Legion Experience Museum

*Click here and scroll to read an article at The City of Toronto, which we curated on Lieutenant Carola Douglas & Lieutenant Mary Agnes McKenzie.

Lieutenant Carola Josephine Douglas, of Toronto.
More than 3,000 women volunteered for the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in the First World War. All had trained as nurses before the war; their average age was 24. Nicknamed “blue birds,” because of their blue uniforms and white veils, they assisted with surgery and cared for convalescing soldiers. Though not in the trenches, they often worked close to the front lines. Of the 2,054 Canadian nurses who served overseas, 53 died from enemy fire, disease, or drowning.
Carola Josephine Douglas was born 7 April 1887, in Toronto. A graduate of Harbord Collegiate, Harbord St, Toronto. She enlisted in the Army, on the 2nd of March 1915, at the age of 29, and served aboard Llandovery Castle as a nurse. On 27 June 1918, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the Canadian hospital ship, Llandovery Castle, bound from Halifax, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool, 114 miles southwest of Fastnet Rock, off the coast of Ireland. Carola Douglas, was among the 14 nursing sisters who died. 
As the ship was showing the regulation Red Cross lights and many survivors were machine-gunned, Llandovery Castle became a rallying cry for Canadian troops during the Last 100 Days offensive of the war.
 
The Legion Experience Museum’s official open-door preview on October 4th 2022, was a collaboration between our passionate volunteers, Calgary’s ValourCanada and Toronto-local Timothy Christian School. We hosted a successful presentation about the sinking of Llandovery Castle to the local grade 6th class, which was very much appreciated by the students, teacher and a present parent. We expect to host further schools in the coming months.