Story of World War I nurse, Edith Cavell and her association with Maidstone
March 2026
On the 5th March our guest speaker, Tony Miles spoke to a full house of the story of World War I nurse, Edith Cavell and her association with Maidstone during the Maidstone typhoid epidemic from 1897 to 1898.
She was awarded the Maidstone Typhoid Medal, but that was the only decoration she received from her country because her work in Belgium caring for Allied wounded soldiers and funnelling them out of Belgium was with the Red Cross and not on active military service.
She was executed by the German military government in 1915. Her incredible work in Maidstone is remembered by a ward named after her at the Maidstone Hospital.
We were also shown a collection of medals to include the Maidstone typhoid medal by collector Rob Davies.
There is a montage to Edith Cavell at Maidstone Museum in the Oldham Gallery. There is also a plague at the entrance of the United Reformed Church in Week Street.
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