"Nellie" : A Nurse Through Two Wars

Helen Josephine Enright

"[I'm] ready to go at anytime..."

Helen “Nellie” Josephine Enright was born in Ottawa on 14 September 1882 to tinsmith John Enright and his wife Alice. Nellie and four of her siblings attended elementary school and high school at the Ottawa Sacred Heart Convent. She then left Ottawa to attend the Royal Victoria Hospital School of Nursing, part of McGill University in Montreal, from 1906 to 1909. After graduation, she worked at the Roosevelt Hospital in New York as the head nurse, before returning to Montreal in 1912 to work at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

FIRST WORLD WAR SERVICE

In October 1914, two months following the outbreak of the First World War, Nellie wrote to the Secretary of the Militia Council, saying she was “ready to go at anytime.” Several months later she officially enlisted with No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, which was staffed by nurses and doctors from her alma mater, McGill University. The McGill contingent sailed for England on 6 May 1916.

Throughout the war, Nellie was frequently loaned to other medical stations. She was sent “further up the line” to No. 3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station to help triage wounded soldiers before they were sent to hospitals. She also served at No. 1 General Hospital in Étaples after it was hit by German bombs in 1918. After the war, Nellie was awarded the Royal Red Cross, Second Class for her devotion to duty. She was demobilized in Britain on 9 May 1919 and returned to Canada five days later.

Nellie continued her medical training post-war, qualifying as an anesthetist. She continued to work in military nursing for several years in Montréal, at both the Prince of Wales military hospital and at the St. Anne de Bellevue military hospital. In 1922, at the age of forty, she returned to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where she spent the remainder of her civilian career.

Handwritten note, torn on the top right. — First World War Volunteer Letter

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Normally, people went to enlistment centres to volunteer for service. Since Nellie was in New York City when the First World War began, she wrote directly to the Minister of Defence to ensure her place in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Her note is transcribed below the image.
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SECOND WORLD WAR SERVICE

At the beginning of the Second World War, Nellie again wrote to top military officials to volunteer her services. She enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in February 1940. She did not meet the physical standards to serve overseas during the war, but was eligible for service in Canada. She worked at No. 8 Depot for several months, but was discharged in 1940 to transfer to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in order to lend her experience to the newly formed Women’s Division nursing service.

Nellie took the aviation nursing course to qualify to work for the RCAF. Although she actually failed the course, only achieving a grade of 49% overall, she was admitted based on her previous experience. She became the matron, supervisor of the junior nurses, at R.C.A.F. Station Hospital in St. Thomas, Ontario. Her senior officer at St. Thomas, Group Captain Collis, wrote that she ran the nursing staff well under difficult conditions and could rise to any occasion.

In 1941 she transferred to the RCAF base at Gander, Newfoundland. She received similar reports of competency and efficiency, but at this point her age and ill health began to impede her ability to do her job effectively. She was frequently ill and injured herself in a fall in November 1941. In January 1942, the new commanding officer at Gander, Group Captain Foss, recommended first that she be transferred somewhere warmer, and then advised that she be retired.

Nellie officially retired in February 1943. In the following years, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which had already spread to her skin and bones. She passed away on 23 April 1947, in the Royal Victoria Hospital, where she had spent so much of her career. She was buried next to her parents and siblings at the Notre Dame Cemetery in Ottawa.

Nellie in the Second World War

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Nellie's Second World War uniform consisted of a dress, apron, and sensible shoes. Unlike the First World War, nurses did not have to wear veils on their heads like nuns. Women who served overseas were allowed to wear pants, so they could move around more easily. Photo circa 1939-1945.