1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio Welcome Back. I'm your host Eves and you're 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: tuned into This Day in History Class, a show that 4 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: takes history and squeezes it into bite size stories. Today 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: is December fourteen. The day was December four Edith Louisa 6 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,520 Speaker 1: Cavell was born in England. Cavil was a nurse known 7 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: for hiding Allied soldiers from Germans during World War One. 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: Cavil was the oldest of four children. When she was young, 9 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: Edith was educated at home, mostly by her father, who 10 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: was the vicar in Swardeston, where she was born. She 11 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: later went to boarding school, then worked as a governess 12 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: for an Essex family. Edith spent time traveling in Switzerland, 13 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: Bavaria and Saxony, gaining an interest in hygiene and medicine 14 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,639 Speaker 1: and Brussels. Cavil worked as a governess, but when her 15 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: father got sick, she went back to England to care 16 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: for him. Cavil soon began her nursing education and started 17 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: gaining experience in hospital work. She worked in different hospitals 18 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: in the London area, and she took jobs as a 19 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: private nurse. Belgian surgeon Antoine Depage invited Cavil to Belgium 20 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: to help with the direction of his new nursing school, 21 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: which would be influenced by the model developed by Florence Nightingale. 22 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: As an English trained nurse who was fluent in French, 23 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:34,960 Speaker 1: Cavil foot the bill for who he was looking for. 24 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: She became the director of nurse training at the Birkendale 25 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: Medical Institute and within a few years was working as 26 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: a nurse trainer at several hospitals and schools. Cavill also 27 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: began publishing the nursing journal La Firmiere. But as the 28 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: First World War began Germany invaded Belgium and entered Brussels. 29 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: Her clinic and nursing school were turned into a Red 30 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: Cross hospital. She cared for did German soldiers. When a 31 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: couple of injured English soldiers ended up in her clinic 32 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: in November of nineteen fourteen, she hit them and helped 33 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: them escape to the neutral Netherlands. As more Allied soldiers 34 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: began showing up at her clinic, she continued to shelter 35 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: them and assist them in escaping to the Netherlands. Many 36 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: of the soldiers she helped were British in French She 37 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: began working with an underground network of people who supplied 38 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: the Allied soldiers with food, money, clothes, and fake documents. 39 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: Soldiers were moved from location to location in the network, 40 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: and Caval's clinic was one stop. The network also assisted 41 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: French and Belgian men who were of military age that 42 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: feared being imprisoned by the Germans. Caval's resistance work in 43 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: harboring Allied soldiers and helping them escape was against German 44 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: military law, but the system broke down when members of 45 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: the network were caught in linked to unlawful activity. Cavl 46 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: was under suspicion and she was arrested on August fifth, 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen. She spent weeks in solitary confinement and she 48 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: signed depositions admitting her guilt. She was charged with war 49 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: treason and helping soldiers escape to Britain, which was at 50 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: war with Germany. That meant she was aiding an enemy. 51 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: Caval went on trial and was found guilty. She was 52 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on October twelve. 53 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: After her execution, Germany used her death to discourage resistance. 54 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: The British, on the other hand, used her execution as 55 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: propaganda to encourage enlistment in the British army. People around 56 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: the world denounced that the Germans had executed a nurse 57 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: and believed the punishment was too harsh. After the war 58 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: was over, Cavil's remains were exhumed and transported to England. 59 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: I'm each Jeffcoat and hopefully you know a little more 60 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,839 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. You can keep 61 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: up with us on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and 62 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d h C podcast and if you 63 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: would like to write me a letter, you can scan it, 64 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: turn it into a PDF, and send it to us 65 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 1: via email at this Day at i heeart media dot com. 66 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For 67 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 68 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.