We Remember our Military Nursing Sisters 
Laura Holland was a Canadian nurse who served during World War 1. After graduation from the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914, she distinguished herself with service in the Canadian Army Medical Corps overseas and was awarded the Royal Red Cross. She was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1923 for her work in establishing the first four outpost hospitals in Ontario. With the Vancouver Children’s Aid Society, she reorganized child welfare in British Columbia.
Laura Holland’s outstanding leadership and influence on health and social policies in Canada earned her an Honorary Doctor of Laws from UBC in 1950 and in 2007 she was nominated a “National Historic Person of Canada”. She spent much of her later years in British Columbia, died in 1956, and is buried in Victoria.
Remembrance Day in Canada is observed every year on November 11 to mark the 1918 Armistice and honour the more than 2.3 million who have served. It is a federal statutory holiday with two minutes of silence at 11 a.m., though provincial holiday status varies.
Laying a wreath on Remembrance Day is a solemn act of honouring and remembering soldiers who died in war, symbolizing respect, gratitude, and eternal remembrance
Symbolism of the Wreath:
- Evergreen foliage (holly, laurel, pine) represents everlasting life and resilience.
- The circular shape symbolizes eternity and the unbroken cycle of life.
- Decorations such as red poppies represent blood spilled in war.
This year a wreath will be laid at the Ladner Memorial Cenotaph by Frances Affleck and Lenore Radom on behalf of the BCHNS remembering our Military Nursing Sisters from the past and present. [Photo will be added]
