Accession Number

2017.002

Description

Thin green fabric covered hardcover book. Title in gold across the front "No. 8 (Queen's) Canadian General Hospital." 67 pages including photographic illustrations.

Narrative

This book was written to publicize the work of the Canadian Army Medical Service Corps No. 7 General Hospital in Egypt and France during the Great War. Its purpose was also to acknowledge and promote financial support for the hospital’s work. An excerpt from the Foreword states: “Many friends in Canada are interested in the work of this hospital, and from the beginning they have given it generous support. It is hoped that the pages that follow will in some degree prove that their interest and support have been a blessing to thousands, and that those who have been recipients of their generosity have not been unappreciative.”

It is highly likely that a copy of this publication was kept in the library of Craigdarroch Military Hospital - which, according to The Daily Colonist of September 3, 1919 was in the Dunsmuirs' old library - and accessible to patients and staff who had been cared for or served at No. 7 General Hospital. For example, Craigdarroch Military Hospital nurse Elsie Dorothy Collis recorded in her diary while serving in France that she went to a funeral with personnel from No. 7 hospital (see: Maureen Duffus, Battlefront Nurses of WWI: The Canadian Army Medical Corps in England, France and Salonika, 1914-1919). (Victoria: Town and Gown Press, 2009. p132). 

In addition to being an item that was probably in Craigdarroch’s library from 1919 to 1921, this book’s text and photographs provide information that aids in the understanding and presentation of information about the medical care of Canadian soldiers during the Great War.

History of Use

Unknown

Dimensions

24.75 cm x 18.5 cm x 0.05 cm

Material

Paper; Fabric

Inscription

On front flyleaf:
F. Hazel McLeod
France 1917
No. 9 Canadian General Hospital