“Clare Gass went to war as a patriotic canadian, a dutiful daughter, a devout Anglican, a loving sister, a dear friend, an adventurer, a romantic, – and a nurse. Indeed, only as a nurse could she, a woman, go to war at all. Two thousand other women preceded, accompained, or followed her overseas between 1914 and 1918, nursing sisters with the rank of lieutnenant in the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). A varying number, between four hundred and eight hundred – Clare Gass among them – saw service in France, and even smaller number – Gass there too – served close to the line of fire. All expected to be home soon, and home alive”.
The editor Susan Mann argues “The diary as presented here is an unaltered transcript of the original. As editor, I have wished to be as unobtrusive as possible”.
