Got to admire the way the London section of Women In Black hold their weekly themed vigils against war and militarism around the Edith Cavell statue near Trafalgar Square every Wednesday without fail. More details of the campaign on their web page here. But who was this Edith Cavell?
From Wikipedia: Edith Louisa Cavell (1865 – 1915) was a British nurse and humanitarian, celebrated for saving the lives of casualties from all sides without distinction. She helped some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested. She was court-martialled and found guilty of treason. She was sentenced to death and shot by firing squad.
There’s a website dedicated to her memory at edithcavell.org.uk and the annual festival celebrating her life takes place at Swardeston in her native Norfolk on October 8th-9th this year.
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