Norfolk County historian Harry Barrett, 91, debuted his new book,
Port Dover's Nursing Sisters of World War I, in Port Dover, 27 Jun 2013.

Based largely on the scrapbook-like First World War "diaries" of local nurses Minnie and Laurel Misner, the limited-run 118-page soft cover book sells for $20, with proceeds going to one of Norfolk's highest regarded local charities, the Who-Did-Club.

The diaries consist primarily of first-hand accounts, poetry, drawings and stories by friends and acquaintances the Misner girls met while working overseas in various military hospitals.

Woodhouse Township natives, Minnie and Laurel were daughters of John Misner, sisters of Henry Misner, a founding father of Port Dover and it's fishing industry. The girls received medals from King George V at Buckingham Palace for their service.

Nursing Sisters puts the girls and their family in historical perspective, then zooms in, letting participants tell individual stories in their own words.

Over the past three decades plus, Harry B. Barrett, the father of Norfolk's current MMP Toby Barrett, has established an impressive record, for tracking down some of most interesting stories from Norfolk's past. He is the author of:
Alligators of the North (2010),
Lore & Legends of Long Point (1979),
Journals & Painting of William Pope (1976),
Murray & Me (1999)
and approximately 10 other books.

Nursing Sisters is available at at any of Norfolk Museums.