"The previously unknown story of a compassionate WWI nurse who cared for wounded Germans despite her own brother dying on the battlefields has emerged for the first time. Little was known about nurse Margaret Maule until a battered suitcase containing her mementos was discovered at the back of a cupboard at the University of Abertay, in Dundee. Researchers have been able to piece together bits and pieces of her life from photographs, her diary, letters, nursing certificates and an article she had written for a newspaper. But academics at the university are at a loss to explain why the suitcase was hidden away in a cupboard at the university, especially since there is no record of her ever having been there. Researchers are now trying to find the missing links to piece together the full story. Inside the old case, there was an article Nurse Maule had written for a newspaper called The People's Journal and an autograph book filled with sketches and thank you notes from German patients. According to the diary she had reservations about treating enemy soldiers as her brother had been killed in action in the spring 1917. Yet despite her misgivings the kind-hearted nurse is known to have tended to injured German prisoners of war during her time at the Dartford War Hospital, in Kent, as well as British soldiers at a hospital in Glasgow. Robin Ion, head of Abertay's Nursing and Counselling Division, is keen to hear from anyone who can shed more light on Nurse Maule. He said: 'The contents of this suitcase are absolutely fascinating, but we know very little about the person who owned it. There's no record of her ever having been to Abertay, so how it came to be in our possession is a complete mystery. " Battered suitcase unlocks story of a World War One nurse who cared for German soldiers while her brother lay dying on the battlefield | Mail Online
Nice to have this all jigsawed together. I have done similar things with archives from all beligerants and was surprised that quite often relatives didn't even bother to anwser. Sometimes you have a nice surprise with people reacting afte rmany months or years.
