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Agnes Warner

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Agnes Warner

1872–1926

A trained nurse from Saint John, Agnes Warner carried her compassion into the chaos of the First World War. Her vivid letters from French field hospitals became My Beloved Poilus, an intimate record of courage, suffering, and wartime devotion.

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"My beloved poilus" : These home letters from an American girl ... caring for the wounded in France at an army ambulance ... are published by her friends ... to raise money to aid her in her work which began on the 4th day of August, 1914

"My beloved poilus" : These home letters from an American girl ... caring for the wounded in France at an army ambulance ... are published by her friends ... to raise money to aid her in her work which began on the 4th day of August, 1914

by Agnes Warner

About the author

Agnes Louise Warner (1872–1926) was a Saint John, New Brunswick nurse educated at McGill College and the Presbyterian Hospital in New York. When war broke out in 1914, she was working as a private nurse in France and began caring for wounded soldiers alongside French medical and relief organizations.

Warner served in France and Belgium from August 1914 into 1917, eventually becoming head nurse at a French surgical hospital. Her work earned her several French honors, including the Médaille d’Honneur, the Médaille des Épidémies, and the Croix de Guerre.

While she was overseas, friends and family collected her letters and published them in 1917 as My Beloved Poilus to raise funds for wounded soldiers and their families. The book remains a rare firsthand account of wartime nursing, combining sharp observations of hospital life with deep affection for the soldiers she called her “poilus.”