We know there were many thousands of men who were killed in WW1 but the women who severed in various occupations don’t seem to have received the same deserved recognition. What about Blantyre WOMEN who fought in conflicts?

Catherine Connor was born in Blantyre in approx. 1894 and served with the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Catherine died on 30 May 1918 aged 23. Killed by a bomb along with 9 other members of her corps.

Catherine was born on 27th August 1894 in Blantyre to parents John Connor, a coalminer and Mary Jones. The family lived at 105 Bairds Rows, but by 1901 had moved nearby to 55 Bairds Rows (Craighead Rows). By 1901 at 6 years old she was the eldest of 4 children. By 1911, the family were not in Blantyre anymore, but had moved to 32 Coolebrook Street, Cambuslang.

During early 1918, Catherine registered for duty in Glasgow leaving behind her job at Singers Factory in Clydebank. Before long she found herself on the Continent for several months. At the age of 23, she saw active fighting from 29th April 1918 for a full month at Flanders, France before being killed by a bomb on either 29th or 30th May 1918.

Catherine was entitled to a “Victory medal” and this brave woman is noted as being a ‘worker’. She is buried, marked by this headstone in Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension, Abbeville, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France.