View source for Edith Cavell

{{short description|British nurse (1865–1915)}}
{{about|the WWI British nurse|other uses|Edith Cavell (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox saint
| name = Edith Cavell
| titles = Nurse
| birth_name = Edith Louisa Cavell
| birth_date = 4 December 1865 
| death_date = {{death date and age|1915|10|12|1865|12|4|df=y}}
| death_cause= [[Execution by firing squad]]
| feast_day = 12 October (Anglican memorial day)
| venerated_in = [[Church of England]]
| image = Edith Cavell.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_place = [[Swardeston]], [[Norfolk]], England
| death_place = [[Tir national]], [[Schaerbeek]], [[Brussels]], [[German occupation of Belgium during World War I|German-occupied Belgium]]
}}

'''Edith Louisa Cavell''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|v|əl}} {{respell|KAV|əl}}; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination during the [[First World War]] and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. Cavell was arrested, [[court-martial]]led under [[German military law]] and sentenced to death by [[firing squad]]. Despite international pressure for mercy, the German government refused to commute her sentence, and she was shot. The execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage.

The night before her execution, she said, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone". These words were inscribed on the [[Edith Cavell Memorial]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5092875,-0.1272353,3a,31.4y,28.63h,97.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snQnw2bsh_96skVNV-IRNBw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu | title=Google Maps }}</ref> opposite the entrance to the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] near [[Trafalgar Square]]. Her strong [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] beliefs propelled her to help all those who needed it, including both German and Allied soldiers. She was quoted as saying, "I can't stop while there are lives to be saved."{{sfn|Judson|1941}} The [[Church of England]] commemorates her in its [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|Calendar of Saints]] on 12 October.

Cavell, who was 49 at the time of her execution, was already notable as a pioneer of modern nursing in [[Belgium]].

==Early life and career==
[[File:Nurse Edith Cavell 1865-1915 Q32930.jpg|right|thumbnail|Cavell in a garden in Brussels with her two dogs before the outbreak of war]]
[[File:Nurse Edith Cavell 1865-1915; Brussels Q70204.jpg|thumb|Cavell (seated centre) with a group of multinational student nurses whom she trained in Brussels]]
Cavell was born on 4 December 1865{{sfn|Unger|1997}} in [[Swardeston]], a village near [[Norwich]], where her father Frederick Cavell was vicar for 45 years.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} She was the eldest of the four children of the Reverend Frederick Cavell (1824–1910) and his wife Louisa Sophia Warming (1835–1918). Edith's siblings were Florence Mary (1867-1950), Mary Lilian (1870-1967) and John Frederick Scott (1872–1923).{{sfn|Unger|1997}}

Cavell was educated at [[Norwich High School for Girls]], then at boarding schools in [[Clevedon]], Somerset, and [[Peterborough]] (Laurel Court).{{sfn|Grant|1995|pp=5–6}}

After a period as a governess, including for a family in [[Brussels]] from 1890 to 1895, Cavell returned home to care for her father during a serious illness. The experience led her to become a nurse after her father's recovery.{{sfn|Daunton|1990|p=1}}  Cavell worked as a nurse at the Fountain [[Fever hospital|Fever Hospital]] in [[Tooting]] from December 1895.<ref name=":1">Edith Cavell, reference from the Matron, Fountain Hospital Tooting, 26 April 1896; Matron’s Correspondence and Papers; RLHLH/N/7/7/29; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London</ref> At the age of 30, Cavell applied to become a nurse probationer at the [[Royal London Hospital|London Hospital]]{{sfn|Grant|1995|pp=5–6}}<ref name=":1" /> and commenced as a regular probationer at the London Hospital in September 1896 under Matron [[Eva Luckes]].<ref name=":2">Edith Cavell, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/5, 147; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London</ref><ref name=":3">Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons’? A study of Eva Lückes’s influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)</ref> Cavell was seconded to work with other London Hospital nurses in the [[Maidstone]] [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]] [[epidemic]], from 15 October 1897 until early January 1898, while still a probationer.<ref name=":4">Sarah Rogers, ‘The Nurses of the 1897 Maidstone Typhoid Epidemic: Social Class and Training. How representative were they of mid-nineteenth century nursing reforms?’ (Unpublished Master of Letters dissertation, Dundee, March 2016)</ref><ref name=":2" /> Along with other staff, she was awarded the Maidstone Typhoid Medal.{{sfn|Gazet|2015}}<ref name=":4" />  After her training, Cavell worked from October 1898 to December 1899 as a private nurse employed by the Private Nursing Institution of the London Hospital, treating patients in their homes.<ref>Edith Louisa Cavell, Private Nursing Institution Register, June 1898 – May 1899; RLHLH/N/5/4, 89–90; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London</ref> Cavell travelled to tend patients with cancer, gout, pneumonia, pleurisy, eye issues and appendicitis.{{sfn|Daunton|1990|p=1}} In 1901, Luckes recommended Cavell for the position of night superintendent of [[Highgate Hospital|St Pancras Infirmary]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anonymous |date=14 November 1903 |title='Appointments' |journal=[[The Hospital, Nursing Section]] |volume=35 |issue=894 |pages=96}}</ref><ref>Edith Scott Cavell, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/1, 227; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London</ref> In November 1903, she became assistant [[matron]] of [[St Leonard's Hospital, Hackney|St Leonard's Infirmary]] in [[Shoreditch]].{{sfn|Grant|1995|p=8}}<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anonymous |date=21 November 1903 |title='Appointments' |journal=The British Journal of Nursing |volume=38 |pages=406}}</ref>

In 1906, Cavell took a temporary post as matron of the Manchester and Salford Sick and Poor and Private Nursing Institution, working there for about nine months.

==Work in Belgium==
In 1907, Cavell was recruited by [[Antoine Depage|Dr. Antoine Depage]], the Belgian royal surgeon, and the founder and president of the Belgian [[Red Cross]], to be matron of a newly established nursing school, L'École Belge d'Infirmières Diplômées (or the Berkendael Medical Institute) on the Rue de la Culture (now Rue Franz Merjay), in [[Ixelles]], Brussels.{{sfn|Judson|1941}} By 1910, "Miss Cavell 'felt that the profession of nursing had gained sufficient foothold in Belgium to warrant the publishing of a professional journal' and launched the nursing journal, ''L'infirmière''".{{sfn|Judson|1941}} Within a year, she was training nurses for three hospitals, twenty-four schools, and thirteen kindergartens in Belgium.

Cavell was offered a position as matron in a Brussels clinic. She worked closely with Depage, who was part of a "growing body of people" in the medical profession in Belgium. He realised that the care that was being provided by the religious institutions had not been keeping up with medical advances. In 1910, Cavell was asked if she would be the matron for the new secular hospital at [[Saint-Gilles, Belgium|Saint-Gilles]].{{sfn|Daunton|1990|p=3}}

When the First World War broke out, Cavell was visiting her widowed mother in Norfolk. She returned to Brussels, where her clinic and nursing school were taken over by the [[Red Cross]].

==Assistance to Allied soldiers==
[[File:Costa Rica, florence nighting Gale & Edith Cavell, 1945 issue.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Florence Nightingale]] and Cavell on a postage stamp marking 60 years of the Costa Rican Red Cross]]
In November 1914, after the [[German occupation of Belgium during World War I|German occupation of Brussels]], Cavell began sheltering British soldiers and funnelling them out of occupied Belgium to the neutral [[Netherlands in WWI|Netherlands]]. Wounded British and French soldiers as well as Belgian and French civilians of military age were hidden from the Germans and provided with false papers by Prince Réginald [[House of Croÿ|de Croÿ]] at his château of [[Bellignies]] near Mons. From there, they were conducted by various guides to the houses of Cavell, Louis Séverin, and others in Brussels, where their hosts would furnish them with money to reach the Dutch frontier, and provide them with guides obtained through Philippe Baucq.{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica|1922}} This placed Cavell in violation of [[German military law]].{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}}{{sfn|Scovil|1915}} German authorities became increasingly suspicious of the nurse's actions, which were further fuelled by her outspokenness.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}}

===Arrest and trial===
Cavell was arrested on 6 August 1915 and charged with harbouring Allied soldiers. She had been betrayed by Georges Gaston Quien, who was later convicted by a French court as a collaborator.{{sfn|The Mount Washington News|1934}}{{sfn|Palm Beach Daily News|1936}} Cavell was held in [[Saint-Gilles prison]] for ten weeks, the last two of which were spent in solitary confinement.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} She made three depositions to the German police (on 8, 18 and 22 August), admitting that she had been instrumental in conveying about 60 British and 15 French soldiers, as well as about 100 French and Belgian civilians of military age, to the frontier and had sheltered most of them in her house.{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica|1922}}

At her [[court-martial]], Cavell was prosecuted for aiding British and French soldiers, and young Belgian men, to cross the Dutch border and eventually enter Britain. She admitted her guilt when she signed a statement the day before the trial. Cavell declared that the soldiers she had helped escape thanked her in writing when they arrived safely in Britain. This admission confirmed that Cavell had not only helped the soldiers navigate the Dutch frontier, but it also established that she helped them escape to a country at war with Germany.{{sfn|Duffy|2009}} Her fellow defendants included Prince Reginald's sister, [[Princess Marie of Croÿ]].

The penalty, according to German military law, was death. Paragraph 58 of the German Military Code determined that "In time of war, anyone who, with the intention of aiding a hostile power, or of causing harm to German or allied troops", commits any of the crimes defined in paragraph 90 of the German Penal Code "shall be punished with death for war treason". Specifically, Cavell was charged under paragraph 90 (1) no. 3 ''Reichsstrafgesetzbuch'', for "conveying troops to the enemy", a crime normally punishable by life imprisonment in peacetime.{{sfn|Duffy|2009}} It was possible to charge Cavell with [[perfidy]], or war treason ({{langx|de|Kriegsverrat}}), as paragraph 160 of the German Military Code extended application of paragraph 58 to foreigners "present in the zone of war".

[[File:C. 1916 Edith Cavell propaganda stamp.JPG|thumbnail|right|A [[cinderella stamp|propaganda stamp]] issued shortly after Cavell's death]]
While the [[First Geneva Convention]] ordinarily guaranteed protection of medical personnel, such protection was forfeit if medical practices were seen to be used as cover for belligerent action. This forfeiture is expressed in article 7 of the 1906 version of the convention, which was the version in force at the time,{{sfn|Bevans|1968|p=972}} and justified prosecution under German military law.

The British government could therefore do nothing to help her. Sir Horace Rowland of the [[Foreign Office]] said, "I am afraid that it is likely to go hard with Miss Cavell; I am afraid we are powerless."{{sfn|Norton-Taylor|2005}} [[Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood|Lord Robert Cecil]], Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, advised that, "Any representation by us will do her more harm than good."{{sfn|Norton-Taylor|2005}} The [[United States]], however, had not yet joined the war and was in a position to apply diplomatic pressure. [[Hugh S. Gibson]], Secretary to the U.S. Legation at Brussels, made clear to the German government that executing Cavell would further harm Germany's already damaged reputation. Later, he wrote:{{sfn|Gibson|1917}}

{{blockquote|We reminded [German civil governor Baron von der Lancken] of the [[Sack of Louvain|burning of Louvain]] and the sinking of the ''[[RMS Lusitania|Lusitania]]'', and told him that this murder would rank with those two affairs and would stir all civilized countries with horror and disgust. Count Harrach broke in at this with the rather irrelevant remark that he would rather see Miss Cavell shot than have harm come to the humblest German soldier, and his only regret was that they had not "three or four old English women to shoot."}}

Baron von der Lancken is known to have stated that Cavell should be pardoned because of her complete honesty and because she had helped save so many lives, German as well as Allied. However, [[Traugott von Sauberzweig|General von Sauberzweig]], the military governor of Brussels, ordered that "in the interests of the State" the implementation of the death penalty against Baucq and Cavell should be immediate,{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica|1922}} denying higher authorities an opportunity to consider clemency.{{sfn|Scovil|1915}}{{sfn|Hughes|2005}} Cavell was represented by defence lawyer Sadi Kirschen from Brussels. Of the twenty-seven defendants, five were condemned to death: Cavell, Baucq (an architect in his thirties), [[Louise Thuliez]], Séverin and Countess Jeanne de Belleville. Of the five sentenced to death, only Cavell and Baucq were executed; the other three were granted reprieves.{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica|1922}}

Cavell was arrested not for espionage, as many were led to believe, but for "war treason", despite not being a German national.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} She may have been recruited by the British [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (SIS), and turned away from her espionage duties in order to help Allied soldiers escape, although this is not widely accepted.{{sfn|Rankin|2008|p=36–37}} Rankin cites the published statement of [[M. R. D. Foot]], historian and Second World War British intelligence officer, as to Cavell having been part of SIS or MI6.{{sfn|Watson|2014|}} The former director-general of MI5, [[Stella Rimington]], announced in 2015 that she had unearthed documents in Belgian military archives that confirmed an intelligence-gathering aspect to Cavell's network. The [[BBC Radio 4]] programme that presented Rimington's quote, noted Cavell's use of secret codes and, though amateurish, other network members' successful transmission of intelligence.{{sfn|Singh|2015}}

When in custody, Cavell was questioned in French, but her trial was minuted in German; which some assert gave the prosecutor the opportunity to misinterpret her answers. Although she may have been misrepresented, she made no attempt to defend herself, but responded to have channelled "''environ deux cents''" ("about two hundred") soldiers to the Dutch border. Cavell was provided with a defender approved by the German military governor; a previous defender, who was chosen for Cavell by her assistant, Elizabeth Wilkins,{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} was ultimately rejected by the governor.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}}

[[File:Bellows, George Wesley, The Murder of Edith Cavell, 1918.jpg|thumb|[[George Bellows]], ''The Murder of Edith Cavell'', 1918, [[Princeton University Art Museum]]]]

===Execution===
The night before her execution, Cavell told the Reverend H. Stirling Gahan, the Anglican chaplain of Christ Church Brussels, who had been allowed to see her and to give her [[Holy Communion]], "I am thankful to have had these ten weeks of quiet to get ready. Now I have had them and have been kindly treated here. I expected my sentence and I believe it was just. Standing as I do in view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."{{sfn|Gahan|1925|pp=288–89}}{{sfn|Gahan|1923}} These words are inscribed on her statues in London and in Melbourne, Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/edith-cavell-statue|title = Edith Cavell statue}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-15 |title=Nurse Edith Cavell Memorial |url=https://citycollection.melbourne.vic.gov.au/nurse-edith-cavell-memorial/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=City Collection |language=en-US}}</ref>  Cavell's final words to the German [[Lutheran]] prison chaplain, Paul Le Seur, were recorded as, "Ask Father Gahan to tell my loved ones later on that my soul, as I believe, is safe, and that I am glad to die for my country."{{sfn|Peterson|2018}}

From his sick bed, [[Brand Whitlock]], the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, wrote a personal note on Cavell's behalf to [[Moritz von Bissing]], the Governor-General of Belgium. Hugh Gibson; Maitre G. de Leval, the legal adviser to the United States legation; and {{Ill|Rodrigo de Saavedra y Vinent|es}}, 2nd Marques de Villalobar, the Spanish minister, formed a midnight deputation of appeal for mercy or at least postponement of execution.{{sfn|Encyclopedia Americana|1920}} Despite these efforts, on 11 October, Baron von der Lancken allowed the execution to proceed.{{sfn|Scovil|1915}} Sixteen men, forming two firing squads, carried out the sentence pronounced on her and on four Belgian men at the [[Tir national]]{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} shooting range in [[Schaerbeek]], at 7:00{{nbsp}}am on 12 October 1915. There are conflicting reports of the details of Cavell's execution. However, according to the eyewitness account of the Reverend Le Seur, who attended Cavell in her final hours, eight soldiers fired at Cavell while the other eight executed Baucq.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} Her execution, certification of death, and burial were witnessed by the German [[war poet]] [[Gottfried Benn]] in his capacity as a 'Senior Doctor in the Brussels Government since the first days of the (German) occupation'. Benn wrote a detailed account titled "Wie Miss Cavell erschossen wurde" (''How Miss Cavell was shot'', 1928).{{sfn|Benn|2013}}

There is also a dispute over the sentencing imposed under the German Military Code. Supposedly, the death penalty relevant to the offence committed by Cavell was not officially declared until a few hours after her death.{{sfn|Judson|1941}} The British post-war Committee of Enquiry into Breaches of the Laws of War however regarded the verdict as legally correct.{{sfn|Macdonell|1920|p=424}}

On instructions from the Spanish minister, Belgian women immediately buried Cavell's body next to Saint-Gilles Prison.{{sfn|Scovil|1915}} After the war, her body was taken back to Britain for a memorial service at [[Westminster Abbey]] and then transferred to [[Norwich Cathedral|Norwich]], to be laid to rest at Life's Green on the east side of the cathedral. The King had to grant an exception to an [[Order in Council]] of 1854, which prevented any burials in the grounds of the cathedral, to allow the reburial.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31332 |page=5787 |date=9 May 1919 }}</ref>

==International reaction==
{{see also| British propaganda during World War I}}
[[File:British Empire Union WWI poster.jpg|thumb|An anti-German post-First World War poster from the [[British Empire Union]], including Cavell's grave]]
[[File:The Cavell Case or The Woman the Germans Shot movie advertisement from Moving Picture World on March 22, 1919 (cropped).jpg|thumb|''The Cavell Case'' (1919), an American film]]
[[File:Edith Cavell - Uccle.jpg|thumb|Edith Cavell sculpture ([[Uccle]] 2015) by Nathalie Lambert, marking the centenary of her death]]
Following Cavell's death, countless newspaper articles, pamphlets, images, and books publicised her story. She became an iconic propaganda figure for military recruitment in Britain, and to help increase favourable sentiment towards the Allies in the United States. Along with the invasion of Belgium, and the [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|sinking of the ''Lusitania'']], Cavell's execution was widely publicised in both Britain and North America by [[Wellington House]], the British War Propaganda Bureau.{{sfn|Peterson|1939|p=61}} She was a popular icon because of her sex, her nursing profession, and her apparently heroic approach to death.{{sfn|Judson|1941}} Her execution was represented as an act of German barbarism and moral depravity - very much at variance with Cavell's own clearly stated wish to have "no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."

News reports shortly after Cavell's execution were inaccurate.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} The ''[[American Journal of Nursing]]'' repeated the fictional account of Cavell's execution in which she fainted and fell because of her refusal to wear a blindfold in front of the firing squad.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} Allegedly, while she lay unconscious, the German commanding officer shot her dead with a revolver.{{sfn|Scovil|1915}}

Because of the British government's decision to publicise Cavell's story as part of its propaganda effort, she became the most prominent British female casualty of the First World War.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}}  The combination of heroic appeal and a resonant atrocity-story narrative made Cavell's case one of the most effective in British propaganda of the war.{{sfn|Peterson|1939|p=61}}

Before the First World War, Cavell was not well known outside nursing circles.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} This allowed two different depictions of the truth about her in British [[propaganda]], which were a reply to enemy attempts to justify her shooting, including the suggestion that Cavell, during her interrogation, had given information that incriminated others. In November 1915, the British Foreign Office issued a denial that Cavell had implicated anyone else in her testimony.

One image commonly represented was of Cavell as an innocent victim of a ruthless and dishonourable enemy.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}} This view depicted her as having helped Allied soldiers to escape, but innocent of 'espionage', and was most commonly used in various forms of British propaganda, such as postcards and newspaper illustrations during the war.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}}  Her story was presented in the British press as a means of fuelling a desire for revenge on the battlefield.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}} These images implied that men must enlist in the armed forces immediately in order to stop forces that could arrange the judicial murder of an innocent British woman.

Another representation of a side of Cavell during the First World War saw her described as a serious, reserved, brave, and patriotic woman who devoted her life to nursing and died to save others. This portrayal has been illustrated in numerous biographical sources, from personal first-hand experiences of the Red Cross nurse. Pastor Le Seur, the German army chaplain, recalled at the time of her execution, "I do not believe that Miss Cavell wanted to be a [[martyr]]{{nbsp}}... but she was ready to die for her country{{nbsp}}...a very brave woman and a faithful [[Christians|Christian]]".{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} Another account from Anglican chaplain, the Reverend Gahan, remembers Cavell's words, "I have no fear or shrinking; I have seen death so often it is not strange, or fearful to me!"{{sfn|Scovil|1915}} In this interpretation, her stoicism was seen as remarkable for a non-combatant woman, and brought her even greater renown than a man in similar circumstances would have received.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}}

===German justification===
The Imperial German government thought that it had acted fairly towards Cavell. In a letter, German Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Alfred Zimmermann (not to be confused with [[Arthur Zimmermann]], German Secretary for Foreign Affairs) made a statement to the press on behalf of the German government:
{{blockquote|It was a pity that Miss Cavell had to be executed, but it was necessary. She was judged justly ... It is undoubtedly a terrible thing that the woman has been executed; but consider what would happen to a State, particularly in war, if it left crimes aimed at the safety of its armies to go unpunished because they were committed by women.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}}}}
From the perspective of the German government, had it released Cavell there might have been a surge in the number of women participating in acts against Germany because they knew they would not be severely punished. It took the view that it was up to the responsible men to follow their legal duty to Germany and ignore the world's condemnation. Its laws did not make distinctions between sexes; the only exception to this being that, according to legal customs, women in a "delicate" (probably this means "pregnant") condition should not be executed.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}} However, in January 1916, [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|the Kaiser]] decreed that, from then on, capital punishment should not be carried out on women without his explicit prior endorsement.{{sfn|Hull|2014|pp=108–09}}

The German government also believed that all of the convicted people were thoroughly aware of the nature of their acts. The court paid particular attention to this point, releasing several people because there was doubt as to whether the accused knew that their actions were punishable.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}} The condemned, in contrast, knew full well what they were doing and the punishment for committing their crimes because "numerous public proclamations had pointed out the fact that aiding enemies’ armies was punishable with death."{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}}

==Repatriation and burial==
[[File:CavellVanQEIIJ60.jpg|thumb|left|Interior of the [[Cavell Van]] at [[Bodiam railway station]]]]
[[File:Edith Cavell monument.JPG|thumb|left|Memorial to Cavell outside [[Norwich Cathedral]]]]
[[File:Schaerbeek Rue Colonel Bourg Enclos des fusillés 02.jpg|thumb|left|War memorial in Rue Colonel Bourg, [[Schaerbeek]] including Cavell's name]]
[[File:Edith's Grave .jpg|thumb|right|Cavell's grave at Norwich Cathedral, restored in 2016]]
Cavell's remains were returned to Britain after the war, sailing from [[Ostend]] aboard the destroyer [[HMS Rowena (1916)|HMS ''Rowena'']] and landing at [[Port of Dover#Western Docks|Admiralty Pier]] in [[Dover]] on 14 May 1919.<ref>'London's Homage to Nurse Cavell', ''[[The Globe (London newspaper)|The Globe]]'', 15 May 1919, page 1</ref><ref>'The Martyrdom of Edith Cavell - The Return Home of her Last Remains', ''[[The Graphic]]'', 24 May 1919, page 679</ref> Cavell's was one of only three sets of British remains repatriated following the end of the war, the others being [[Charles Fryatt]] and [[The Unknown Warrior]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.harwichandmanningtreestandard.co.uk/news/17210770.restoration-captain-fryatts-grave-completed/|title = War hero's grave restored in time for 100th anniversary| date=11 November 2018 }}</ref> As the ship arrived, a full [[peal]] of [[Grandsire]] [[Method ringing#Method names|Triples]] (5040 Changes, Parker's Twelve-Part) was rung on the bells of [[St Mary's Church, Dover|St Mary's Church]] in the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk/Casualties/MoreMemorials/Areas/Plaquesetc/Plaquesetc.htm|title=Plaques and Panels|publisher=Dover War Memorial Project|access-date=25 January 2021}}</ref> A plaque commemorating the peal in the church's bell-ringing chamber states it was "Rung with the bells deeply muffled with the exception of the Tenor which was open at back stroke, in token of respect to Nurse Cavell.” Deep (or full) muffling is normally reserved for the deaths of sovereigns. All the ringers were former soldiers, including Frederick W Elliot, formerly [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]], who had been a prisoner of war in Germany for eight months.{{sfn|KCACR}}

Her body was transferred to a railway van and lay in state on the pier overnight before departing from [[Dover Harbour railway station|Dover Harbour station]] for [[London Victoria railway station|London Victoria]] station. Becoming known as the [[Cavell Van]], that van is kept as a memorial on the [[Kent & East Sussex Railway]] and is usually open to view at [[Bodiam railway station]], though during October 2015 it was placed on display outside the [[The Forum, Norwich|Forum]], Norwich.{{sfn|BBC News|2015}} From Victoria the body was processed to [[Westminster Abbey]] for a [[state funerals in the United Kingdom|state funeral]] on 15 May, before finally being reburied at the east side of [[Norwich Cathedral]] on 19 May, where a graveside service is still held each October.{{sfn|Norwich Cathedral}}

==Memorials==
{{For|places and organisations named after her|List of dedications to Edith Cavell}}
Following Cavell's death, many memorials were created around the world to remember her.

* A [[Edith Cavell Memorial|stone memorial, including a statue of Cavell]] by [[George Frampton]] was unveiled opposite the entrance to the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] near [[Trafalgar Square]] in London.{{sfn|British Pathe|1920}}{{sfn|Reuter's|1920}}
* A memorial tower added to [[St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church|St Mary & St George Anglican Church]] in Alberta, Canada was dedicated to her.{{sfn|Smith|1985|p=14}} 
* [[Edith Cavell Bridge]], Arthurs Point, Queenstown, New Zealand
* Memorial gardens are dedicated to her in [[Inverness]], Scotland 
* Memorial gardens are dedicated to her in [[Ararat, Victoria]], Australia, established by the Mother's Club of the State School in 1931.{{sfn|State Government of Victoria}} 
* The [[Edith Cavell Memorial (Melbourne)]], a bust of her on a stone pedestal, was unveiled in [[Kings Domain]] in [[Melbourne, Australia]] in 1926.{{sfn|Monument Australia|2017}} 
* A memorial statue by [[Henry Alfred Pegram]] was unveiled in 1918 by [[Alexandra of Denmark|Queen Alexandra]] in the grounds of [[Norwich Cathedral]], during the opening of a home for nurses, which also bore her name.{{sfn|The Times|1918}}
* A memorial bust on Tombland, Norwich, outside Norwich Cathedral.
* Her name is included on the war memorial at Sacred Trinity Church on Chapel Street, [[Salford]] where she worshipped.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1441038|desc=Sacred Trinity, Salford War Memorial|access-date=19 July 2020|grade=II}}</ref> 
* She is named on the memorial to the 35 people executed by the German army in Tir national in [[Schaerbeek]], Brussels, Belgium.
* St Mary's Church in Swardeston holds her portrait,{{sfn|Grant|1995|p=11}} and the village holds an annual flower festival on 12 October in her memory.
* A portrait of her is included in the mural of heroic women by [[Walter P. Starmer]] unveiled in 1921 in [[St Jude's Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb]], London.{{sfn|Walker|2015a}}{{sfn|Walker|2015b}} 
* There are memorial plaques to her in both [[Peterborough Cathedral]],{{sfn|Peterborough Cathedral}} and St Leonard's Hospital, Hackney, London. The Peterborough memorial was designed by [[Temple Moore]] and carved by [[Mahomet Thomas Phillips]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edith Louisa Cavell |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/46481 |access-date=2022-10-21 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}}</ref> 
* A blue plaque in [[West Runton]], Norfolk, outside Cumberland Cottage reads "Edith Cavell 1865–1915 Nursing Pioneer Spent Holidays Here 1908–1914".{{sfn|Goodwin|1994}} 
* A joint memorial to Cavell and [[Marie Depage]] by [[Paul Du Bois]] is in Brussels
* A stone memorial to her in Paris was one of two statues that [[Adolf Hitler]] ordered to be destroyed on his 1940 visit there (the other being that of the French general [[Charles Mangin]]).{{sfn|Goodwin|1994}}
* In May 2016 a simulation training suite at the University of Salford was jointly named after Cavell and another First World War nurse, Minnie Wood; [[Diana Souhami]], the author of a biography of Cavell, and Dr Claire Chatterton, chair of the [[Royal College of Nursing]]’s History of Nursing Society, both gave presentations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Steve |date=10 May 2016 |title=Salford training suites named in honour of WWI nurses |url=https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/education/salford-training-suites-named-in-honour-of-wwi-nurses-10-05-2016 |journal=[[The Nursing Times]]}}</ref>
* A memorial to Edith Cavell and Canadian Nurses during The Great War outside the University Street entrance of [[Toronto General Hospital]] in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada.
* [[Mount Edith Cavell]], Alberta, Canada was named in her memory in 1916.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karamitsanis |first=A. |title=Place Names of Alberta, vol. 1}}</ref>

===In religion and culture===
* The French singer [[Édith Piaf]], born two months after Edith Cavell's execution, was named after her. The name "Édith", hitherto rare in France, became more common there after 1915.<ref>{{cite news|first=Thirza |last=Vallois |title=Two Paris Love Stories |url=http://www.paris.org/Kiosque/feb98/love.html |publisher=Paris Kiosque |date=February 1998 |access-date=9 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714183814/http://www.paris.org/Kiosque/feb98/love.html |archive-date=14 July 2007 }}</ref>
* In the [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|Church of England's calendar of saints]], the day appointed for the [[Commemoration (Anglicanism)|commemoration]] of Cavell is [[October 12|12 October]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Calendar |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar |access-date=9 April 2021 |website=The Church of England}}</ref> This is a memorial in her honour rather than formal [[canonisation]], and so not a "saint's feast day" in the traditional sense.
* In 2022, Cavell was officially added to the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|United States Episcopal Church liturgical calendar]] with a feast day on 12 October.<ref>{{Cite web |title=General Convention Virtual Binder |url=https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/24?house=HD&lang=en |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=www.vbinder.net |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913143652/https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/24?house=HD&lang=en |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Films, plays and television===
[[File:The Woman the Germans Shot.jpg|thumb|Advertisement for ''The Woman the Germans Shot'']]
* The first film made of Cavell's life story was the 1916 Australian silent film ''[[The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell]]'' soon followed by ''[[Nurse Cavell]]'' later the same year.
* In 1918 [[John G. Adolfi]] directed ''[[The Woman the Germans Shot]]'', starring [[Julia Arthur]] as Cavell
* In 1925 [[Eva Elwes]] wrote a play ''Edith Cavell, Nurse and Martyr''. It was refused a licence by the Lord Chamberlain after consultation with Cavell's sisters. After changes to the title and characters the play was granted a licence as ''The Price She Paid'' and performed in 1927.{{sfn|Aldgate|Robertson|2005|pp=42–43}} 
* [[Herbert Wilcox]] made a 1928 silent film called ''[[Dawn (1928 film)|Dawn]]'' with [[Sybil Thorndike]]. He remade it as ''[[Nurse Edith Cavell]]'' (1939) starring [[Anna Neagle]] and [[George Sanders]].
* ''Nurse Cavell'', a play in three acts, by [[C. S. Forester]] with [[C. E. Bechhofer Roberts]]{{sfn|Roberts and Forester|1933}} opened at the Vaudeville Theatre in London on 7 March 1934, where it ran for 34 performances.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Wearing|first=J. P.|title=The London stage, 1930-1939 : a calendar of plays and players|date=1990|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-2349-7|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=22112586}}</ref> The play had first been performed at the [[Q Theatre]] in the suburbs.<ref name=":0" />
* In the second episode of the 1980 television series ''[[To Serve Them All My Days (TV series)|To Serve Them All My Days]]'', Cavell is mentioned in a speech to the school's [[Officers' Training Corps]].
* In ''[[Les plus grands Belges]]'' ("The Greatest Belgians"), a 2005 television show on the Belgian French-speaking public channel RTBF, the audience voted Cavell the 48th-greatest Belgian.
* In the final episode of the 2014 BBC drama series ''[[The Crimson Field]]'', Cavell is mentioned as having been executed, during the interrogation of Sister Joan Livesey.
* ''Patriot'', a play by Angela Moffat, premiered at the [[Grand Theatre Arts Wing, Swansea]] in October 2014 with Claire Novelli appearing as Cavell. It was produced by Fluellen Theatre Company.

===Music===
* ''Edith Cavell'' is the third and final opera by Maltese composer [[Paolino Vassallo]] (1856–1923). A melodrama in three acts to a libretto by Alfonso Giglio, it received its première at the [[Royal Opera House, Valletta]], Malta, on 21 March 1927, four years after Vassallo's death, and was an immediate success.
* The song "Saint Stephen's End" by [[the Felice Brothers]] from their 2008 album ''[[The Felice Brothers (album)|The Felice Brothers]]'' includes a verse about the death of Cavell.
* The song "Amy Quartermaine" by [[Manning (Band)|Manning]] from the 2011 album ''[[Margaret's Children]]'' is also based on the life of Cavell.
* The song "Que Sera" on the album ''[[Silent June]]'' by [[O'Hooley & Tidow]] was inspired by the execution of Cavell.{{sfn|O'Hooley|2011}}
* A patriotic song, "Remember Nurse Cavell" (words by Gordon V. Thompson, music by Jules Brazil) appeared with 1915 British copyright.
* The 2024 song "Portraits of Edith Cavell" by British composer Ryan Linham was commissioned in 2023 by the PTC Record Label and Samantha Barnhart. The piece was commissioned as an effort to further Edith's legacy of heroism and highlight a female historical figure from a time when women around the world were making an impact through service and dedication, but might not have been given the acknowledgement or place in history that they deserved. The song's various movements each depict a part of Edith's unique life through the lens of some of her strongest qualities including service, purpose, dedication, and passion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Linham - Portraits of Edith Cavell ii. Humanitarian Passion - Trumpet Trio | website=[[YouTube]] | date=16 April 2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRAhHtaZkm0}}</ref>

===Centenary===
[[File:XII Execution of Edith Cavell painting by Brian Whelan 2015.jpg|thumb|right|''XII – Execution of Edith Cavell'', one of 14 paintings on Cavell by [[Brian Whelan]] in [[Norwich Cathedral]]]]
[[File:Edith Cavel Memorial - statue.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A marble statue of Edith Cavell in nurse's uniform backed by a large granite column|Detail of the [[Edith Cavell Memorial]], St Martin's Place, London]]
[[File:Monument Cavell-Depage Bxl.JPG|thumb|right|Monument to Edith Cavell and [[Marie Depage]], Brussels]]
Although the centenary of her death was in 2015, she was also remembered by three new musical pieces in 2014 during commemorations of the outbreak of World War One:
* ''Standing as I do before God'' by [[Cecilia McDowall]] - an ''a cappella'' choral setting of the last reported words of Cavell for soprano solo and five-part choir.
* ''The Scarlet Flower'' by [[Nigel Clarke (composer)|Nigel Clarke]] - a Concertino for Flugelhorn & Strings recorded on [[Toccata Classics]] by Longbow String Ensemble.
* ''An Epitaph for Edith Cavell'' by [[Nigel Clarke (composer)|Nigel Clarke]] - a solo violin piece recorded on [[Toccata Classics]] by [[Peter Sheppard Skaerved]].

To commemorate the centenary of her death in 2015, work went ahead to restore Cavell's grave in the grounds of Norwich Cathedral after being awarded a £50,000 grant and was completed in 2016.{{sfn|BBC News|2014b}} and fourteen paintings by [[Brian Whelan]] were commissioned by [[Norwich Cathedral]] to commemorate Cavell's life and death.{{sfn|Whelan|2015|p=12}} [[Norwich Cathedral]] held a memorial service, performed live on BBC Radio 4 on 11 October 2015. In addition to cathedral clergy, guests such as General [[Richard Dannatt]], and actress [[Matilda Ziegler]] performed various spoken vignettes organised by Canon Peter Doll. [[Anto Morra]] sang unaccompanied his "Edith Louisa Cavell" lyrics to a tune written by Percy Paradise.{{sfn|Alhadeff|2015}}

The centenary was also marked by two new musical compositions. The 40-minute oratorio ''Eventide: In Memoriam Edith Cavell'' by [[Patrick Hawes]] premiered in [[Norwich Cathedral]] in July 2014{{sfn|BBC News|2014c}} and had its London premiere in [[St Clement Danes]], The Strand, London on 12 October 2015, the exact centenary of her death. The Belgian Edith Cavell Commemoration Group also commissioned a 20-minute-long setting of the Latin Mass by David Mitchell for the centenary - it premiered in [[Holy Trinity, Brussels|Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Brussels]] on 10 October 2015, in the same choir stalls where Cavell sang in 1915, with [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn's]] ''[[Missa in Angustiis]]'' also performed at the same concert.{{sfn|Mitchell|2015}}

Cavell was featured on a UK commemorative £5 coin, part of a set issued in 2015 by the [[Royal Mint]] to mark the centenary of the war.{{sfn|BBC News|2014}} On 12 October that year a bust in the Montjoiepark in [[Uccle]], Belgium, was inaugurated by [[Princess Anne, Princess Royal]] of Great Britain and Princess [[Astrid of Belgium]]. 2015 also saw a tombstone-shaped monument erected in the memorial garden dedicated to her in Inverness.

On the centenary of her execution, an event funded by the [[University of Salford]] took place at Sacred Trinity where historian Sir [[Ian Kershaw]] and Christine Hallett of the UK Centre for the History of Nursing and Midwifery, spoke.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Britton |first1=Paul |title=Ceremony to honour life of Salford nurse Edith Cavell - 100 years after she was executed in World War One |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/salford-nurse-edith-cavell-honoured-10188237 |website=Manchester Evening News |access-date=6 August 2025 |language=en |date=4 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Edith Cavell |url=https://bw.leskanaris.com/17264-edith-cavell.html |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202225008/https://bw.leskanaris.com/17264-edith-cavell.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The memorial on her grave was renewed in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edith Cavell's new grave dedicated |url=https://www.cathedral.org.uk/about/news/detail/2016/05/16/edith-cavell's-new-grave-dedicated |website=Cathedral.org.uk |access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref> On 4 December 2018 a [[Google Doodle]] was created to celebrate her 153rd birthday.{{sfn|Google|2018}} The centenary of her repatriation in May 2019 was marked by another half-muffled peal of bells at St Martin's Church in Dover.

==See also==
* [[Cavell Nurses' Trust]]
* [[Edith Cavell Healthcare Campus]]
* [[Edith Cavell Hospital]]
* [[Louise de Bettignies]], a French spy arrested by the Germans who died in captivity in 1918
* [[Mata Hari]], a Dutch dancer and courtesan executed by the French in 1917, on charges of spying for Germany
* [[Gabrielle Petit]], a Belgian nurse executed by the German army for spying for Britain in 1916
* [[Andrée de Jongh]], a Belgian nurse who, inspired by Cavell, in the Second World War created the [[Comète Line]] to repatriate Allied airmen
* [[Masha Bruskina]], a Belarusian nurse executed by the Germans in 1941 for helping soldiers to escape.

==References==
{{reflist}}

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}}
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}}
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}}
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}}
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 |date      = 23 February 1934
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}}
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}}
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 |url-status   = dead
}}
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}}
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}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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 |url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=Doj8kQAACAAJ
 |year        = 2008
 |publisher   = Oxford University Press
 |isbn        = 978-0-19-976917-9
}}
* {{cite news
 |author      = Reuter's
 |title       = Statue of Edith Cavell
 |url         = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45511623
 |newspaper   = Barrier Miner
 |location    = Broken Hill, NSW, Australia
 |date        = 18 March 1920
 |volume      = 33
 |issue       = 9837
 |access-date = 30 July 2014
}}
* {{cite book
 |last1        = Roberts
 |first1       = Carl Eric Bechhofer
 |last2        = Forester
 |first2       = Cecil Scott
 |author-link2 = C.S. Forester
 |title        = Nurse Cavell: A Play in Three Acts
 |url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=GXU0AAAAMAAJ
 |year         = 1933
 |publisher    = John Lane
 |ref          = {{sfnref|Roberts and Forester|1933}}
}}
* {{cite journal
  | last         = Scovil
  | first        = Elisabeth Robinson
  | author-link = Elisabeth Robinson Scovil
  | date         = Nov 1915
  | title        = An Heroic Nurse
  | journal      = The American Journal of Nursing
  | publisher    = Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  | volume       = 16
  | issue        = 2
  | pages        = 118–21
  | doi = 10.2307/3406248
 | jstor        = 3406248
  }}
* {{cite news
 |last        = Singh
 |first       = Anita
 |date        = 12 September 2015
 |title       = Revealed: New evidence that executed wartime nurse Edith Cavell's network was spying
 |newspaper   = [[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]
 |url         = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/11861398/Revealed-New-evidence-that-executed-wartime-nurse-Edith-Cavells-network-was-spying.html
 |access-date = 17 May 2017
}}
* {{cite book
  | last         = Smith
  | first        = Cindi
  | title        = A Parish History of the Church of St. Mary and St. George, Jasper, Alberta
  | publisher    = Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society
  | date         = March 1985
  }}
* {{cite web
 |title       = Edith Cavell Memorial
 |url         = http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/reports/report_place/126523
 |website     = Victorian Heritage Database
 |publisher   = State Government of Victoria
 |access-date = 1 November 2020
 |ref         = {{harvid|State Government of Victoria}}
}}
* {{cite news
  | author       =<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
  | title        = Court Circular
  | newspaper    = [[The Times]]
  | location     = London
  | date         = 14 October 1918
  | ref          = {{sfnref|The Times|1918}}
}}
* {{cite web
  | last         = Unger
  | first         = Abraham
  | title         = Edith Cavell
  | work         = HistoryNet
  | access-date         = 1 December 2015
  | date         = 23 September 1997
  | url         = http://www.britishheritage.com/edith-cavell/
  | archive-date         = 11 March 2018
  | archive-url         = https://web.archive.org/web/20180311140921/https://britishheritage.com/edith-cavell/
  | url-status         = dead
  }}
* {{cite web
  | last         = Watson
  | first         = Greig
  | title         = World War One: Edith Cavell and Charles Fryatt 'martyred'
  | work         = BBC News
  | access-date         = 31 July 2014
  | date         = 24 February 2014
  | url         = https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25244361
  }}
* {{cite web
  | last         = Walker
  | first         = Alan
  | title         = Walter Percival Starmer: Artist 1877–1961
  | date         = April 2015a
  | url         = http://www.walterpstarmer.com/
  | access-date         = 24 November 2017
  | archive-date         = 1 August 2019
  | archive-url         = https://web.archive.org/web/20190801200605/http://walterpstarmer.com/
  | url-status         = dead
  }}
* {{cite web
 |last        = Walker
 |first       = Alan
 |title       = Campaign from on high at St Jude's
 |date        = 31 July 2015b
 |url         = https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/31-july/features/features/campaign-from-on-high-at-st-jude-s
 |access-date = 24 November 2017
 |website     = Church Times
}}
* {{cite news
 |last        = Whelan
 |first       = Brian
 |year        = 2015
 |url         = http://www.brianwhelan.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60
 |title       = In the Footsteps of a Martyr
 |journal     = The Tablet
 |access-date = 17 October 2015
}}
* {{cite book
 |last      = Zimmermann
 |first     = Alfred
 |chapter   = A Defense of the Execution
 |title     = The New York Times Current History
 |url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=FjsDAAAAYAAJ
 |volume    = 3
 |year      = 1916
 |publisher = New York Times Company
}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite web |last=Alfen |first=Peter van |title=The Meaning of a Memory: The Case of Edith Cavell and the Lusitania in Post-World War I Belgium |url=http://ansmagazine.com/Spring06/Cavell |url-status=dead |work=American Numismatic Society |date=2006 |access-date=31 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607045402/http://ansmagazine.com/Spring06/Cavell |archive-date=7 June 2013 |df=dmy}}
* {{cite book |last=Arthur |first=Terri |title=Fatal Decision: Edith Cavell WWI Nurse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEV3ngEACAAJ |publisher=Beagle Books Publishing, LLC |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-9841813-2-2}}
* {{cite news |title=No reprieve for angel of mercy |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1974068.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=9 May 2002 |access-date=8 August 2008}}
* {{cite book |last=Beck |first=James Montgomery |title=The Case of Edith Cavell: a Study of the Rights of Noncombatants... Reprinted from "New York Times." |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCX8MgEACAAJ |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |location=New York / London |year=1915}}
* {{cite book |last=Berkeley |first=Reginald |title=Dawn: a biographical novel of Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RjIPAAAAQAAJ |publisher=Sears |year=1928}}
* {{cite book |last=Boston |first=Noel |title=The Dutiful Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVXqPQAACAAJ |publisher=Norwich Cathedral |year=1955}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Gordon |author-link=Gordon Brown |title=Courage: Eight Portraits |url=http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=57 |url-status=usurped |chapter=The Heroine who humbled me |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |year=2008 |access-date=7 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929211956/http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=57 |archive-date=29 September 2007 |isbn=978-0-7475-9331-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cabot |first1=E. Lyman |last2=Fitzgerald |first2=Alice L.F. |title=The Edith Cavell Nurse from Massachusetts: The War Letters of Alice Fitzgerald, An American Nurse Serving in the British Expeditionary Force, Boulogne – The Somme 1916–1917 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WlU9AAAACAAJ |publisher=Meadow Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84685-202-2}}
* {{cite web |last=Clowes |first=Peter |title=Edith Cavell: World War I Nurse and Heroine |url=http://www.historynet.com/edith-cavell-world-war-i-nurse-and-heroine.htm |work=HistoryNet |date=12 June 2006 |access-date=31 July 2014}}
* {{Cite Collier's |wstitle=Cavell, Edith |short=x}}
* {{cite news |title=The Death of Edith Cavell |newspaper=The Daily News & Leader |publisher=H.C. & L. |location=London |date=1915}}
* {{cite news |last=Ford |first=Steve |url=https://www.nursingtimes.net/archive/life-and-work-of-nurse-edith-cavell-remembered-13-10-2015/ |title=Life and work of nurse Edith Cavell remembered |work=Nursing Times |date=13 October 2015 |access-date=25 September 2017}}
* {{cite book |last=Forrester |first=David Anthony |title=Nursing's greatest leaders: a history of activism |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |location=New York |year=2016}}
* {{cite book |last=Grey |first=Elizabeth |title=Friend Within the Gates: The Story of Nurse Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-gXWngEACAAJ |publisher=Dell Publishing Company |year=1973}}
* {{cite book |last=Hamelecourt |first=Juliette Elkon |title=Edith Cavell, Heroic Nurse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2v-GAAACAAJ |publisher=J. Messner |year=1956}}
* {{cite book |last=Hill |first=William Thomson |title=The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell: The Life Story of the Victim of Germany's Most Barbarous Crime : With Illustrations |url=https://archive.org/details/martyrdomofnurse00hill |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |location=London |year=1915}}
* {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Jan |title=The Secret Task of Nurse Cavell: A Story about Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pRdPAAAACAAJ |publisher=[[Harper San Francisco]] |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-03-041661-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Lasswell |first=Harold Dwight |title=Propaganda Technique in World War One |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UIrpugAACAAJ |publisher=MIT Press |year=1927 |isbn=978-0-262-62018-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Leeuw |first=Adèle De |title=Edith Cavell; Nurse, Spy, Heroine |url=https://archive.org/details/edithcavellnurse00dele |url-access=registration |publisher=Putnam |year=1968}}
* {{cite journal |last=Marquis |first=Alice Goldfarb |title=Words as Weapons: Propaganda in Britain and Germany during the First World War |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |publisher=Sage Publications, Ltd. |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=467–498 |date=July 1978 |jstor=260205 |s2cid=159994121 |doi=10.1177/002200947801300304}}
* {{cite book |last=McFayden |first=Philip |title=Edith Cavell 1865–1915, A Norfolk Heroine |publisher=People of Swardeston |year=1983}}
* {{cite book |last=Murphy |first=William S. |title=In Memoriam: Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ApUnIgAACAAJ |publisher=Stoneham |year=1916}}
* {{cite book |last=Peachment |first=Brian |title=Ready to Die: The Story of Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjlMHAAACAAJ |publisher=Canterbury Press |year=1980 |series=Faith in Action |isbn=978-0-08-024189-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Pickles |first=Katie |title=Transnational Outrage: The Death and Commemoration of Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrpvngEACAAJ |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |date=2007 |isbn=978-1-4039-8607-8}}
* {{cite journal |last=Pickles |first=Katie |title=Cavell, Edith Louisa |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/cavell_edith_louisa |editor-last1=Daniel |editor-first1=Ute |editor-last2=Gatrell |editor-first2=Peter |editor-last3=Janz |editor-first3=Oliver |editor-last4=Jones |editor-first4=Heather |editor-last5=Keene |editor-first5=Jennifer |editor-last6=Kramer |editor-first6=Alan |editor-last7=Nasson |editor-first7=Bill |journal=1914-1918-online |publisher=Freie Universität Berlin |date=24 January 2017 |access-date=19 January 2018 |doi=10.15463/ie1418.10214/1.1}}
* {{cite book |last=Protheroe |first=Ernest |title=A Noble Woman: The Life-story of Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1fDZtgAACAAJ |publisher=Kelly |year=1916}}
* {{cite book |last=Ryder |first=Rowland |author-link=Rowland Ryder |title=Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rONmAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Hamilton |year=1975 |isbn=9780241891735}}
* {{cite book |last=Sarolea |first=Charles |title=The Murder of Nurse Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mo0jnQEACAAJ |publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd. |location=London |year=1915}}
* {{cite book |last=Souhami |first=Diana |title=Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wQ1ngEACAAJ |publisher=Quercus |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84916-359-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Til |first=Jacqueline van |title=With Edith Cavell in Belgium |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMR1QwAACAAJ |publisher=H.W. Bridges |year=1922 |isbn=978-1-153-21140-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Vinton |first=Iris |author-link=Iris Vinton |title=The Story of Edith Cavell... Illustrated by Gerald McCann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg8CMwEACAAJ |publisher=[[Sampson Low]] |location=London |year=1960}}
* {{cite book |last=Ward |first=Richard Heron |title=The Secret Trial: An Unhistorical Charade Suggested by the Life and Death of Edith Cavell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16zKHAAACAAJ |year=1965}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Edith Cavell}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://edithcavell.org.uk/ Edith Cavell commemoration site]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edith Louisa Cavell}}
* Katie Pickles: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/cavell_edith_louisa/ Cavell, Edith Louisa], in: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home.html/ 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War].
* {{PM20|FID=pe/003086}}

{{British nursing matrons in the 19th century}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavell, Edith}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:1915 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Swardeston]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
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[[Category:20th-century Anglicans]]
[[Category:People educated at Norwich High School for Girls]]
[[Category:English governesses]]
[[Category:British nurses]]
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[[Category:Female nurses in World War I]]
[[Category:World War I nurses]]
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[[Category:British casualties of World War I]]
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[[Category:German occupation of Belgium during World War I]]
[[Category:Military discipline and World War I]]
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[[Category:Nurses killed in World War I]]
[[Category:20th-century nurses]]
[[Category:British people executed abroad]]
[[Category:Executed English women]]
[[Category:Executed people from Norfolk]]
[[Category:People executed by the German Empire]]
[[Category:People executed by Germany by firing squad]]
[[Category:People executed by military occupation forces]]
[[Category:People executed for treason against Germany]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Belgium]]
[[Category:Burials at Norwich Cathedral]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]