Tender Care And Raw Courage

Margaret Dewar, a trained nurse, left the comforts of her home in Germiston in 1914 to minister to the needs of wounded and dying soldiers. Graham Jooste tells her remarkable and tragic story.

Margaret Smith Dewar was born in Scotland in approximately 1879 (the exact date is uncertain), the only daughter of five siblings. Her father was a civil engineer in the Scottish coal mining industry, and she trained as a nurse.

The family emigrated to South Africa, settling in Germiston, Transvaal (Gauteng), where Dewar was employed at the Germiston Hospital.

It was at this time that long-held rivalries and tensions between European powers began to escalate. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914 lit the spark to the powder keg, and the following month saw war declared between Germany and Austria-Hungary, on the one hand, and Russia, France and Great Britain on the other. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, as members of the British Empire, were drawn into the conflict.

ACTIVE SERVICE

Dewar sailed for England to volunteer for duty soon after the outbreak of hostilities, and joined the Scottish Women’s Hospital Services. A suffragist organisation, it was staffed by female doctors and nurses, and ran hospitals in France.

Dewar’s first posting was to Royaumont, north of Paris, close to the front line. The hospital had been set up in a large and ancient chateau with wide corridors and many rooms and outbuildings. It was here that she first saw the victims of gas gangrene, which is caused by bacteria that release dangerous toxins and gas into the body, destroying the tissue.

Dewar was soon recognised as a knowledgeable and reliable nurse. Her calmness under stress set an example to all those around her.