Nurse Lorna Ferris

In memoriam

Lorna Ferris was trained as a nurse at the Dreadnought Seaman's Hospital, Greenwich before spending a year at the Samaritan Free Hospital for Women in Marylebone Road, London. In April, 1915, she travelled to Serbia with Mabel Stobart, to set up a tented hospital camp at a disused racecourse outside Kragujevac. She made a strong impression on her colleagues, who recorded much about her and her character. She was a “strong, healthy girl of 25,” a “good nurse with a bright, cheerful manner” who was due to be married just two months later. But what impressed her colleagues most was her facility for languages. “She knew Serbian better than anyone in the camp and could sing the Serbian anthem,” recalled one. “She, almost alone of all the nurses, had not been content with the ‘Dobro’ dumb show language, but had troubled to learn Serbian, and had made excellent progress," wrote Mabel Stobart, who headed the Unit. She fell ill with typhoid and met her illness with characteristic good cheer. “I went to have a peep at all our poor invalids,” wrote the Unit’s head cook, Monica Stanley. “When the poor girl saw me she looked up and smiled and waved to me. I little thought it would be the last time I should see her. Nurse Ferris and I always had little jokes together when she came to meals; she was beloved by all in her ward.” She died on 4 July 1915. She was the first and youngest of Mabel Stobart's volunteers to die in Serbia.

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