31. The Execution of Edith Cavell Made Her a Martyr
Legally, the Germans had every right to execute Edith Cavell – a civilian who helped the enemy during wartime. Her protection as a Red Cross nurse was forfeited when she used it as cover to help Germany’s enemies. Politically, the German decision to execute the middle-aged nurse, which was carried out by a firing squad on October 12th, 1915, was a public relations disaster.
Nurse Cavell became an iconic propaganda figure in Britain. In the then-still-neutral United States, her execution further sullied Germany’s reputation – a reputation already marred by a German U-boat’s sinking of the Lusitania earlier that year. After the war, Cavell’s remains were returned to Britain for a state funeral at Westminster Abbey. The Church of England commemorates the date of her execution, October 12th, on its Calendar of Saints.