Dorothy Fox was born in Pubnico, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, two days before Christmas, on December 23, 1889 to Deidamia Ann “Annie” (Gayton) Fox (August 27, 1861 - May 27, 1917) and Charles James Fox (February 11, 1851 - March 24, 1937). She had seven siblings; Leslie (1886-1918), Marie (1887-1984), Charles James (1888-1940), Lyle Cleveland (1891-1960), Annie G Fox (1893-1987), Eunice (1898-1995) and a half-sister; Mary A (born in 1878). At the age of 21 she moved to Massachusetts in July of 1910 to begin nursing school at the Malden Hospital in Malden, Massachusetts. She began her military service in nursing December 5, 1917 in Canton, Norfolk, Massachusetts. By December 10, she had reported to duty at the Base Hospital at Camp Sevier, Greenville County, South Carolina. On May 17, 1918, she left Camp Sevier to initially proceed to New Jersey and on to New York to await transportation to Europe. May 20th she reported to the Commanding General at Hoboken, New Jersey, which was to be their port of embarkation for France. She then proceeded, on June 11th to the Holley Chambers Hotel at Washington Square West, New York City, New York. The hotel was used as the Nurses Mobilization Center; one of a chain of hotels in New York City with which the Government contracted. The picture of the Army nurses loading on to a ship from the ferry is from May 18, 1919. They then departed Europe aboard SS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm (ID4063) to New York City. Dorothy arrived in New York May 27, 1919 returning to the Nurses Demobilization Station at Hotel Albert in New York City, New York. July 14, 1920, Dorothy Fox received the Victory Medal. As a constituent part of the Army, any Army nurse who served on active duty between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, whose service was honorable, was entitled to the Victory Medal. “The treatment, pay and recognition of nurses in the First World War varied. Two varying degrees, British and Canadians had given their nurses “relative rank.” That meant that the women were called Lieutenant or Captain, and they were respected by officers and enlisted men alike, although they did not get the same pay or privileges of men of the same rank and were not given command authority over men. The Army Nurse Corps of the US did not receive relative rank until after WWI and after a major lobbying effort on the part of all nursing organizations teaming up with women's colleges and associations. By 1920, women would have the right to vote and nurses had relative rank; both in part awarded for the special roles women had played during the war. The Army Nursing Corps would keep “relative rank” until the middle of WWII even though other women in the US Army (Women's Army Corps WAC) and the US Navy (WAVES) were getting the same pay as men. Permanent commissions with full benefits and privileges of rank were not given until 1947. Most American nurses during the First World War were registered and processed by the Red Cross. They then served with the Army, Navy, or the Red Cross in overseas hospitals organized and financed by the Red Cross. Some nurses did not know if they were army, navy or Red Cross nurses. The largest difference was that military nurse reservists were eligible for disability benefits if they were wounded or injured while in Europe; Red Cross nurses were not. Many patients referred to all nurses as Red Cross nurses. Regardless of all this, these US nurses made a difference in the lives of thousands od soldiers, sailors, and Marines. A fitting tribute to these dedicated courageous nurses of WWI was the British song which called them “The Rose(s) of No Man's Land.”* Dorothy travelled to Blaine, Washington State, United States on July 24, 1920, as reported by ship records. In 1921 she resided in Los Angeles, California at 1024 South Hope Street, and may have worked at the California Hospital Medical Center also located on 1414 South Hope Street, less than a mile away from her residence along the same street. Dorothy applied for US Citizenship (Petition #8232) September 4, 1925, and it was granted approximately a year later. She married Ray Daniel Perry (b. 1884) on June 26, 1926 at in Berkeley, California. Dorothy and Ray lived in Berkeley throughout the period of 1930 and 1940. They had two daughters and one son. Dorothy Fox Perry passed away October 17, 1952 and was residing in a nursing home at the time. She was predeceased by her husband two years earlier in 1950. Dorothy Fox’s brother, Lieutenant Lyle Cleveland Fox, also served with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in the First World War. Her younger sister, Major Annie Gayton Fox, also served as nurse. Having completed her training over the course of the First World War in 1918 she would go to serve as a US Army Corps nurse in the Second World War and was the first women to earn in the Purple Heart for her service during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Read her story at:

Timeline in Europe: By July 8, 1918, Dorothy was in west-central France and reporting for duty at Base Hospital #24, American Expeditionary Force, in Limoges, Haute-Vienne in the region of Limousin. On January 18, 1919, Dorothy was sick in hospital at Evacuation Hospital #37 (Mars) in Mars-sur-Allers, France before being sent to Evacuation Hospital #1 with Acute Bronchitis. Her confinement period last from February 11th to the 16th, 1919. Evacuation Hospital #37 relieved Base Hospitals #48, #14, and #35. 20 Jan 1919 Evacuation Hosp. #1, A.E.F., Argonna Forest, Sebastopol Barracks, north of Toul, France Left Base Hospital #24, A.E.F. Orders to proceed to Evacuation Hosp. #1/#37, A.E.F., France. **It is believed that Evacuation Hospital #1 was turned over to Evacuation #37. (One and the same) per pg 20 http://weezy.info/pdf/GrandmaMeChapter2.pdf Returned to duty February 19, 1919, at Evacuation Hospital #1, A.E.F., Argonna Forest, Sebastopol Barracks, North of Toul, France On April 3, 1919, she received orders to report to the duty station, Evacuation Hospital #37. On April 4, 1919, she reported to duty at Camp Hospital #8 at Montigny-le-Roi, Haute-Marne, (Hte. M.), France. This was Northeast of Suilly, France. On May 3 she left Camp Hospital #8 to proceed to the Hospital Center at Vannes (Morbihan), France for return to the United States. She arrived at Headquarters Hospital Center, Vannes May 6, 1919, per order for embarkation to the United States. American medical personnel gathered at the Hospital Centre in preparation for their return home. Dorothy then departed the Headquarters Hospital Centre May 14, 1919 to proceed to Brest, France for embarkation; arriving near Brest, Finistere, Bretagne at Hospital Center Kerhuon (also known as Base Hospital #65) as per orders.

Source: *The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, Paul L. Miles

Dorothy Fox

Anne Fox, Marie Fox, Edna, Dorothy, Eunice (1907)