Legacy of Nancy Pett: A Red Cross Nurse Lost at Sea

Nancy Margaret Pett: A Detailed Biography

Nancy Margaret Pett was an American Red Cross nurse from Jackson, Michigan, who died at sea on 24 January 1941 when the Norwegian motor ship M/S Vigrid was torpedoed in the North Atlantic. Her body was lost at sea and she is commemorated as American war dead, one of four nurses from the Harvard Field Hospital Unit who never returned from that voyage.[1][2][3]

Early Life and Family

Nancy Margaret Pett was born on 4 March 1913 in Jackson, Jackson County, Michigan, USA, the daughter of Arthur John Pett and Nellie Fredricka Gaunt.[1] Her early childhood was spent in Jackson, where by the 1920 United States Census she appeared as a six‑year‑old scholar, recorded as a step‑daughter in the household on East Ganson Street, reflecting changes in her mother’s marital circumstances.[1] Later records name her mother as Mrs J. R. Burnside, showing that Nellie had remarried to Stephen Burnside by the late 1930s.[1]

During the 1930 Census, Nancy was living in Leoni Township, Jackson County, Michigan, aged 17 and described as an adopted daughter at 103 Gillman Road, again confirming the complexity of her family situation.[1] By 1935 she was still in Jackson, and she maintained close links with the city even after moving for professional work, giving Jackson addresses—such as 238 West Woody Street and later 329 Orange—as her home or permanent contact on official Red Cross forms.[1] Her nearest relative was identified as her mother, Mrs J. R. Burnside, of 4031 Wesson, Detroit, showing the family’s eventual move to the Detroit area.[1]

Early Life and Family (Education and Nursing Training)

Nancy trained as a nurse at Mercy Hospital Training School in Jackson, Michigan, graduating in May 1936.[1] The American Red Cross nurse file for “Pett, Nancie Margaret”, Badge No. 70‑616, records her birth details, training institution, and state registration, confirming that she qualified as a registered nurse in Michigan.[1] After graduation she gained varied clinical experience, including four months as a private nurse, nine months of general nursing, and six months at Cleveland Contagious Hospital, where she worked with infectious diseases.[1]

By 1 April 1940, the Federal Census places her at 439 Maurie Street, Blackman, Jackson County, Michigan, where she was a 27‑year‑old single lodger working as a registered nurse.[1] This points to a young woman who had quickly become an experienced clinician, used to hospital work and to caring for patients with serious illness or infection. Her family remembered her as motivated by a strong sense of duty, which later underpinned her decision to volunteer for overseas service with the American Red Cross.[1]

Military Service

Although a civilian, Nancy effectively served in a quasi‑military capacity through the American Red Cross during the Second World War. She joined the Red Cross nursing service with the intention of helping those affected by the war in Europe, at a time when Great Britain was under sustained air attack and in urgent need of medical staff.[1] The war in Europe, begun in 1939 with Nazi Germany’s aggression, had brought the Battle of Britain and heavy bombing of English cities, leading to fears of epidemics and overwhelming casualty numbers; Red Cross nurses like Nancy were recruited to support British hospitals and emergency medical units.[1][3]

Nancy became part of the American Red Cross – Harvard Field Hospital Unit, a collaboration between Harvard University and the American Red Cross which sent a fully staffed, prefabricated hospital to England.[1][3] This unit, intended to be established near Salisbury in southern England, included American physicians and a group of specially chosen Red Cross nurses who would run the wards and provide laboratory and clinical support. The Harvard Field Hospital Unit is commemorated on a plaque in Washington, D.C., naming the nurses and their chaperone who died when their ships were torpedoed on the way to Britain.[3][4]

Military Service (The Voyage on Vigrid)

On 5 June 1941, Nancy and nine other American Red Cross nurses sailed from a Gulf Coast port of the United States aboard a British ship—identified in later research as the Norwegian motor ship M/S Vigrid—bound initially for Bermuda and then the United Kingdom.[1] Press reports from July 1941 note that the identity of the vessel was initially withheld, but that ten nurses were aboard, all assigned to the American Red Cross – Harvard University Hospital “somewhere in Southern England”.[1] Nancy’s mother, Mrs Nellie Burnside of 4031 Wesson, Detroit, learned from the Red Cross that her daughter’s ship had been torpedoed, a message delivered while she herself was rolling bandages as a Red Cross volunteer at St Matthias’ Episcopal Church in Detroit.[1]

The Vigrid sailed in convoy, carrying 47 people in total—38 crew and 9 passengers, including the ten nurses of the Harvard Field Hospital Unit—under the Norwegian flag.[1][2] Initially the voyage progressed without serious problems, but on 23 June the ship began to suffer engine trouble and by the next day it was about 40 miles behind its convoy, a dangerous position in U‑boat‑infested waters.[1][2] This mechanical failure left the Vigrid vulnerable, and it quickly attracted the attention of a German submarine patrolling the North Atlantic.

Circumstances of Death

On 24 June 1941, at approximately 11:32 and 11:33 hours, the German submarine U‑371, commanded by Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Driver, attacked the Vigrid.[1][2] Two torpedoes struck the ship, one between holds 1 and 2 and a second at hold 4, causing catastrophic damage and a rapid sinking about 400 miles south‑east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, while the ship was straggling behind Convoy HX‑133.[1][2][5] The captain, Harald Holst, ordered the ship abandoned and 47 people—crew, gunners, and the ten American Red Cross nurses—took to four lifeboats.[1][2]

The subsequent struggle for survival was prolonged and harrowing. Two lifeboats set course for Greenland and two for Iceland; storms and heavy seas battered them, and one Greenland‑bound boat was eventually lost.[1][2] Survivors from one boat were rescued by the American destroyer USS Charles F. Hughes on 5 July and taken to Reykjavik, while another group, including two nurses, was picked up by HMS Keppel and landed at Londonderry later in July.[1][2][5] One Iceland‑bound lifeboat, carrying four of the American Red Cross nurses, was never found, and among those lost were Nancy Margaret Pett, Dorothea Louise “Dorothy” Koehn, Phyllis Lou Evans, and Dorothy Catherine Morse.[1][2][3]

Contemporary American newspapers reported the story under headlines such as “U.S. Nurses Are Feared Lost at Sea” and “Mother Told of Fate of City Nurse,” listing Nancy among six nurses missing after the torpedoing of a British vessel carrying them to England.[1] Red Cross officials stated that ten nurses had sailed on 5 June and that four had been rescued after drifting at sea for days, while six, including Nancy, had not been found.[1] Nancy’s mother expressed her belief that her daughter would not be recovered, recognising that if there had been realistic hope of rescue the authorities would not have reported her merely as missing. The official date of Nancy’s death is recorded as 24 January 1941, likely representing formal recognition of death following her prolonged “missing at sea” status.[1]

Burial and Commemoration

As Nancy’s body was lost at sea, no known grave exists; her burial entry simply notes 1941 with the explanation “Body lost at sea”.[1] She is, however, commemorated through multiple memorials and records. A Find a Grave entry with Memorial ID 121901875 preserves her biographical details and narrates the story of the Vigrid and the Harvard Field Hospital nurses, providing a virtual place of remembrance for family members and researchers.[1]

Nancy is also recognised in American and Harvard‑related commemorative material honouring the staff of the American Red Cross – Harvard Field Hospital Unit who died en route to Britain.[3][4] Historical accounts of the Vigrid, such as those on Norwegian merchant fleet and Atlantic convoy websites, list her among the four nurses who perished when one of the lifeboats disappeared in the North Atlantic.[2][5] Her primary commemoration lies within American Red Cross, Harvard, and naval historical records acknowledging her sacrifice as part of the broader Allied war effort.[1][3]

Legacy

Nancy Margaret Pett’s legacy is that of a young American nurse who volunteered to serve overseas before the United States formally entered the Second World War. Her decision to join the American Red Cross – Harvard Field Hospital Unit reflected a strong commitment to international humanitarian service and to Britain’s defence against Nazi aggression, at a time when such service entailed significant risk.[1][3] The sinking of the Vigrid and the loss of four nurses, including Nancy, demonstrate the vulnerability not only of combatants but also of medical and support personnel travelling by sea in the Battle of the Atlantic.[1][2]

Within her family, Nancy is remembered as the only daughter of Nellie Burnside, who continued Red Cross work at home even as she received the devastating news of her child’s disappearance.[1] In the broader historical record, Nancy stands among those American volunteers whose pre‑Pearl Harbor service underlined the growing transatlantic partnership between the United States and Britain and whose sacrifices helped to lay the groundwork for later Allied medical support in the European theatre.[3][5] Her story adds a poignant human dimension to the history of Atlantic convoys, Red Cross nursing, and the dangers faced by hospital units sent across the ocean to care for the wounded and sick of war.

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Nancy-Margaret-Pett.pdf
[2] M/S Vigrid – Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945 https://www.warsailors.com/singleships/vigrid.html
[3] The entire hospital sent to help England in WWII https://hekint.org/2022/05/26/long-before-pearl-harbor-an-entire-hospital-was-sent-to-help-england-in-world-war-ii/
[4] The American Red Cross – Harvard Field Hospital Unit https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=14997
[5] The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II https://archive.org/download/TheOfficialChronologyOfTheUSNavyInWorldWarII/TheOfficialChronologyOfTheUSNavyInWorldWarII.pdf
[6] Search https://collections-us-east-1.awsprod.nlm.nih.gov/?f%5Bdrep2.subjectAggregate%5D%5B%5D=Nurses&f%5Bdrep2.subjectAggregate%5D%5B%5D=Red+Cross&f%5Bexample_query_facet_field%5D%5B%5D=years_1900&page=7&per_page=20
[7] The Red Cross Nurse – 1918 https://www.ggarchives.com/Military/WW1/Women/TheRedCrossNurse-1918.html
[8] Nurses We Remember https://ww1cc.org/index.php/nurses-we-remember.html
[9] Full text of “At His Side The Story Of The American Red Cross Overseas In World War II” https://archive.org/stream/athissidethestor027200mbp/athissidethestor027200mbp_djvu.txt
[10] April, 1915. Red Cross Nurses WWI https://elieaxelroth.com/april-1915-red-cross-nurses-wwi/
[11] Royal Red Cross Medal – Australian WW1 Nurse Recipients. http://lemnosgallipolicc.blogspot.com/2014/12/royal-red-cross-medal-australian-ww1.html
[12] 11th of March 1943.** **One day in the Battle of the Atlantic. https://www.facebook.com/groups/754427714964136/posts/1892873947786168/
[13] Ii. Development Of Red Cross Medical Department Units. https://achh.army.mil/history/book-wwi-volisgo-gen02/
[14] SS Red Cross Passenger List – 13 September 1914 https://www.ggarchives.com/OceanTravel/Passengers/HamburgAmericanLine/RedCross-PassengerList-1914-09-13.html
[15] **April 30th 1941 – The sinking of SS Nerissa – The only … https://www.facebook.com/groups/754427714964136/posts/1933671433706419/
[16] Subjects: Red Cross / Dates by Range: 1900-1949 – Digital Collections https://collections-us-east-1.awsprod.nlm.nih.gov/?f%5Bdrep2.subjectAggregate%5D%5B%5D=Red+Cross&f%5Bexample_query_facet_field%5D%5B%5D=years_1900&page=3&per_page=50&sort=drep3.titleSortForm+asc
[17] Nurses on Hospital Ships at Gallipoli https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/202438-nurses-on-hospital-ships-at-gallipoli/page/2/
[18] American Military Hospitals in the ETO https://ww2f.com/threads/american-military-hospitals-in-the-eto.15681/
[19] Red Cross nurses WWI Archives – Elie Axelroth https://elieaxelroth.com/tag/red-cross-nurses-wwi/
[20] Red Cross Blood Donation https://www.redcrossblood.org
[21] American Red Cross Collection https://mchistory.org/assets/resources/finding-aids/red-cross-collection.pdf