Date(s) -Thursday, April 24, 2025
7:15 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: James Bay New Horizons
Categories
Join Victoria Historical Society for a talk on April 24, 2025 with Yvonne Van Ruskenveld speaking about A Victoria Hospital Goes to War — Canadian General Hospital No. 5. Talk takes place at James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies Street, Victoria V8V 2G7. James Bay New Horizons opens at 7:15 pm for refreshments and conversation. Talk begins shortly after 7:30 pm. Admission is $5 for non-members.
When World War I began in 1914, the Canadian Army Medical Corps had just 127 members, including doctors, nursing sisters and non-commissioned personnel. From 1914 through 1918, it expanded dramatically—over half of Canadian doctors served overseas in the CAMC. This talk will focus on the experiences of one group of Canadians who served in an active war zone far from the Western Front. It will describe how Canadian General Hospital No. 5 was “raised” in Victoria in 1915 and followed a trajectory shared by few other Canadian medical facilities in the Great War.
Yvonne Van Ruskenveld is a long-time member and current president of the Old Cemeteries Society, leading cemetery walking tours on a wide range of topics, including women’s history, gold rushes, symbolism, and epitaphs, among others. As a member of the World War I historical organization, the Western Front Association—Pacific Coast Branch, she has given many presentations on various aspects of military history, including military nurses, animals, balloonists and Canadian General Hospital No. 5. She is also a member of the Victoria Historical Society and the Victoria Genealogical Society.