One hundred years ago, Edith Cavell was arrested in Belgium. Her crime: treason. Her punishment: death.
After saving the lives of hundreds of soldiers fighting in the First World War, without regard for their nationality, the 49-year-old British Red Cross nurse was betrayed by a German spy who asked her to help him escape Belgium and find refuge in neutral Holland.
The request wasn’t an unusual one for Cavell, who is credited with assisting upwards of 200 Allied soldiers caught on the wrong side of the trenches. She would often disguise them as patients at her nurses training school and provide them with the necessary money and guides to cross the border.
Under German Martial Law, this was considered treason—an offence punishable by death.
She was arrested and detained on Aug. 5, 1915 and later tried by a court martial and sentenced to execution.
In her defence, she argued that as a nurse she is responsible for saving lives, regardless of whose side they’re on.
That October, shortly before her 50th birthday, Cavell was executed by a German firing line.
Jasper has a special connection with Cavell.
In 1916, shortly after her death, Prime Minister Robert Borden and British Columbia Premier Sir Richard McBride directed the Geographic Board of Canada to select a Canadian peak to name after her.
A.O. Wheeler, the first president of the Alpine Club of Canada, selected the snowy peak south of the Jasper townsite, known by the voyageurs of the early 19th century as “La Montagne de la Grande Traverse”.
Five months after Cavell’s execution, it was officially named Mount Edith Cavell.
“The mountain was to become a sacred shrine, transcending the futility of war through an appeal to the sublime of a majestic, triumphant, and emotional landscape,” wrote Katie Pickles in an essay titled Claiming Cavell: Britishness and Memorialization.
Following the mountain’s naming, there was talk of erecting a temple or shrine at its base, but the plan never came to fruition.
However, the Church of England did start a tradition of holding a memorial service the first Sunday of August to commemorate the day Cavell was arrested.
S. Maynard Rogers, who was then the Jasper park superintendent, was instrumental in the first memorial service held at the base of the mountain in 1925, 10 years after Cavell’s arrest and execution.
Beginning in 1935, the service was held annually.
“In more recent years we’ve done something in the church here in town,” said retired Anglican rector David Prowse.
To mark the 100-year anniversary of Cavell’s arrest, an ecumenical service will be held Sunday, Aug. 2 at the top of the first set of stairs at Mount Edith Cavell.
Prowse, who is helping to organize the memorial, said as well as a service, Cavell will be there herself, portrayed by Jasperite Stephanie Beyko, who has spent the summer performing monologues as Cavell in commemoration of her death.
Prowse said it’s important that Jasper continue the tradition of memorializing Cavell.
“She certainly was a martyr. I think that’s appropriate to say. She did what she could and what she was called to do.”
The service will begin at 4 p.m. at the top of the first stairs at the base of the mountain.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
Nicole Veerman
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