Stock Photo - Page from The Sphere reporting on the memorial to British nurse, Edith Cavell by Sir George Frampton. Edith Cavell (1865 - 1915), British nurse and patriot. Edith was the head of a training school for nurses in Brussels during German occupation, enabled many British, French and Belgian soldiers to escape from Belgium. Arrested by the Germans in August 1915 on charges of helping 200 Allied soldiers escape to the Netherlands during the First World War. She was executed on 12th October 1915 by German firing squad. Her last words before being shot were: I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. The finished memorial stands today at the bottom of St. Martin's Lane opposite the National Portrait Gallery.