A tragic twist of fate aboard a warship claimed the life of a young local nurse, 105 years ago. Historian and author Andrew Hemmings spoke to Nicholas Thomas about how a Christmas party turned to tragedy. CAROLINE Maud Edwards was born in Llanharry in 1887 to a family with strong connections to Newport and the former county of Monmouth. She grew up in the area and attended Monmouth School for Girls, later studying at Bedford College and enrolling as a nurse in The London Hospital, Whitechapel, by 1911. At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, she joined the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) as a nursing sister, working on a hospital ship in the North Sea.