Nursing Sister Lena Aloa Davis was born in Beamsville, Ontario, on July 30, 1885. Prior to her enlistment Davis was working as the Superintendent of Nurses at Toronto’s Hospital for the Insane (as it was then named).

She enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, on April 7, 1915, with the 2nd Stationary Hospital, Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.). Arriving in England in May 1915 aboard the SS Corinthian, she went on to serve in France and Macedonia, initially with the 2nd Stationary Hospital and later with the No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, C.A.M.C.

Her nursing work put her in constant contact with infectious diseases. Her service record shows she was hospitalized with “Blackwater Fever” (malaria) in September 1916 and contracted diphtheria the following April. Her malaria returned in early 1918 and she died in hospital in England on February 21, 1918. She was buried at the St. Andrew Churchyard, Sherborne St. John, England.

External links:
Nursing Sister Lena Davis’s service record (Serv/Reg# n/a) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring N.S. Lena Davis can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.