They look like military officers: 165 men and women, sitting and standing, dressed in uniform in three long rows spanning the space that now hosts the Tupper Link on AV俱乐部鈥檚 Carleton Campus. The photo is not dated, but based on the unit鈥檚 history, it may have been taken 100 years ago today, November 9, 1915, the date on which it was first mobilized.
Less than two months later, the participants in the photo were on their way to Europe, at the peak of the First World War. But they weren鈥檛 going to fight: they were going to help the wounded in the name of AV俱乐部. 聽
A century later, the story of the 7th (AV俱乐部) Stationary Hospital continues to inspire Desmond Leddin, professor at AV俱乐部 Medical School. He has spent years visiting archives, scouring journals and researching the lives of many of the volunteers who served as part of AV俱乐部鈥檚 wartime hospital. The result is a new book, published earlier this year, documenting the history of the hospital and its staff.
鈥淭here are so many books written about the First World War that you could fill this room and then some,鈥� says Dr. Leddin, a faculty member in the Division of Digestive Care & Endoscopy. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want this to be another book about troop movements or the war鈥檚 overall history or anything like that. This is the personal story of people from AV俱乐部, nurses, and individuals from all across the province, from every walk of life, who got together for this adventure 100 years ago.鈥�
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In 1914, when the First World War broke out, AV俱乐部鈥檚 student population was vastly different than it is today: as of 1912, it sat at just over 400 students, 287 of them in Arts and Science. The war would change that dramatically, though, and by 1916 faculties such as Arts and Law were at only 40 per cent of their pre-war enrolment. By the end of the war, 585 AV俱乐部 students and faculty had enlisted in the war in some fashion.
The idea that AV俱乐部 should send a medical unit to Europe was first raised by fifth-year medical students in August 1914. That November, AV俱乐部 President Stanley MacKenzie formally offered to recruit a medical unit, but the British war council rejected the request; in the war鈥檚 early days it was felt that sort of additional support was not needed. The offer was repeated in April 1915 and, again, rejected. It wasn鈥檛 until September 1915, when it became clear the war was not going to end quickly, that AV俱乐部鈥檚 offer was accepted, and the university joined peers like McGill, the University of Toronto, Queen鈥檚 and others in sending medical support to Europe.
The unit was to be a stationary hospital,聽a name that鈥檚 somewhat misleading as it was actually quite mobile. A stationary hospital would be able to look after approximately 400 patients, and could serve as either support and overflow units for the larger general hospitals or could move closer to the front lines to work with casualty clearing stations.
A speedy two months after the unit was approved, the 165 members of the 7th Stationary Hospital had been recruited, all of them volunteers. (鈥淲hen Dal asked for volunteers to go, they were oversubscribed,鈥� explains Dr. Leddin. 鈥淭hey had trouble actually limiting the number.鈥�) The unit included surgeons, physicians, nurses, support staff and others. The vast majority of the physicians had been trained at AV俱乐部, and among the privates supporting the unit were many Dal students. 聽
The unit was led by John Stewart, a former AV俱乐部 medical student and past president of the Canadian Medical Association who had worked under James Lister, the medical pioneer who introduced antisepsis to surgical practice. Dr. Stewart had lived a full medical career when, at the age of 67, he was chosen as commanding officer of the 7th Stationary Hospital.
鈥淎t an age when most are considering collecting their Canada Pension Plan, he was heading up a hospital to go to war,鈥� says Dr. Leddin. 鈥淎nd when he finished with that, he became dean of the medical school for a decade.鈥�
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The unit departed on New Year鈥檚 Eve by train from Halifax鈥檚 North Street Station (later destroyed in the Halifax Explosion), venturing first to Saint John before shipping off to England. After setting up at the Shorncliffe Military Hospital in Kent, England, the unit made its way to France in June 1916, serving in five different locations across the northern part of the country through February 1919.
Much of what we know of the unit鈥檚 time in France comes from its war diary, the official record that documented the main events of each day. In his research, Dr. Leddin was also able to come across many additional pieces of correspondence and evidence, most impressively a scrapbook of Alice Johnson, one of the nurses, which contained poems, photographers, flowers, hair and drawings from the patients she treated, along with many other observations.
The British forces had three medical 鈥渮ones鈥� during the war: a 鈥淐ollecting Zone鈥� where patients were gathered from front lines, an 鈥淓vacuation Zone鈥� where they were stabilized and repaired, and a 鈥淒istributing Zone鈥� that then cared for them as part of the overall hospital system. Though the 7th Stationary Hospital spent much of its time as support for the general hospitals in the Distributing Zone, its time in Arques, France for nearly a full year (May 1917 to April 1918) brought the hospital right into the heart of the Evacuating Zone, taking on wounded patients from both Allied and German forces.
鈥淭hese are German wounded being guarded and treated by the Canadian unit,鈥� says Dr. Leddin, pointing to one particular photograph. 鈥淭he day before, Canadian soldiers were trying to kill these guys. But once they move into that realm of becoming patients, and you have a professional relationship, you鈥檙e not trying to kill them anymore. You鈥檙e trying to advocate for them.鈥�
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The second half of Dr. Leddin鈥檚 books contains several anecdotes and stories from the hospital, including accounts of the eventful lives of staff such as Samuel Balcom (an MP for Halifax and member of the Dal Board of Governors) and Peter MacDonald (a British MP who flew in the Battle of Britain). But of all the stories Dr. Leddin came across, the one that he might be most excited about is one that鈥檚 never really been told before, involving the famous Irish painter Sir William Orpen.
Orpen (1878-1931) was, and remains, a major painter. He created 138 works while serving as an official British war artist and donated all of them to the Imperial War Museum at the war鈥檚 conclusion. One of those works is called German Sick, Captured at Messines, in a Canadian Hospital.
Piecing together details from the 7th Stationary Hospital鈥檚 war diary and Orpen鈥檚 own journals, plus photographs of the sites, Dr. Leddin is confident the painting (right) is, in fact, of the AV俱乐部 hospital. At the time when Orpen visited, the hospital was treating German soldiers who were wounded in the Battle of Messines, an attack by the Allied forces to capture an area of high ground before the main attack from Ypres towards the village of Passchendaele in the coming weeks.
鈥淚 love the idea that AV俱乐部 can claim a direct connection to an Orpen painting in the Imperial War Museum,鈥� says Dr. Leddin, who used the image for the cover of his book. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really something we ought to know about and cherish.鈥�
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As for how Dr. Leddin got started on this passion project, it all began when he started curiously digging into the story of George Sylvester, the former headmaster of Halifax Grammar School and a Dal graduate who was killed in the war.
鈥淚 found some letters in which he mentioned going for a drive with two of the nurses from the AV俱乐部 hospital,鈥� says Dr. Leddin. 鈥淎nd I was like, 鈥榃hat hospital?鈥� I鈥檇 been on faculty for 20-something years and I didn鈥檛 know about it. I started diving into it, and so the madness started,鈥� he adds with a laugh.
When asked why the World War I medical experience holds such resonance for him, Dr. Leddin cites its parallels with modern-day issues. He sees the generosity with which the hospital treated German prisoners reflected in the reactions of many (in particular, international medical personnel) to the refugee crisis in Syria. And the bleak inversion of the triage model during the war 鈥斅爄n which the most sick were left to die, rather than being prioritized for treatment 鈥斅爄s something that still takes place in many parts of the world today.
鈥淚鈥檓 the director of training for the World Gastroenterology Organization, and when I work in countries like Ethiopia or West Africa or Bolivia, they鈥檙e still using World War I triage. They don鈥檛 have the equipment, or the resources, so if you鈥檙e very ill, you鈥檙e not treated. That parallel is still there."
Overall, he found himself inspired by the individual stories of the volunteers of the 7th Stationary Hospital and proud of Dal鈥檚 contribution to health care during the war. And that鈥檚 why he wrote the book: to ensure those stories would be documented for future generations.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be in the library at Dal, the national library and others in 100 years, hopefully, as a remembrance of what they did 100 years ago.鈥�
A collection of photos and artifacts from Dr. Leddin's collection are currently on display in the foyer of the Tupper Medical Building (next to the Kellogg Health Sciences Library).