Anna May Waters, ARRC (21 January 1903 – 8 December 1987) was a Canadian nurse who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Taken as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce ...

, she remained in captivity for fourteen months. Upon her release, Waters returned to Canada and was honoured with the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. Foundation The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria, with a single class of Mem ...

. After her service in Canada, Waters moved to Hawaii, spending over a decade nursing

lepers Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve dama ...

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a us ...

Early life

Anna May Waters, known as May, was born on 21 January 1903, in Strathroy,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada to Mary (née McDonald) and David Waters. When she was eight years old, she moved with her parents and three brothers to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. She was educated at Lord Roberts School and

Kelvin High School Kelvin High School is a public high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The school is located in the neighbourhood of River Heights. Kelvin teaches grades 9 to 12 and is part of the South District of the Winnipeg School Division. History T ...

, before entering nursing training. In 1927, Waters graduated from

Winnipeg General Hospital Winnipeg General Hospital is a hospital that was founded in 1872 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was built on the estate of Andrew McDermot. The driving force behind the hospital was McDermott's son-in-law Andrew Bannatyne Andrew Graham Ballenden Banna ...

as a registered nurse.

Career

Waters began nursing in December, 1927 at the Manitoba Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Ninette and remained there for two years. She then went to work in the Central Tuberculosis Clinic in Manitoba. In 1940, she enlisted in the

Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Militia Medical Service was established in 1898. It consisted of an Army Medical Service (officers) and an Army Medical Corps (other ranks). S ...

(RCAMC) and was appointed as the nursing-sister-in-charge of the Fort Osborne Military Hospital. On 27 October 1941, she became one of the first two nurses to serve in a battlefield area during World War II, when she and Kathleen Christie sailed aboard the HMT ''Awatea'' for

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

with the

Winnipeg Grenadiers , colors = , colors_label = , march = "British Grenadiers" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = Equipment ...

. After stops in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

the ship arrived in Kong Kong on 16 November. She was assigned to the

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

wards of the hospital. On December 8, when war was declared in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, the nurses moved to St. Albert's Convent. Within three days, they had established an Auxiliary Military Hospital at the convent and relocated all patients there. That same day, the first bombing of Hong Kong occurred, with the hospital taking seventeen direct hits. On Christmas Eve, rumors circulated that the

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

had unconditionally surrendered to the Japanese forces and on Christmas day the

began. On December 19, the St. Albert's Military Hospital was taken over by the Japanese. Though they were prisoners of war, the sisters continued to care for the patients under their charge until they were sent to

Stanley Internment Camp Stanley Internment Camp () was a civilian internment camp in Hong Kong during the Second World War. Located in Stanley, on the southern end of Hong Kong Island, it was used by the Japanese imperial forces to hold non- Chinese enemy nationals a ...

in August 1942. After fourteen months of captivity, Waters was repatriated in 1943 to Canada. Waters recuperated with her family for several months, trying to gain back the weight she had lost during her internment. She was presented with the

, second class, on 6 April 1944, by Brigadier J. C. Stewart, commanding officer of military district 6. In June, she was honoured with the Colonial Hong Kong Gallantry Awards as a Royal Red Cross-Associate (ARRC). On 5 September 1945, she was shipped out to rejoin her unit as part of the staff on the ''TSS Letitia'' and was briefly reunited with some of her fellow former POWs in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

in October. She served on the ''Letitia'', a hospital ship operating in the Atlantic and Pacific war theatres, until August 1946. When she was discharged from the RCAMC, Waters returned to Winnipeg and remained until September 1950, when she went to work at the

Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital The Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium in Salem, Oregon, United States. Established in 1905, it was the first public tuberculosis sanatorium on the West Coast. The main hospital building, constructed in 1894, had for ...

in Salem, Oregon. After serving for a year, she moved to Honolulu to work at the Leahi Hospital for tubercular patients. In October 1952, she returned to Manitoba to care for her ailing father, who died in 1955. In April 1956, Waters returned to Hawaii, where she nursed on the island of

at the

Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement Kalaupapa National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on the island of Molokai. Coterminous with the boundaries of Kalawao County and primarily on Kalaupapa peninsula, it was established b ...

. In 1968 Waters retired and moved to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, where one of her brothers was living.

Death and legacy

Waters died on 8 December 1987 in

and was buried in Westminster Memorial Park cemetery on 12 December 1987.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * and * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Anna May 1903 births 1987 deaths People from Strathroy-Caradoc Canadian military nurses Female wartime nurses Canadian people of World War II Canadian expatriates in Hong Kong Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian women nurses