Monday, October 12, 2015

The last moments of Edith Cavell








Early in the morning of October 12, 1915, Edith was taken by car to the Tir National shooting range. Philippe Baucq was to be shot with her. Their sentences were read aloud before a large group of German soldiers. The firing squad of 16 was advised to not hesitate to shoot the woman before them: the nature of her crimes deserved it. Pastor Le Seur was with her and she asked him to relay a message to Rev. Gahan. Speaking in French, she asked that her mother be told that her soul was safe, her conscience at peace, and that "Je meurs pour Dieu et ma patri" (she was dying for God and her country).

Pastor Le Seur then led her to the pole and waited while she was loosely tied and blindfolded...


Excerpt from "Edith Cavell: Patriotism is not Enough" from Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Spies, Soldiers, and Medics.

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