Monday 14 December 2015

Katherine Mary Harley (1855 - 1917) - British

Looking through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission List of Female Casualties of the First World War, on page 25, I found this entry:

Katherine Mary Harley, who initially worked at the Scottish Women's Hospital in Royaumont, France as a clerical assistant.   She then volunteered to go to Serbia, where she was attached to the Serbian Ministry of the Interior.   Katherine was 63 when she was killed during the bombardment of Monastir on 7th March 1917.   She was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her services during the First World War.

Katherine's parents were Commander John Tracey William French of the British Royal Navy, and his wife Margaret, nee Eccles, of Ripple Vale, Kent.  Katherine was the widow of Colonel George Ernest Harley, C.B.  Katherine's brother was Sir John French who commanded the British Expeditionary Force for the first eighteen months of the First World War.

Katherine is buried in Thessaloniki in Greece in Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery. 

Source:  CWGC List of Female Casualties of the First World War.