Margaret Cowie Crowe

Margaret Cowie Crowe (23 November 1882–1973), also known as Meg, was a Scottish nurse who served in Serbia and Russia during World War I.

Biography Crowe was born in Laurieston, Falkirk, Scotland and was one of eight children. She was educated at Laurieston Village School and continued there as a pupil teacher. She passed the King’s Scholar exam during her studies.

After the outbreak of World War I the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service (SWH) was founded by Dr Elsie Inglis to support the war effort and as women medics were not permitted to serve on the frontlines. The organisation was funded by private donations, fundraising of local societies, the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and the American Red Cross.

Crowe joined the SWH, departing for service in Serbia in February 1915. She was one of forty Scottish women medics who accompanied the Serbian Army during their "Great Retreat" across Albania fleeing from the invading Austrians. During the retreat, SWH nurse Caroline Toughill had her skull fractured when the car in which she was travelling fell off a cliff near the town of Rača. Crowe and a Serbian Major treated her in a nearby Red Cross camp, before she died from her injuries two days later and was buried at Leposavić. and was in Russia during the Russian Revolution in 1917. She took photographs to record her experiences, with an annotation of "Passport Photograph required under Bolshevik Rule" on one of her images.

Crowe died in 1973.

Legacy Crowe was featured in WW100 Scotland and was commemorated at a "ceremony saluting the pioneering Scots nurses of World War I" during 2017.