Skip to content

LISTEN: Langley historian explores role nursing sisters made in the Great War

In April’s Valley Voice , retired broadcaster Mark Forsythe looks at stories up and down the Valley.
11323310_web1_MarkForsytheC
Mark Forsythe retired from CBC, and now has a monthly history podcast on CIVL radio.

Heritage enthusiast and retired broadcaster Mark Forsythe has officially serialized his podcast.

The second in an ongoing series of broadcast shows called Valley Voices has been released to the world.

In this month’s edition, the Langley Heritage Society host interviews fellow historian Warren Sommer – also of Langley – about one of Langley’s Nursing Sisters, Jessie Middleton.

“This is the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War,” Forsythe explained.

LISTEN: Here’s the April 4 broadcast, starting at the 7:20 mark

“The role of nursing sisters – who saved countless lives – is profound, and mostly lost. Warren Sommer tells us about their origins, and we meet Jessie Middleton, a Langley nursing sister who served in the Second World War and today lives in Abbotsford.”

Also on this month’s broadcast, Forsythe and Sharn Sandhra explore the history of Canada’s oldest Sikh temple in Abbotsford, he delves into a new Facebook site in the Valley called Our Chilliwack History (similar to the We Call it Haney Facebook page set up in Maple Ridge).

He also hears about stories from the Round Up Cafe in Whalley.

Anyone with suggestions for aspects of Langley and Fraser Valley history that they’d like to hear on Valley Voices can email to: info@langleyheritage.ca. Forsythe noted that the original story about his podcast has already generated some ne story ideas for him, thankful that people are sharing.

RELATED: Retired Fort Langley broadcaster gives voice to local history