Aberdeen School of Nursing Alumni Archives - Graduates Who Have Served in the Military

Aberdeen Hospital Alumni Archives project 2025 "A legacy of Caring"

Graduates from Aberdeen Hospital School of Nursing who have served in our military

Mabel Archibald, Class of 1939 serving in South Africa

Aberdeen Hospital School of Nursing Graduates have a long history of military service. Agnes White, the first of just two graduates in 1899, served in World War I. Margaret MacDonald and Alice Maud Howard Connors, Class of 1913, also served in the Great War. Fourteen Aberdeen graduates served in World War II, with some returning to work as civilians at the Aberdeen Hospital. My research has uncovered 29 Aberdeen graduates who have served our country in war and peace, as well as in various operations around the world as Regular and Reserve Forces members.

Here is a list of the Units various Graduates would have been members of. Please note that the various names of the Health Services have evolved from being within three distinct Services to under one umbrella following Unification. These include:

· Canadian Army Medical Corps,

· Royal Canadian Naval Medical Services,

· Royal Canadian Air Force Medical Branch,

· Canadian Armed Forces Medical Service,

· Canadian Forces Health Services.

Military Service includes Wars, Conflicts, Peacekeeping Missions, Humanitarian Missions, Canadian Postings, Regular and Reserve Military Service in World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam War, First Gulf War, Second Gulf War, Bosnia, Haiti, Uganda, and Afghanistan.

Please note that this list of Aberdeen graduates and types of missions may not be complete.

White, A. Class of 1899

Howard (Connors), M. Class of 1913

MacDonald, M.K. Class of 1913

Charman (Pratt), F. Class of 1926

Mills, N. Class of 1927

Duncan (MacDonald), E. Class of 1931

Mulligan (Chisolm), R. Class of 1934

Morash, H. Class of 1935

Thompson (Purdy), I. Class of 1936

MacChesney (Askew), M. Class of 1937

Fawcett (Harrison), R. Class of 1939

MacKenzie (Archibald), M. Class of 1939

Negus, E. Class of 1939

Miller (Morrison), S. Class of 1940

Treen (Jones), M. Class of 1940

Johnson, J. Class of 1941

Ripley, M.B. Class of 1943

Garnier (Henderson), M. Class of 1960

Harnish (Cullen), B. Class of 1960

Wills, J. Class of 1966

Christison, F. Class of 1968

MacMillan, P. Class of 1968

Gibson, I.C. Class of 1976

Gibson, S.A. (Spence) Class of 1977

Smith (MacDonald), J.E. Class of 1978

Wilson (Morse), M. Class of 1980

Neville, Denyse Class of 1982

Deveau, Patricia Lynn Class of 1983

Read, K. Class of 1983

At the entrance of Echoes of Healing Garden there will be placed this plaque recognizing Aberdeen graduates who have served their country in times of war and peace. It was created by a retired military graduate of the Aberdeen Hospital School of Nursing in partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada. The plaque will be placed in the Spring of 2026.

Cathy Gibson, Cpt. Rt.

June 20th, 2018 Standing by the poster of Sara Corning at the Commemoration of the Sinking of the Llandovery Castle

A man wearing a Canadian service uniform struggles to hold onto a nursing sister as he shakes his fist at a German U-boat. (Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. R1300-60)

HMHS Llandovery Castle Sinking Commemoration

Canadian Nurses Killed in WWI Hospital Ship Sinking

On June 20th, 2018, members of the Nursing History Nova Scotia Society were invited to participate in a commemorative event honoring 100 years since the Llandovery Castle marine disaster. The event held on the Halifax waterfront was a poignant setting as this was the last Canadian soil the deceased crew and Canadian Army Medical Corps personnel would have stepped on.

I am Cathy Gibson, a retired member of the Canadian military and a civilian nurse who graduated from Aberdeen Hospital School of Nursing.It was a privilege to take part in this significant event, representing both my nursing school and my military service. We civilian nurses who took part wore capes, white nursing uniforms, and our school's cap. In addition, I proudly displayed my Canadian Decoration (CD2) medal, which denotes over 22 years of service.

Some background information: the HMHS Llandovery Castle, built in Glasgow in 1914 as RMS Llandovery Castle for the Union-Castle Line, was one of five Canadian hospital ships that served during World War I. On June 27, 1918, while on-route from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England, the ship was torpedoed off the coast of southern Ireland. The sinking was Canada's deadliest naval catastrophe during the war.

The sinking and subsequent machine-gunning of lifeboats claimed the lives of 234 doctors, nurses, Canadian Army Medical Corps members, soldiers, and seamen. Twenty-five persons are known to have survived. A single life raft carried 24 people. The incident became widely publicized and was regarded as one of the war's worst atrocities. After the war, the case of Llandovery Castle was one of six alleged German war crimes prosecuted at the Leipzig trials.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse