By: Mark Holtsberry
Mairi Lambert Gooden Chisholm and Elsie Knocker.
No, these gals were not from Paulding County, but I thought this would be a good read.
Mairi was born February 26, 1896 in Datchet, Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough, Berkshire, England. The daughter of Roderick Chisholm Gooden Chisholm and Margaret Chisholm Gooden Chisholm.
Elsie Knocker was born Elizabeth Blackall Knocker June 29, 1894 in Exeter, Devon, England. The daughter of Dr. Thomas Lewis and Charlotte Shapter. Elsie began an orphan after her parents died. She was raised by a teacher Lewis Edward Upcott and his wife Emily. They sent Elsie overseas to the finest schools in Switzerland.
Elsie found a passion in motorcycle riding and a love for the open road. This is how she met Mairi, a Scottish nurse in the Red Cross. In 1914, at the start of World War One, they went to London and joined a motorcycle club. They both joined the “Flying Ambulance Corp.” Knocker had been trained as a nurse, mechanic and chauffer. Also can speak the French and German language. Knocker and Chisholm began treating the wounded in the field to save time. Knocker gave the medical attention and Chisholm transported the injured in an ambulance. She often drove in terrible conditions and under enemy fire. She was able to reach the base hospital fifteen miles away numerous times. The amount is lost to time.
Both women were known for the skill of even carrying wounded men on their backs to the nearest first aid station while under fire. Both women were gaining recognition for the heroic actions taken during their service during the war.
News spread and they both became the most photographed nurses of the war. They both were gassed during the German Offensive in March of 1918. They both were sent home in April of 1918. Their service was not overlooked. They both received numerous medals and citations for their service of saving thousands of lives on the Western Front.
Even saving, while under fire, a German pilot who was shot down out of the skies. They received the British Military Medal, World War One Victory Medal, British Victory Medal, Belgium Queen Elizabeth Medal, 1914 Star Knights Cross of the Order of Leopold the Second with Palm, and were made Officers of the Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem.
In Belgium, they were dubbed by the press as, “The Madonnas of Pervyne”. The Imperial War Museum holds Knockers diaries along with recordings and transcripts of interviews. In November of 2014, a statue of Knocker and Chisholm was unveiled in the garden of the Hotel Ariene in Ypres, Belgium.
Elsie Knocker passed away April 26, 1978 in Ashtead, Surrey, England of pneumonia and senile dementia. She was cremated, remains unknown. Mairi passed away August 22, 1981 in Perth, Perth and Kincross, Scotland, do from lung cancer. She is buried in Perth Crematorium, Perth, Perth and Kincross, Scotland.
