Gertrude Powicke 1887 – 1919
Gertrude Powicke taught French and German at Manchester High School for Girls from 1911 to 1915. She played a key role in coordinating the MHSG war effort, making much-needed splints and bandages for local hospitals.
Keen to make a greater contribution, Gertrude applied for leave of absence for the duration of the war and joined the Society of Friends Emergency and War Victims Relief group. She was stationed in Bar-le-Duc and other places in Northern France, helping the Verdun refugees. In a letter to school, published in the School Magazine, she describes vividly the sound of the guns and the appalling misery experienced by the refugees. In 1917, Gertrude officially resigned from MHSG, but maintained contact with the school. In 1919, she was part of a group of 20 people sent by the Society of Friends Emergency and War Relief Committee to Poland to help victims of a typhus epidemic, but sadly, she herself died of typhus in December 1919.
Gertrude was a remarkable woman who died serving others in the most dangerous of circumstances. She stands as an example to us all, in the Manchester High community and beyond.
On Sunday 23 June 2019, a memorial service was held at Hatherlow United Reformed Church in Romiley to celebrate the centenary of the death of Gertrude Powicke. It was followed by the unveiling of a blue plaque on her former home, Powicke House, in Hatherlow.
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