nursing Sister Gladys Maude Mary Wake – the first Canadian nurses killed in action. Later, two other female victims of bombing raids, YMCA motor driver Betty (Bertha Gavin) Stevenson on 31 May and Nursing Sister Annie Watson Bain at the St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital on 1 June.
Funeral of Nursing Sister Gladys Maude Mary Wake
Funeral of Canadian Nursing Sister Gladys Maude Mary Wake, 22 May 1918, Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais. Gladys mortally-wounded on the night of 19 May 1918 in a German air raid at No 1 Canadian General Hospital, Étaples. “Don’t bother with me; I’ll be alright. You people will be exhausted,” she told her co-workers. Gladys died two days later from severe burns, a fractured femur, and wounds to both legs.
Nursing Sister Jessie Nelson King somewhere in the photograph by Lieutenant William Rider-Rider below, and also film by CWRO kinematographer Lieutenant Oscar Bovill. Bovill’s British counterpart also filmed the funeral of Nursing Sister Wake.
Influenza
No 1 Canadian General Hospital moved to Trouville on 21 July 1918. The first convoy of 446 patients arrive 3 October 1918. In the next few days, the first wounded American troops finally arrive at the camp. Finally, a total of 212 American troops pass through the hospital in October. Nursing Sister King hospitalized at No 14 General Hospital in Wimereux for influenza on 2 November 1918, and later discharged to duty on 12 November 1918, in time to attend a Regimental Dinner to celebrate the end of the Great War.
Armistice
The Red Cross Recreation hut opens with a Concert Party for patients given by the Lena Ashwell Concert Party, 1 November 1918. A procession for All Saints Day cancelled due to the Influenza epidemic. Few Canadians admitted. About 10% of casualties admitted are American, the remainder British. Then, the news of the Armistice reaches the hospital at noon. On 12 November, Colonel John Alexander Gunn relinquishes command. Lt.-Col. William Henry Delaney takes command. Finally, a Regimental Dinner on 14 November for the cessation of hostilities.
Cerebro spinal meningitis
Cases of cerebro spinal meningitis had swept through the Canadian camps in England during late 1914 causing most of the deaths in the early war period. No 1 Canadian General Hospital had more than its share of cases.
On 6 January 1915, Lt. Col. Frank Strange dies of meningitis. More soldiers die from meningitis, Gunner John Frederick Kennedy C/41001 on 10 January, Private Silas Hartley Chase 22559 on 16 January, Private William Goodyear 24133 the following day. Sergeant Major Godfrey Sandy Wunsch 21105, 11th Battalion, dies on 18 January, and the meningitis cases finally begin to fall a few days later. Finally, Corporal Arthur Sydney Randall 25793, 14th (Royal Montreal Regiment) Battalion, is the final meningitis death of the month on 29 January 1915.
Only one more meningitis death follows in February 1915. For a shorter time during demobilization, another wave of meningitis swept through the CAMC hospitals in France.
Demobilization
Before leaving France a group of CAMC personnel planned a visit to the battlefields near which they had laboured. Jessie one of those who took what must have been a hard and exhausting journey, and on her return to the hospital at the beginning of March stricken with meningitis.
Canadian Embarkation Camp
On 13 February 1919, all personnel of No.1 Canadian General Hospital, with the exception of the OC, 1 Quartermaster, and 25 men, proceed to Canadian Embarkation Camp, Le Havre.
Jessie’s last letter, written 22 February 1919, describes her visit to the grave of her brother, Lieutenant Nelson King, and tells her sister that she leaves in a few days for England, and hopes soon to be home.
Then, the remaining party are given orders to move to the Embarkation Camp on 26 February 1919. Finally, the Rear Party, arrive in Le Havre on 28 February 1919.
Death of Nursing Sister Jessie Nelson King
On 5 March 1919, Nursing Sister Jessie Nelson King admitted to No 14 Stationary Hospital in Boulogne dangerously ill. Later found to be suffering from cerebro spinal meningitis, her condition desperate by 23 March 1919. Finally, Jessie dies on 4 April 1919 and later buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery.
With deep regret on 4 April 1919 personnel of No 3 Hospital heard that Nursing Sister J N King had died of cerebro-spinal meningitis at No. 14 Stationary Hospital. Nursing Sister King had been ill for more than a month and had received the special care of Nursing Sister G W Paget in the daytime and Nursing Sister H G Kidd at night. On April 3rd Matron MacLatchy and Nursing Sister Hoerner had visited her and had come away knowing that her courageous fight for life could last but little longer.
Burial at Terlincthun British Cemetery
Under command of Captain N M Halkett, M.C., the officers, the Matron, the five remaining nursing sisters, and the other ranks from No. 3 Hospital attended an impressive funeral service at Terlincthun Cemetery on 7 April 1918. Full military honours paid and wreaths deposited, not only by members of the McGill unit, but by the sisters of Imperial hospitals in the area, and by the staff of No 14 Hospital.
Nursing Sister King’s loyal service in the Canadian Army Medical Corps commanded the respect of all and her death in the hour when
others had returned, or were daily expecting to return, to Canada evoked the deepest sympathy.
Medals (British War Medal, Victory Medal), Memorial Plaque and Scroll, and the Memorial Cross sent to her mother Clara Amy King at 1246 Balmoral Road Victoria, British Columbia following the Great War.
Terlincthun British Cemetery
Terlincthun British Cemetery situated on the northern outskirts of Boulogne. From Calais follow the A16 to Boulogne, come off at Junction 32 and follow the D96E for Wimereux Sud. Continue on this road for approximately 1 kilometre when the Cemetery found on the left hand side of the road. However, it should be noted that the entrance to the cemetery on St Martin’s Road, the road on the left immediately after the cemetery.
The cemetery at Terlincthun was begun in June 1918 when the space available for service burials in the civil cemeteries of Boulogne and Wimereux was exhausted. It was used chiefly for burials from the base hospitals, but Plot IV Row C contains the graves of 46 RAF personnel killed at Marquise in September 1918 in a bombing raid by German aircraft.
Private John James Willoughby
In July 1920, the cemetery contained more than 3,300 burials, but for many years Terlincthun remained an ‘open’ cemetery and graves continued to be brought into it from isolated sites and other burials grounds throughout France where maintenance could not be assured. The remains of Private J J Willoughby discovered by Jean-Paul Brunel of Moreuil in 1986 now rest in Terlincthun.
The central path of the cemetery aligns with the nearby Colonne de la Grande Armée, so the statue of Napoleon appears to be keeping watch over those buried at Terlincthun.
Comments
One response to “Nursing Sister Jessie Nelson King in the Great War”
I am mesmerized by the stories and videos. We see the images. But can you imagine the noise, the smells, not to mention the horrors of things seen. Thank you for preserving this history. May they all R.I.P.