Books
WWI Military Decorations
WWI Military Decorations
Title: Military Decorations of Prince Edward Islanders in WWI
Author/Editor: Katherine Dewar,
Publisher: Self-published, Charlottetown, P.E.I.: 2012.
Description: 4to. 42pp. Illustrated. Comb binding. Clear plastic covers. Consists of a list of medals compiled “from a newspaper search of the Guardian from 1919 and the Patriot from the years 1914 to January 1920. It also contains the information in Greg Gallant’s Decoration’s Binder of the Prince Edward Island Regiment Museum. An internet search was also done.” Includes special mention of Frederick Thornton Peters, the most highly decorated Islander of WWI.
Katherine Dewar was a distinguished author, educator, nurse, and historian whose contributions forever changed how Prince Edward Island understands the stories of its women, particularly those who served during times of war.
Born in Summerside, Katherine devoted 22 years of her life to teaching at the P.E.I. School of Nursing, shaping generations of caregivers with compassion, rigour, and quiet leadership. After retiring from nursing education, she turned her energy toward researching Island history, bringing to light the remarkable lives of women whose experiences have too often gone unrecorded.
Katherine’s award winning body of work, including "We’ll Meet Again: Prince Edward Island Women of the Second World War," "Those Splendid Girls: The Heroic Service of Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War," and "Called to Serve: Georgina Pope, Canadian Military Nursing Heroine," stands as the most significant collection of women’s military history ever produced on PEI. Thanks to her research and writing, the stories of over 700 Island women who served in the First and Second World Wars, as well as in the Boer War, have received the public and scholarly attention they so richly deserve.
Katherine was also a generous donor to the provincial collection of material and cultural objects, stewarded by the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation, contributing more than a hundred personal and family objects. Among them is a cherished childhood dress, lovingly made by a local dressmaker and still marked with a small stain from an accident involving a rake in the yard, an incident she carried as both a memory and a scar. Objects like this remind us of Katherine’s gift for connecting everyday lives to the wider arc of Island history.
Throughout her career, Katherine was recognized by heritage organizations across the province, including the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, PEI Community Museum Association, City of Summerside, and the Canadian Nurses Association. Her research continues to guide historians, educators, and community members today.
Source: P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation


