1914-09-04aka

Although the war in Europe was just weeks old early in September, 1914, stories started to appear in the Hamilton press about local people who were already “at the front.”

Such was the case on September 4, 1914, when the Hamilton Herald carried an item about a young lady well-known to many Hamiltonians, Ethel Tobias.

Miss Tobias, accompanying her newly-married sister and brother-in-law, happened to be in Paris, France when war was declared. Ethel had graduated as a nurse at the Hamilton City Hospital on Barton street.

Without hesitation, Ethel Tobias volunteered for service with the Red Cross:

“Miss Tobias, with other Red Cross nurses, was detailed for field work in Alsace, and although no recent word had been received from her, she is thought to now be with the French army of the Meuse.”¹

¹ “At the Front : Miss Ethel Tobias, Local Nurse, Joined French Army”

Hamilton Herald.   September 4, 1914.

As for Ethel’s sister and her brother-in-law, they chose to leave France and return to Canada as soon as they knew that war had been declared:

“Mrs. Flynn was in Paris during all the excitement of warfare, and only after some difficulty were she and her husband able to leave the country. They arrived at Montreal on September 1.

“The usual precautions taken by passenger boats were carried out.

“Mrs. Flynn tried to prevail on her sister to return to Canada, but she refused and left for the front.”¹