Rena Maude McLean (June 14, 1879 – June 27, 1918) was a Canadian nurse who volunteered during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She helped set up the first hospital in France staffed exclusively by Canadians, and also served in the UK and Greece. She died when the Canadian hospital ship HMHS Llandovery Castle was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland.

Early life and education

McLean was born in Souris on

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, Canada in 1879. Her parents were John McLean, a businessman and Conservative politician, and Matilda Jane McLean (née Jury). She studied at the Mount Allison Ladies' College in

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar, New Brunswick, Tantramar. Sackville is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate libe ...

, and the Halifax Ladies' College, graduating in 1896. McLean completed her training as a nurse in 1908 at Newport Hospital in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, in the United States.

Nursing career

At the outbreak of the war, McLean had been working as head nurse of the operating room at a hospital in

Gardner, Massachusetts Gardner is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon D ...

. She enlisted and was assigned to the Canadian Army Medical Corps on September 28, 1914, leaving soon after for Britain. By November 1914, she was in France. She was one of a group of Canadian nurses who converted a hotel into a hospital in

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (, Picard language, Picard: ''Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache''), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a Communes of France, commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, northern France. ...

. In 1915, 1,100 Canadian soldiers were treated there after they had been gassed. She served in France, the UK and Greece. She died when the Canadian hospital ship HMHS Llandovery Castle was torpedoed off the south coast of Ireland. Even after the ''Llandovery Castle'' had sunk, the U boat continued to kill survivors in the water either by ramming their lifeboats or machine-gunning them.

Legacy

A soldiers' hospital in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

was named for her in the year after her death, but it closed quite soon. There is a plaque in her memory at Charlottetown's Queen Elizabeth Hospital in their radiography department. Two other plaques recorded her life: one is at St James United Church in her home town and the other was in Mount Allison's Memorial Library, which was demolished in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Rena Maude 1879 births 1918 deaths People from Souris, Prince Edward Island Canadian nurses Canadian women nurses Nurses killed in World War I