Portrait by Raymond Lynde from the Castle collection, donated by the Norwich Red Cross.

There is no evidence that the Red Cross directly employed Edith Cavell. The Clinique, of which she was matron, was a private training school for nurses.

However, the Clinique flew Red Cross banners at the outbreak of the War and its founder and employer of Edith Cavell, Dr Depage, was also Director of the Belgian Red Cross. Many of the nurses trained by Edith worked their probationary years in Red Cross hospitals. So Edith was very close to the organisation and will have been aware of its principle of neutrality.

While she nursed both German and Allied soldiers, she assisted Allied soldiers to escape on patriotic as well as humanitarian grounds. She has been accused of jeopardising the neutral status of the Red Cross by doing this.