Thread.
Following my trip to Shorncliffe yesterday, I resolved to find out more about Victoria Belle Hennan's story. She was born in Roland, Manitoba on 10/12/1886, the eldest child of Henry and Dorothy Hennan (nee Armstrong). She had 2 brothers & 2 sisters. 1/12

A passenger manifest on Ancestry shows that she travelled from Saint John, New Brunswick, as part of a contingent of 49 military nurses aboard the ‘Missanabie’, a steamship owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. The ship arrived in Liverpool on 19/12/1916. 2/12

She had joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) on 05/12/1916 and was posted as a Staff Nurse to Bagthorpe Military Hospital in Nottingham on 30/12/1916. 3/12

At the end of her one-year contract she resigned, citing her wish to join the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted to CAMC Depot on 01/01/1918 and on 07/01/1918 she was posted to No. 9 Canadian General Hospital Shorncliffe as a Nursing Sister. 4/12

No. 9 Canadian General Hospital War Diary:-
22/10/1918. "N/S Hennan taken suddenly ill – a very rapid case of massive pneumonia & the first seriously ill case amongst nursing staff.
23/10/1918. "N/S V. B. Hennan died at 8.40 this morning of a double pneumonia." 5/12

Her funeral is described in the war diary:-
26/10/1918. "The funeral was held today of N/S Hennan to the garrison cemetery at 2 p.m. Full military honours were given; a large parade turned out and an impressive service was held at the grave side..." 6/12

"Deceased’s brother arrived from France just at noon & in time for the ceremony. A large number of Officers, nursing sisters, N.C.O.’s & men attended, and a profusion of very beautiful flowers was evident." (Pics show the funeral of Canadian Nurse Margaret Lowe in France). 7/12

The War Diary further notes: "The Mess regrets very keenly the death of one of their sisters, Sister Hennan, a very dear girl, and liked by all. Her loss is deeply felt by all in the Hospital, she had been twice night Supervising Sister, and always in charge of a Ward..." 8/12

"...in the year she was attached to this unit. Her funeral was a very beautiful one, and she was buried with full Military honors..." 9/12

"The flowers from friends and patients. The ambulance Section, and the different Messes, bore a touching tribute to the regard and affection in which she was held." 10/12

Sources:
Missanabie photo: Scottish Built Ships website - http://www.clydeships.co.uk/ 
Bagthorpe Hospital photo: Notts County Council - https://secure.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/ 
Resignation letter: TNA, ref WO 399/3757.
Shorncliffe photo: Oakville Public Library ( https://images.oakville.halinet.on.ca/ ) 11/12

9 Canadian General Hospital War Diary and Margaret Lowe funeral photos: Library and Archives Canada https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx
Family details: Ancestry https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ 
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