Letter · 23 Oct 1914
A nurse's opinion of Churchill
Ella attended Grafton School in Auckland and completed her nursing training at Auckland Hospital. She died in Alexandria, Egypt. Her obituary in Kai Tiaki [NZ nursing journal] states: 'A sad death reported by cable from Alexandria is that of Sister Ella Cooke, who trained at the Auckland Hospital, and afterwards was a member of the Public Health Nursing Service. She went to England shortly before the war started and immediately went to work in France under the French flag, near Rouen. She was afterwards attached to the Queen Alexandra Reserve, and sent to Alexandria, where her death occurred accidentally [she was killed in a railway accident]. Sister Cooke was a devoted and clever nurse, and a very great favourite. Her loss is much deplored.'
Extracts from this letter
"Well, ain't this war dreadful, so overwhelming and terrifying in every way. Goodness only knows what is to be the end of things. I have heard many different opinions lately upon the war questions. The Anti-Christ (the Kaiser) is supposed to [be] utterly outbeaten by the end of November. If that is so all the better, we can’t go on killing people until the end of time. For the last few days news of the war has been very favourable & not much fresh news."
"Lord Kitchener has everything kept very secret and quiet. What did you think of the fall of Antwerpt [sic] and Ostend. Winston Churchill got into a fine old pickle over here about it all. It seems Winston Churchill is a rather excitable man. He rushed together several hundred Navy reserve men and sent them over to Antwerpt [sic]. He also flew over after them when the battle was in full swing. Most of the men it seems couldn’t even handle a rifle & besides you can see it was none of Churchill’s business, and that is really why the places fell. I’ve no doubt they will be regained soon, but just now the great thing is to drive the Germans along the coast."
