Dr. Sybil Lonie Lewis 1874-1918

Doctor with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in Serbia during WWI

In the Memorial Chapel of Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the Old Town of Edinburgh on Jeffrey Street, the walls are lined with the names of the 147 men who gave their lives in World War I. Inscribed on the row closest to the altar is the name of the only woman, Sybil Lewis, who served as a Doctor in Serbia. She was one of the first women doctors. Women could only receive a certificate for her studies in medicine at Edinburgh University, so she also took a higher medical degree at Dublin, which was more open to women.

In 1915, Sybil joined Elsie Inglis in going to Serbia with several other women doctors, to work in the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. While they were there, they were overrun by the enemy and taken prisoner for four months and were kept under the roughest conditions. She came back to Edinburgh when she was released, only to return in 1916 to serve once more as a doctor in Serbia. She was known as a very fine doctor who was efficient and caring for the troops. She won the recognition of the King of Serbia who awarded her the order of St. Sava Fourth Class for her work with the wounded, the sick, and the refugees during the war.

She was called home on an urgent matter in 1917. Shortly afterward she died at forty three. The attending physician attributed the fact that she died in only three days to her weakened condition as a result of the rough life she led as an Army doctor: living in huts, fetching her own wood and water and being exposed to all sorts of diseases. Her selfless devotion led to her giving her life to her profession and the war effort.

Rona Harding

Sources :

Obituary. Hull Daily Mail 11 th March 1918.
Memorial Plaque in the Old St. Paul’s Church, Edinburgh
Sybil Lonie Lewis, Old St Paul’s Church Edinburgh on The Scottish War Memorials Project website:
Leneman, Leah. In the Service of Life: The story of Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. Edinburgh: Mercat Press 1994