Individual Details

Military service

Death

Died Jan 5th 1918 at a Military Hospital from illness contracted on duty.
Detailed in Catherine Ann Prior Book and
British Journal of Nursing 12th Jan 1918

Eva is not mention in the CWGC as technically she was a civilian although she was working in a military hospital and contracted her illness whilst tending to military wounded.

Died Jan 5th 1918 at a Military Hospital from illness contracted on duty. Detailed in Catherine Ann Prior Book and British Journal of Nursing 12th Jan 1918
Malcolm12hl•
Posted12 June , 2018
Nurse Eva Graham Prior worked at the Endell Street Military Hospital in Covent Garden and died there on 5 January 1918 aged 21 of Vincent's Angina (known in common parlance as trench mouth) contracted on nursing duty. She was buried in St. Nicholas Churchyard, Thames Ditton four days later, and is listed on the village war memorial. She appears on the typescript CWGC Graves Registration Report Form for St. Nicholas, but her entry is crossed out with the comment "Not a War Grave" written above it. Thus she does not have a CWGC headstone and does not feature in the main CWGC database. I would be very interested to know the likely grounds on which she was denied commemoration. Was it perhaps because she was a civilian and not a member of a military nursing order? It cannot simply have been because she did not serve overseas, as I have a great aunt who was in Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service who is commemorated despite the fact that she died in London without ever serving abroad.
Post-scriptMalcolm12hl
Posted12 June , 2018
Nurse Eva Graham Prior worked at the Endell Street Military Hospital in Covent Garden and died there on 5 January 1918 aged 21 of Vincent's Angina (known in common parlance as trench mouth) contracted on nursing duty. She was buried in St. Nicholas Churchyard, Thames Ditton four days later, and is listed on the village war memorial. She appears on the typescript CWGC Graves Registration Report Form for St. Nicholas, but her entry is crossed out with the comment "Not a War Grave" written above it. Thus she does not have a CWGC headstone and does not feature in the main CWGC database. I would be very interested to know the likely grounds on which she was denied commemoration. Was it perhaps because she was a civilian and not a member of a military nursing order? It cannot simply have been because she did not serve overseas, as I have a great aunt who was in Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service who is commemorated despite the fact that she died in London without ever serving abroad.Wendy Moore
• Interests:medical history, women's history, Endell Street Military Hospital
Posted15 June , 2018
Sorry to arrive late at this thread. I'm writing a book about the Endell Street hospital so am very interested in further information on Eva Prior. I've seen a copy of the BRCS card - as quoted above - and she's also mentioned in Flora Murray's book, Women as Army Surgeons (1921) p. 208: 'In January 1918, Miss Eva Prior passed away, dying of Vincent's Angina after a tragic fortyeight hours' illness. She was in the second year of her service, and loved by every one for her sweet disposition and her strength of character. It was the first tragedy.'
I can't throw any light on why she would be denied war grave status. She is commemorated in the Women of the Empire memorial panel at York Minster https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/community/3478
She obviously served at Endell Street from when it first opened in May 1915. The hospital was run by Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson, both suffragettes (WSPU members or former members and activitists) rather than suffragists, but under the auspices of the army. The hospital was unique in being run by women and almost entirely staffed by women but within the army.
(I would be keen to know more about Eva - and can provide more background on Endell Street - if Malcolm would like to get in touch direct wendymoor(at)ntlworld.com . Jennian Geddes - who alerted me to this thread and has done much research on Endell St - may want to pitch in with a view too!)