Women In Uniform. Nurses Who served in The Great War Compiled for WikiNorthia by Brian Membrey. (last updated April, 2017)

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1 Women In Uniform Nurses Who served in The Great War Compiled for WikiNorthia by (last updated April, 2017)

2 Latest Revision : October, 2017 Adds more detail on the No. 5 Isolation Hospital, als0 known at the Glenroy Measles Hospital wwiresearch@mail.com Our cover illustration shows members of the Australian Army Nursing Service, pictured on camels in front of the Sphinx and pyramids, circa 1915 Courtesy Australian War Memorial P

3 Contents Introduction... 1 The Australian Army Nursing Service... 1 Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service 1 Casualties 2 The Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D) 2 Casualties 3 Post-War 4 Definitions and Glossary 4 The Early Days 5 Embarkation 6 Wounded and Their Care 6 Falling Between The Cracks 7 A Letter From India 8 Honours and Awards 8 Royal Red Cross (First Class) 9 Royal Red Cross (Second Class) 9 Medal of Military Merit (Greece) 9 Service Medals 10 British War Medal 10 Victory Medal Star 11 Mention In Despatches 11 Casualties HMAT Boonah 12 The Sinking of the RMS Mooltan 13 And, of course, the Uniform Local Care Australian General Hospital (St. Kilda Road) Australian General Hospital (Kooyong Road, Caulfield) Australian General Hospital (Mont Park) 15 "No. 16 A.G.H. (Macleod)" 16 "Curative training at Mont Park, Victoria" 17 1 Australian Military Sanatorium (Macleod) 20 Bundoora Park and Homestead Ward, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg 21 Queen's Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital (Fairfield) 21 No. 5 Infectious Diseases Hospital (Glenroy) : Melbourne Hospitals - a Summary 23 Hospital Ships 23 No. 1 Hospital Ship Karoola 23 No. 2 Hospital Ship Kanowna 24 A Statistical Oddity? 25 The sisters : Warilda and Wandilla 25 Nurses Certificated in Heidelberg Muriel Fanny Essington Anstey 26 Ada Isabel Austin 26 Harriett Mary Hazel Bain 26 Lillian Martha Malster 26 Nora O'Connell Phillips 26 Ada Francis Tracy Richardson 26 Florence Maud Tabor 27 Cecilia Annie Telleson 27 Helen Sutherland Torbet 27 Honour Roll : The City of Brunswick Elizabeth Gertrude Fleming (Royal Red Cross, Second Class) 27 Linda Flower 27 Mabel Lucy Hutchinson 28 Blanche Catherine Kilsby (Mrs Blanche Whittenbury) 28 Alice Elizabeth Barret Kitchen (Kitchin) 28 Charlotte Joan McAllister (O.B.E) 29 Flora Melville 29 Elvina Mary Overend 30 Sarah Jane Procter 30 Blanche Lily Ricketts 31

4 Olive Mary Rose 31 Florence Willans 31 Honour Roll : The Town of Coburg Milanie Treleaven Ambler 32 Octavia Ione Kelson 32 Margaret Ellen Rotherham 32 Interred Coburg Cemetery May Dickson 33 Elizabeth Regan 33 Honour Roll : The Shire of Eltham Mary Ann Farrell (born Yarra Glen, see page 35) 34 Edith Caroline Muncton Miller (Mrs Norman Griffiths) 34 Frances Mary Miller 34 Jessie McHardy White (M.B.E., R.R.C) (nee Williamson) 35 Isabel Russell Ross 37 Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg Emma Argyle Cuthbert (R.R.C. 2nd Class) 38 Evelyn Davies 39 Elsie Longman Deakin 39 Mary Ann Farrell 39 Elizabeth Gallagher 40 Florence Eva Harte (Mrs James Webb) 40 Olive Lilian Creswell Haynes (Mrs Norval Henry "Pat" Dooley) 41 Ada Hodson (R.R.C. 2nd Class) 43 Eileen Jessie McCalman 43 Olive Winifred Petersen 44 Mary Elizabeth Jane Roberts 44 Eliza Smith 44 Helen Sutherland Torbet 45 Nance O'Carrol Walsh 45 Honour Roll : The City of Northcote Harriet Mary Hazel Bain 46 Eileen Beagley 47 Jessie Helena Couston 47 Ernestine Mabel Edwards 47 Jessie Flannery 48 Minnie Knight 48 Florence May Laity 49 Thora Augusta McLennan 49 Gladys Nettska Sumner 50 Ruby Emily Olive Wilson 50 Edith Cornwell, (R.R.C) 51 Sisters Grace Edith and Harriet Selina Mogg 53 Honour Roll : The Shire of Preston Elsie Lena Fahey 53 Winifred Jeffreys 54 Amy Veda O'Grady 54 Amy Alice Simpson (Mrs Robert Cordingley) 55 Honour Roll : The Shire of Whittlesea Rosalind Eva Ballard 56 Honour Roll : Glenroy Military Hospital Hilda Adelaide Allen 57 Sarah Leatham Duff 57 Alice Marion Prichard (M.B.E., Royal Red Cross, 1st Class) 58 Appendix : Nursing Staff Casualties, Australian War Memorial : Roll of Honour 59 Australian War Memorial : Commemorative Roll 60 Nurse Winifred Starling. 61

5 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Introduction This document is a companion volume to the Honour Rolls compiled of those from the current-day City of Darebin and the Sires of 1914 now covered by the Yarra Plenty Regional Library - i.e. Heidelberg, Whittlesea and Eltham. The In Memoriam section of our Darebin Roll includes two women from the district that died as a result of war service (the second, Amy Alice Simpson in fact one of the last entries to be made). Darebin's Great War : Of Matters Local, Part One of the Darebin research includes details of all of the local nurses that are known to have enlisted - this group has been expanded in this volume with those from the districts covered by co-partners in the WikiNorthia project; the City of Moreland and Plenty Valley Regional Library covering the cities of Whittlesea and Banyule and the Shire of Nillimbuk.. The Australian Army Nursing Service Almost without exception, the enlistment of local women into the Nursing Service drew no attention from any of the local newspapers - the identical Preston and Northcote Leaders, the Brunswick and Coburg Leader, the Heidelberg Times or the Evelyn Observer (renamed as the Eltham and Whittlesea Advertiser from 1 January, 1917). There was perhaps a reason for this as we will see - nurses before embarking for overseas duties were required to volunteer for Home Service as part of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and were thus technically already part of the A.I.F.; volunteering to embark for overseas was a secondary step with many more volunteers than those actually accepted. According to the Australian War Memorial, Australian nurses as part of the Australian Army Medical Corps served in Egypt, Lemnos, England, France, Belgium, Palestine, Greece, Salonika, Mesopotamia and India as well as on hospital ships, initially in the Dardanelles and later between England and Australia. (No Australian troops were involved at any of the four latter venues; the campaigns in Greece and Salonika were conducted primarily by British and French troops, later joined by Italian, Serbian and Russian units), Mesopotamia, (Iraq), British and French, and Indian service was a mixture of British troops and the native population). Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service In all, 2,130 served with the Australian Army Nursing Service overseas, 423 on Home Service, and 130 with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service. The latter was the nursing arm of the British Army. There was such a backlog of registered nurses waiting to enlist in the Australian services that in the first twelve months of the War many paid their own passage to England where their experience was welcomed with open arms with the horrendous fighting on the Western Front. The Queen Alexandra option provided somewhat controversial - the local authorities initially refused to recognise the time spent in England by the Australian nurses and until later in the War, those serving in the Queen Alexandra Service were forced to pay their own way back to Australia to re-enlist and lost any seniority that they had earned overseas. Attitudes later changed and there are undoubtedly exceptions, but there have been no examples sighted of a nurse returning and re-enlisting. Those remaining in England after the war were at least treated to free passage home - the details of their embarkation for return is, sadly, the only record remaining in the National Archives of their service. Australian War Memorial archives suggest that there were 297 nurses with the Service before war broke out with an unknown number of these in Reserve. Some 11,000 ultimately served during the conflict. One of these was Sister A. M. Locke, born near Goulburn in New South Wales in 1872 and who was working in the United Kingdom. She served throughout the war in both England and France, and following cessation of hostilities, took up a position as an instructor in nursing at the Royal Infirmary School of Nursing before returning to Australia. (right) AWM REL35881 Queen Alexandra'sImperial Military Nursing Service Reserve Badge awarded to Sister A M Locke The Great War : Women In Uniform Introduction 1

6 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Casualties Of the 130 Australian nurses that volunteered for the Queen Alexandra Nursing Service, the Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll of Australians that died while serving with forces of other allied countries shows seven that met their demise while on active service 1 : two at sea, two in Australia (including May Dickson p33), and one in each of Egypt, Palestine, Italy, and France. Not included on the Roll because she died outside of the time limits defined for inclusion is Sister Isabel Russell-Ross of Yarra Glen (page 36), who died of unknown causes in the Caulfield Military Hospital late in (See Casualties: AWM Commemorative Roll, page 59) The Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D) Studio portrait of Olive Brittingham, a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), who worked at the No. 1 Rest Home, Wirth's Park, St Kilda Road. Although not shown, the V.A.D. uniform also included a red cape. Olive's father, George Brittingham was the Chief architect with the Public Works Department and prepared the plans and specifications for the Wirth's Park Rest Home. AWM P There was a third group of both women and men that volunteered, but who were not considered part of the A.I.F., despite providing many valuable services locally and to a lesser extent overseas. The Voluntary Aid Detachment was a volunteer group organized by the Australian Red Cross Society under the control of the Director-General of Medical Services, principally for domestic work, but with some contingents assigned for overseas service, although not part of the official A.I.F. The idea came just five days after Australia entered the war; the proposal put forward by Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, wife of the-then Australian Governor- General, the Hon. Sir Ronald Ferguson. Through connections with medical volunteer groups in England, she recognised the need to co-ordinate the activities of non-combatant aid groups. This led to the formation of an Australian branch of the British Red Cross Society, effectively bring the country into line with many others where voluntary work was conducted under the guidance of the Red Cross (sometimes Red Crescent Society in non-christian countries). Within a few days of the outbreak of war the St. John Ambulance Association officially offered its services to the Army, but their recognition as a voluntary body in terms of the Geneva Convention was refused (the reason is unclear according the Official History of the Army Medical Service). The various State branches of the British Red Cross were quickly amalgamated into an Australian Red Cross and collections of goods and money began. The Red Cross V.A.D. was officially recognised by the Defence Department in June, 1915 when the first wounded soldiers were about to arrive back in Melbourne. A Victorian branch of the V.A.D. was quickly established, the executive made up of representations of the Australian Red Cross, the Victorian Red Cross and the St. John Ambulance Association and a rest home manned by V.A.D. volunteers was established in August on the old Wirth's Circus site on the northern corner of St. Kilda Road and Nolan Street, immediately adjacent to the Base Hospital and now part of the Arts Centre Complex. The circus site, leased at 10 from the Wirth family, had been operating as a picture hall and was said to able to house sleeping cubicles for about 150 men, rest rooms, smoking apartments and games equipment In October, the secretary of the St, John Ambulance Association revealed that 15,000 Victorian volunteers, an estimated 75% of whom were women, had completed or were currently undertaking first aid courses. It was noted at the time that close to 100 men belonging to various Aid Detachments had been on duty at the Base Hospital during the previous week. Rather unexpectedly, the Federal Government issued notice in February, 1916 that the services of the V.A.D. at the Base Hospital were no longer required as sufficient permanent staff were then available. A final parade was held at the Rest Home (by then officially No, 1 Rest Home, Wirth's Park), 165 volunteers were present and it was suggested that on average 250 men had served each weekend since 28 August of the previous year, each working an eight-hour shift with one weekend in five off. At the start of the war, the Defence Department refused to sanction the transport overseas of these women and many travelled at their own expense to serve in England one source suggests that at one point there 1 The correct figure is eight : Kathleen Adele BRENNAN is incorrectly shown on the Roll of Honour, but it appears she served with the Queen Victoria unit and should more accurately be included on the Commemorative Roll. 2 The Australian Army Nursing Service The Great War : Women In Uniform

7 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by were 120 V.A.D. women engaged at No. 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital (effectively a convalescent and recovery facility). Attitudes changed in August, 1916 when Lady Ferguson received a cable from the British Red Cross asking whether she could find 30 nursing members holding St. John Certificates who were willing to serve as probationers in military hospitals in England. The local Red Cross was somewhat overwhelmed by applicants - eventually the party of 30 women (of whom eight were Victorian) assembled in Melbourne and sailed on s.s. Osterley on 27 September. Archives held for one of these women, Jessie Bage, reveals she did not embark for return to Australia until November, 1919; most of the others appear to have returned mid A further group of 55 for England was requested in April, 1917 and another whose number remains unknown left for Egypt in August of the same year, but locally and with many branches of the V.A.D. springing up in the suburbs, there appears to have been far more volunteers than could be usefully employed at the Rest Home and a Red Cross kitchen which had been established at the Domain Camp and a deputation from the V.A.D. approached the Principal Medical Officer for Victoria in early 1918 with the suggestion that members should be permitted to take up duty in military hospitals, thus releasing male orderlies for active service abroad in line with the army hospitals in England and France where V.A.D; workers "are being profitably employed". The idea was eventually accepted on a national basis, and it was noted that when transfers were called for, some 28 girls from the Wirth's Park Rest Home immediately volunteered, although the positions offered just 18 shillings a week (effectively just three days' pay for a humble Private in the field. Most of the Wirth's group were transferred to Mont Park, primarily used to treat psychiatric cases, but probably also serving at the adjacent No. 16 AGH at Macleod with tuberculosis cases. By July, it was suggested that V.A.D. women had largely superseded their previous male counterparts in local hospitals and consideration was being given to a scheme where V.A.D. members would be trained in massage, again to allow men to serve overseas. After the cessation of hostilities and with an increasing flow of men returning, much of the V.A.D. work was directed towards staffing the dozens of "Welcome Home" events. The role of the V.A.D did not significantly evolve between the wars - in the Second World War, they were given more medical training, but they were still not fully qualified nurses. In 1943, the government created the Australian Women's Auxiliary Service (AWAS) to control the large numbers of VADs employed by the military. In general, although usually classified as "nurses" (they had to at a minimum hold the St John First-Aid Certificate), their work was non-patient care as supplementary staff engaging in cooking, washing and cleaning tasks. They were not employed in overseas military hospitals except as kitchen staff, ward and pantry maids; rather, they worked in Red Cross convalescent and rest homes, canteens, and on troop trains. Unfortunately given that they were not officially attached to the A.I.F. or under Defence Department control, almost nothing is recorded of their individual histories and any local volunteers remain unknown. Those that embarked after 1916 were eligible for the standard British War and Victory Medals, the status of the earlier volunteers uncertain. The AWM records just one V.A.D. being recommended for higher honours, Constance Birdwood in September, 1918 for a Mention in Despatches whether she was related to Colonel William Birdwood who commanded the Australian Corps for much of the First World War is unknown. Casualties A group of unknown soldiers pictured at No. 1 Rest Home, Wirth's Park, circa The image is from the Alice E. Broadhurst Collection held by the Yarra Plenty Regional Library; the nurse was not identified, but not Alice herselhxx The AWM Commemorative Roll records the deaths of two from disease while on service, but it appears a third, Kathleen Adele Brennan also was with the Red Cross, but incorrectly shown as with the Australian Army Nursing Service on the Roll of Honour. 2 Her father, Dr. Charles Bage was Chairman of the Red Cross Committee which oversaw the establishment of the Wirth's Park Rest Home. The Great War : Women In Uniform The Australian Army Nursing Service 3

8 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM There were also newspaper reports of a local volunteer, Marjorie Lock, of No. 1 Rest Home, Wirth's Park having her left hand amputated after it was severely crushed in an accident while at work at the home. From Toorak, she was just 18 years of age and when the incident was reported in December, 1917, it was noted she had a brother who had been in hospital in England after being seriously wounded at Messines in May. (See "Casualties: Commemorative Roll", page 60) Post-War Wirth's Park later accepted civilian in-mates during the influenza epidemic of 1919 no official figures were leased, but a scan of Death Notices shows at least six deaths at the home during the first two weeks of February, In May, 1919, the Red Cross handed over most of its Wirth's Park to the Repatriation Department for conversion into a Trades School for the re-education of returned servicemen. The southern wing was retained by the Red Cross as quarters for nurses caring for influenza patients at the nearby Base Hospital. The exact geography of the site is not known, but it was noted that the Circus re-opened in a somewhat limited form in October, The V.A.D.'s service was only slightly diminished by the cessation of hostilities many wounded men continued to arrive back in Australia and required care, volunteers served at the emergency hospitals established at the Exhibition Buildings and in many local schools during the influenza epidemic of February-March, 1919, nurses worked on trains carrying repatriated soldiers travelling to homes interstate and a home nursing service established in 1916 continued to provide assistance for wounded incapacitated soldiers for many years after they returned to civilian life. "Show your pass." "An Australian cockatoo owned by Mrs A. Bon of Bonnie Doon (Vic) that became a great favourite with the staff & patients at No. 1 Rest Home, Melbourne, where he spent two or three years during the War. The bird was a good talker, it's favourite expressions being 'Show your pass' and 'Go on, you're a German', both obviously taught to it by digger comrades." More at ion/h04150/ Definitions and Glossary Perhaps a few definitions may be appropriate here. Portrait of Wirth's Park Training School, carpenters and joiners (circa 1919). AWM DAX2404 (AANS) The Australian Army Nursing Service was formed in 1902 as a volunteer force of nurses who declared their willingness to be called up in times of national emergency. It was substantially different from the later compulsory scheme established for the men - the nurses to be accepted into the Service had to have had three years of training, and to have been suitable examined and certified - for the men, it was a system of basic training from scratch. (AANC) The Australian Army Nursing Corps was established as the nursing arm of the Australian Imperial Force and allowed nurses registered with the AANS to enlist for overseas service - the same requirements as to experience and qualification applied, with the additional requirement that only single or widowed women between the ages of 20 and 45 were accepted 3. Resignation was mandatory if the nurse married while serving in the Nursing Corps; two local nurses, Harriett Bain and Blanche Kilsby were affected in this way and both are shown as being officially discharged at the date of their marriage. 3 Of 1,400 entries on the generic Nurses (July, 1915 to November, 1918) Embarkation Roll, just ten were listed as Widowed. One entry, probably just the slip of the pen, lists 41 year-old Edith Bell from Surrey Hills in Victoria as married, but with a married sister as next of kin. 4 The Australian Army Nursing Service The Great War : Women In Uniform

9 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by (AGH) Australian General Hospital. These were the hospitals established for the immediate treatment of the wounded established in Egypt, England and eventually in France. There were also AGH's in most Australian cities, the two initially in Melbourne No. 5 in St; Kilda Road and No. 11 in Kooyong Road, Caulfield, later supplemented by No. 16 at Macleod, the last facility in Australia to be so designated. (AAH) Australian Auxiliary Hospitals were for treatment and ongoing recuperation of patients; they did not take in wounded directly, this was the role of a General Hospital. (HMAHS) His Majesty's Australian Hospital Ship. There were two Australian vessels specifically equipped for transport of the wounded or ill - No. 1, HMAHS Karoola and No. 2, HMAHS Kanowna. Many other vessels were used in the early part of the war, especially during the Gallipoli campaign where a number of hastily-converted British steamers transported wounded to Egypt, Malta or Crete. More commonly just shown as HS 1 or 2. (HMAT) His Majesty's Australian Transports were mostly British-owned liners requisitioned by the Australian Government, most of which were returned to their owners by There was obviously a shortage of suitable accommodation on troop transports - around a third of the group recorded here travelled to Sydney to embark, and there was a similar mix of those that travelled by modified troop transports and commercial shipping, typically Royal Mail Steamers (RMS), especially favoured for those assigned to British India Nursing Service duties or to serve at Salonika in Greece. Even the latter must have caused some concerns over discipline - one RMS collected around 80 nurses in Sydney and Melbourne, to be joined by around 350 servicemen in Adelaide! (V.A.D) Australian Red Cross Volunteer Aid Detachment (page Error! Bookmark not defined.) The Early Days For the first eighteen months of the war, all of the nurses who served overseas were taken from the AANS volunteers, but as the requirement for nurses skyrocketed and the original AANS volunteers were taken up, those working in home-based military hospitals were given priority. The nurses that enlisted were across the board significantly older than the servicemen because of the three-year training requirement, and it seems the more mature nurses took precedence when considered for overseas service. Volume Three of the Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services suggests 2,299 nurses served in the AANS, 2,130 on overseas service, 423 on Home Service, and 130 with the Queen Alexandra unit. The average age was considerably older than that of servicemen, in part because of the requirement to have completed at least three years training - the history reveals of the 2,299 that served, 1,184 were between the ages of 31 and 30, 947 between 31 and 40, 91 where 41 or older, and just seven under the age of 21 years. Although no detailed breakdown was given, this probably gives a weighted average of around 28 or 29 years of age, While isolated from the ravages of the front line, conditions in hospitals were hardly ideal especially during the cholera epidemic in India (believed to have claimed two lives, our local Sister Vera O'Grady, and the Irish-born Sister Kathleen Power, plus two others after their return to Australia) and the influenza epidemic of late 1918 and The nurses that enlisted were across the board significantly older than the servicemen because of the three-year training requirement, and it seems the more mature nurses took precedence when considered for overseas service. Probably half were over the age of 30 and the local group was older still, the average age just a little over 36.5 years of age - the youngest 23, the eldest a little debatable, she was 46 when she enlisted in 1915 and 44 when she re-enlisted two years later after the upper age limit of 45 years was introduced! (Although only a small sample, the WikiNorthia group provides a remarkable statistic - the average age on death of those nurses where the date of their demise in known in 80.5 years; given the shorter life expectancy of just on a hundred years ago, this was probably somewhere between 12 and 14 years longer than the general average. The ages on death ranged from 59 (the only one of 18 noted under the age of 60 to 91 years of age). Because of their training, they were in fact substantially better paid than the average Joe Private - the first nurses embarked overseas in mid-1915 at a base daily rate of 7/10d per day more than half as much again as a humble Private on 5/- (although, unlike the nurse's rate, this was later increased and those in the ranks became the "six bob a day" servicemen). The Great War : Women In Uniform The Australian Army Nursing Service 5

10 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM For those with the more senior rank of Sister, the per diem rate was 10/4d, fractionally more than that of a Sergeant in the infantry. What is perhaps surprising (or perhaps not given their relatively mature age), just three of the local group of 30 whose post-war records run through to the 1930s ever married. Nurses that had served in Home Service with the Australian Army Nursing service had to formally enlist to serve overseas. The process appears to have been much the same as for servicemen; an Attestation as to the person's willingness to serve overseas, but there were some subtle differences. The archives for the nurses rarely show details of any medical examination, and their physical measurements were only rarely shown (perhaps in Amy Simpson's case, somewhat discreetly, a medical report had her standing 5'3 but weighing 13 stone). There does however appear to have been some criteria set as an alternative series of files in the National Archives which records the details of servicemen and women that enlisted but who were rejected lists some 43 nurses, but with no reason being given. This represents a rejection rate of a fraction over 2 per cent base on the 2,130 that embarked; the rejection rate for men based on volunteers from today's City of Darebin was about 6 per cent. Given the nurses were highly trained and experienced in the care of patients, the nurses also embarked for overseas much sooner than their male counterparts. Embarkation With a long list of volunteers, the women typically embarked within a fortnight of enlisting, hence the Leader perhaps not identifying their departure (in fact, many of the Attestations suggest that the date of enlistment was the same as that of embarkation - these "enlistment" dates seem to have been contrived after the nurses had actually sailed There is some circumstantial evidence to suggest that either the recruiting office was thrown open when it was known transport would be available, or alternatively, women who had previously volunteered were advised that they had suddenly been accepted. Some of the embarkations noted in the Nominal Roll have 20 or 30 nurses listed with identical enlistment dates. Probably around half of the servicemen by contrast had some form of military training under the Defence Act of 1909 which came into force on 1 January, 1911 or with the earlier volunteer forces, but in contrast with the "hands on" experience of the nurses, their training (in some cases, little more than marching drills and fundamental advice as to which end of the rifle was the one to stand behind) had little relevance to the realities of war. Most men were stationed in camp for at least six weeks before embarking and with the prospect of another two months training in Egypt or England before they went into action. The other difference was that the standard for servicemen on Attestation was to agree to serve "for the duration of the war plus four months"- the four months does not seem to have applied to nurses, although in practice all of them remained in England until at least March, Our list of nurses that served is taken from the embarkation roll "Nurses (July Nov 1918)" where there is an obvious link to the Darebin district via the residential address of the nurse or next of kin. Some nurses shipped with the First Reinforcements for the 1 Australian General Hospital (AGH) initially stationed at Heliopolis, Cairo, and the 2 AGH in Alexandra, but none from the district were in their ranks. In the case of the latter, 40 nurses embarked and all were from South Australia or Tasmania, the A.I.F. adopting the same early policy as it did with servicemen, i.e. to keep volunteers from neighbouring residential areas together. Wounded and Their Care The chances of a serviceman at the front lasting more than twelve months without being wounded, accidentally injured or suffering from an illness were low. Without in any way denigrating the essential services provided by nursing staff, they operated at the tail end of a hierarchy of medical resources in place to tend the wounded, although give the chaotic conditions of warfare, there were certainly no hard and fast rules as to how a serviceman would be cared for. Field Ambulance Brigades were perhaps the unsung heroes of the war - the stretcher bearers risked life and limb to collect the wounded from the field of battle, often under heavy enemy fire - yet S.B's as they were known were ruled ineligible for the Victoria Cross. 6 The Australian Army Nursing Service The Great War : Women In Uniform

11 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Regular servicemen also acted as stretcher bearers when wounded comrades needed assistance and there are a handful of instances in our Roll of men being killed while performing this extra duty. The Brigades also included ambulance drivers, usually motorised, but given the horrendous conditions in wet months of the Western Front, horses and mules were also used to draw ambulances. After being collected from the field, a casualty's first stop was possibly a Regimental Aid Station, a post in or close behind the line where a surgeon or medical officer and aides attached to the serviceman's unit. A Dressing Station was a medical centre behind the lines to which wounded were sent from regimental aid posts to have wounds dressed before being carried to a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) These were medical facilities (generally located near a rail-head) charged with clearing the wounded to a base hospital. The admission to a CCS appears to be the differentiation between a serviceman being classified as Killed In Action or Died Of Wounds - there are no examples on our archives of a death attributed as having Died of Wounds before being admitted to a CCS - perhaps not surprising as posts at, or close to the lines would be rather more concerned with emergency treatment than recording details of the men they were trying to keep alive. From a CCS (where probably 90% of those listed as having died from wounds drew their last breath), a wounded man could be possibly sent to a Stationary Hospital - well behind the lines and the first level of care that we would consider as "hospital" quality today. At this point, a decision was made depending of the seriousness of the wounds as to whether the serviceman should be repatriated to a General Hospital. These were initially in England, although they were later established at Rouen and Abbeville in France. Major capital cities in Australia also had hospitals of this nature to treat volunteers that contracted diseases while in camp (there were 256 volunteers that died of meningitis in Australia in the year to 30 June, 1916) and servicemen that required treatment after returning to Australia. As a general rule, servicemen that were wounded overseas and were considered likely to recover to a state where they would be fit for active service within six months remained in Egypt and England, either in hospital or serving as part of their recovery on a variety of light duties at training camps, stores depots, in military discipline or administrative roles before returning to their units. Those less fortunate where repatriated back to Australia, usually via one of the two hospital ships No. 1 Karoola or No. 2 Karoola and depending on the nature of their wounds or illness were classified as "Bed", "Bunk" or "Hammock" patients for the voyage depending on the severity of their affliction. The ships also had Isolation Wards for those with contagious diseases, especially influenza in the latter months of the war. After invalided soldierss had reached Australia, and had received any treatment in Base Hospitals, a military medical board determined whether they were to be returned to duty or discharged as unfit for further military service. In the latter case, each soldier was instructed to apply to the Deputy Commissioner for Pensions in his State for consideration of his entitlement to a pension. Falling Between The Cracks Our list of nurses that served is taken from the embarkation roll "Nurses (July Nov 1918)" where there is an obvious link to the Darebin district via the residential address of the nurse or next of kin. While this roll includes all the nurses that embarked, the list may not be complete as in many cases (probably due to the short time between enlisting and embarking, the residential address shows simply as "Melbourne", although the address of next-of-kin is usually shown in full. This means that there is an odd chance that a nurse may have been living locally, but classified as "Melbourne", thus if the next of kin was not in the district, it is impossible to link the two. The Great War : Women In Uniform The Australian Army Nursing Service 7

12 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM A Letter From India From what can be discerned nearly a hundred years later, just one letter from the district nurses appeared in a local newspaper, one from Nurse Elsie Deakin to "Mr. Worboys" and appearing in the Heidelberg News published on 6 January, 1917 : "Victoria War Hospital, Bombay, India, 16/11/16. "Dear Mr. Worboys.-It seems quite a long time since I farewelled my home and the Fairfield people, though with seeing new sights and having new work the time has in many ways passed quickly, or I would have written before. Thanks for your kind letter to Adelaide; it came when I was feeling rather lonely and homesick and cheered me much. My writing-case has been most useful, and I wonder what I would have done without it. The inscription you sent is ever before me, so I am constantly reminded of the thoughts and loving wishes of my faithful friends. "My thoughts are with you all in your service at Fairfield, which has so many happy associations for me, and I pray that your work for the Master maybe greatly blessed. We had rather a rough trip over, and a good many of the nurses were sick. I was rather miserable for a time, but cheered up and very much enjoyed the change and rest after our strenuous days before leaving Melbourne. We were glad to reach Colombo, and thought the harbor there beautiful, and it was all so strange to us. "The natives are most interesting and amusing, and we enjoyed the rickshaw rides through the various beautiful gardens and drives. At the end of the third day we left really glad to go, for we were told of the great need of nurses in Bombay. Now we are really here and feel settled. "The Indian Government are forming an Australian Hospital, so we are fortunate to be kept together. The building we are in is new and very handsome, and really belongs to the railway offices. We have 600 beds altogether, a good many medical as well as surgical cases, for owing to the climate and the hard conditions the men are living under, disease of many kinds is prevalent. "I have charge of a surgical ward of 100 beds, and find it quite a responsibility. The work is very interesting, though often sad and depressing. The physical needs of the men we can do much for, but many of them have been two years away from home, and with the constant moving round the letters go astray, and they are so homesick and lonely, and it is these we feel so powerless to help. They are brave and seldom complain, but when they are ill they feel the need of their own people, and talk continually of home. "One poor man upset me terribly last week. He had realised he could not live, and was very quiet and resigned while sensible, but he became delirious and only then we knew all his anxiety; it was so hard to leave his children to strangers' care, for their mother had died after lie left home. Poor fellow; his sufferings and longings are over, and we could not but be glad to know he is at rest, though the thought of those little children left alone in the old country is often in my mind, and he is only one case of hundreds. "I hope the people will to a certain extent realise and always remember the service these men have rendered. They need your prayers and so do nurses, that we may give patient, loving and skilful service. We feel it a privilege to help even in a small measure. Then there is always a bright side-many making marvellous recoveries, and every week some ready to be sent home. Then they all so appreciate our work. Will you accept and give to Mrs. Worboys and family and the church people my kindest regards and loving Xmas wishes.-sincerely your friend, -ELSIE (Nurse) DEAKIN. Elsie may not have known it, but at the time the letter was published, she was probably on board ship headed for a posting with No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield. Although this was the only one of her letters that appeared in a publication covering the Darebin area, there were a couple of others written to her mother in Healesville that appeared in the Healesville and Yarra Glen Guardian including one written composed in January, 1916 when she was aboard a hospital off Mudros immediately following the evacuation from Gallipoli that didn't find its way into the Guardian until May, The Healesville and Yarra Glen Guardian noted a Welcome Home for Sister Deacon and around 30 returned servicemen on 19 June, 1919 with 500 local residents in attendance and a further presentation at the railway station on 12 July when she returned to her place of birth. Her service was honoured on the Board at the Memorial Hall (the only woman amongst 186 men) and at the Healesville State School. The addressee of the letter, "Mr. Worboys" was actually the Rev. James Worboys who had been pastor for three years of the Fairfield Baptist Church in Arthur Street to which Elsie Deakin belonged before he was transferred to Brunswick in April, The writing-case mentioned in the early part of her letter was a farewell present from the congregation of the church. Honours and Awards 8 The Australian Army Nursing Service The Great War : Women In Uniform

13 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by There were two awards exclusively available to women nurses during the First World War - the Royal Red Cross (First Class) and Royal Red Cross (Second Class) Nurses could also qualify for honours and awards normally granted to servicemen, but the simple fact of being in non-combatant duties usually well behind the lines restricted such awards, although there are cases of nurses being awarded the Military Medal. Somewhat more common was an official Mention In Despatches, one of which was awarded to Nurse Eliza Smith, the only instance of such a decoration to a nurse from the Darebin district. Royal Red Cross (First Class) The Royal Red Cross was inaugurated in the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth in April, 1883 by Queen Victoria for exceptional services in military nursing. The award is for a fully trained nurse of an officially recognised nursing service who has either shown exceptional service over a period of time or who has performed some exceptional act of heroism at their post. The award was only for females until 1976 when its scope was expanded to include male nurses. The badge is in the shape of a golden Maltese cross approximately 3.5 centimetres high, enamelled red on the inner surface with a portrait of the reigning monarch and the word Faith, Hope and Charity on the upper three arms of the cross, Recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters R.R.C. (Royal Red Cross) after their name. There were 110 awards of the Royal Red Cross granted to Australian nurses during the conflict. Royal Red Cross (Second Class) Royal Red Cross, First Class. The Second Class was identical except framed in silver rather than gold. The Second Class (sometimes known as the Associate Class) was inaugurated in The design is virtually identical to the First Class, but in silver rather than gold. Recipients are entitled to use the post-ordinals A.R.R.C. (Associate Royal Red Cross). There were 304 awards of the Second Class - there was no concept of a Bar to indicate a second award, many of those presented with the Second Class were later upgraded to First Class, although the latter could be made directly without the nurse previously being awarded the Second Class honour. Note that despite the names, neither award has any connection to the International Red Cross, although many of the nurses decorated did, in fact, belong to that organization. The major award of the International Red Cross is the Florence Nightingale Medal introduced in 1912, one of those nurses included, Edith Cromwell amongst the first Australians to receive the award. It is a civilian award and as such is worn on the right side rather than the left as is the tradition for military decorations. Medal of Military Merit (Greece) Royal Red Cross, First Class pictured in the presentation case crafted by Garrards of London. There were a number of foreign government awards available to Australian nurses, the most relevant being the Greek Medal of Military Medal. The decoration was created by the Greek Nation Defence Government in 1916 for outstanding acts of ongoing service, or outstanding ability in management and organization of a military unit or office. The Medal came in four classes, distinguished by a gilded laurel wreath at the highest level (illustrated), then silver and bronze, while the Fourth Class was plain. The honour was awarded to eighteen of the Australian nurses that served at Salonika, but unfortunately the Australian War Museum's list of decorations does not disclose the class of any of the awards. Matron Jessie McHardie White from Yarra Glen was the only local recipient. The Great War : Women In Uniform The Australian Army Nursing Service 9

14 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Service Medals Service medals differed from gallantry honours in that they were conveyed in recognition of a person's active service overseas with no requirement for any particular act of bravery or exceptional service on the sole proviso that he or she received an honourable discharge. Virtually every Australian serviceman that spent time in a theatre of war received the British Service Medal, a large percentage also the Victory Medal - although this proved a bone of contention amongst nurses - while many others were also entitled to the Star, indicating they had seen active service before 31 December, 1915 and almost exclusively in the Dardanelles campaign. British War Medal The British War Medal was awarded for those Commonwealth servicemen or women who left their places of residence and rendered approved overseas service between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918 (later extended to 1920). It was also issued to Royal Australian Navy and the Mercantile Marine with differing service levels. The medal was of a circular silver design (or, in rare cases, bronze, these issued to Chinese, Indians or Malays that served in labour divisions). The front shows King George V bareheaded, facing left, with the legend: GEORGIVS V BRITT : OMN : REX ET IND : IMP : (George 5th, King of all the Britains, and Emperor of India) The reverse shows St. George, naked, on horseback armed with a short sword and the horse trampling on the Prussian shield and the skull and cross-bones. The dates 1914 and 1918 appear in the left and right fields respectively. Victory Medal The qualification for the Victory Medal was a little more stringent than for the British War Medal in that it required the recipient to have served in a defined theatre of war. For soldiers, this meant that men that served exclusively in England on training, supply or other support roles were not considered eligible, but for nurses, the effect was somewhat more dramatic. India, for example was not declared a "theatre of war", and dozens of Australian women who served with the British Indian Nursing Service were deemed ineligible, even though in most cases they had embarked with other nurses who were assigned to Salonika and as a result received the Victory Medal. 4 A similar situation existed in Egypt, which was declared a non-theatre of war from 18 March, 1916 and nurses and soldiers who served there exclusively after that time were also ineligible. The basic design and ribbon were adopted by all the Allied countries - including Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Siam, Union of South Africa and the U.S.A. in accordance with decisions as taken at the Inter-Allied Peace Conference at Versailles. The British version of the Victory Medal was a 36mm diameter circular copper medal, lacquered in bronze. The obverse in the British Empire medal shows the winged, full-length, full-front, figure of 'Victory' (or 'Victoria'), also figuring in all other medals by the nations as cited, but in this case (the British Empire) with her left arm extended and holding a palm branch in her right hand, this being in common with the previously (pre-war) created British Empire statue in the Victoria Memorial, London (which contains also a statue of the Queen and Empress with the title 'VICTORIA REGINA IMPERATRIX'). The reverse has the words THE GREAT / WAR FOR / CIVILISATION / ' in four lines, all surrounded by a laurel wreath. 4 There are a few examples where nurses based in India served on hospital ships on their voyage home. Somewhat paradoxically, a hospital ship was considered a "theatre of war" and the nurses were thus awarded the Victory Medal. 10 The Australian Army Nursing Service The Great War : Women In Uniform

15 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Star The Star (not to be confused with the British 1914 Star) comprised a medal awarded by British authorities to those who had given service in the fight against the Central Powers between the outbreak of war in August 1914 and the end of 1915, either on land or at sea. The medal was a bronze, four-pointed star (the uppermost point replaced by a crown), 50mm in height and 45mm in width - featured a scroll with the dates spread across, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The Royal Cypher GV was written across the bottom. The reverse of the medal was engraved with the recipient's number, rank and name. The guidelines were strictly adhered to: correspondence in the files of one of our Darebin casualties who was refused a Star on the basis that his slow transport did not arrive at Suez until 2 January, 1916 suggests some 900 men were still waiting to disembark at midnight on December 31 and were similarly ineligible for the medal! Instituted in December, 1918, some 2,366, Stars were awarded in total across the British Empire. The medal was always awarded in conjunction with the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. One estimate suggests around 900 Australians missed out on the Star because they were in transports at Alexandria waiting to disembark at midnight on 31 December, All three of the above medals were British Empire awards and represent the most widely distributed honours, an estimated 6.5 million Victory Medals being issued across Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and other countries. Mention In Despatches A "despatch", as the name implies was an official report, written by a senior commander in the field to pass on information about the progress of military operations. Commanders could include in their despatches the names of those deserving attention to their services. Mentions could arise from a specific act of bravery or for a period of outstanding service. Prior to 1919, Australian servicemen and women Mentioned in Despatches did not receive any form of recognition other than having their names published in The London Gazette. In 1919, a certificate was introduced to acknowledge those who received mention, and the following year a more tangible acknowledgement came when an emblem of bronze oak leaves was issued to individuals who had been Mentioned in Despatches between 4 August 1914 and 10 August The device was worn at a low angle in the centre of the ribbon of the Victory Medal. Only one device was awarded per person, even if the individual was mentioned more than once. The award did not carry the right to display ordinals after one's name as did higher awards, e.g. the Military Medal as "M.M". The Great War : Women In Uniform The Australian Army Nursing Service 11

16 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Casualties Depending on the source, either 21 or 23 Australian A.I.F. nurses died in service the AWM Roll of Honour shows 23 (although one appears to be a Red Cross Volunteer and not part of the A.I.F); the Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services lists 21 casualties, but for some reason omits one of the most senior, Matron Jean Miles-Walker, Royal Red Cross First Class. Based on the corrected AWM figure of 22, seventeen were with the AANS, two were attached as staff at one of the General Hospitals, two were on Home Service and one was listed as part of the Australian Army Medical Corps. None of the nurses met their fate as a result of enemy action; all died of disease - the Official History attributes ten deaths to pneumonia, three from influenza. two to each of cholera and cerebral failure, while single deaths were attributable to malaria, enteric fever, meningitis, a septic infection and "illness". Ten died in Australia, four in India, three in each of Egypt and England, two in France and one in Salonika, Greece. The classifications as to cause of death, however, remain open to question, especially with the fine line between pneumonia and influenza. HMAT Boonah Three of the women that are listed on the AWM Honour Roll, Nurses Rosa O'Kane, Doris Alice Ridgway and Ada Mildred Thompson died from influenza after volunteering for service at the Woodman's Point Quarantine Station in Fremantle after the troopship HMAT Boonah arrived with over 300 hundred cases of the disease. HMAT Boonah was the last Australian troopship to sail for the Western Front, leaving Fremantle on 29 October, 1918 with carrying 918 servicemen. She arrived in Durban on 14 November, three days after the Armistice and was recalled to Australia with unforeseen tragic results. On the return voyage, the Boonah made contact with another vessel and reported an increasing number of cases of pneumonia influenza on board. HMAT Boonah, formerly captured German vessel s.s. Melbourne 12 Casualties The Great War : Women In Uniform

17 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by When the ship reached Fremantle, the number was over 300 and Commonwealth immigration authorities initially refused to allow the servicemen to disembark until those known to be affected were transferred to a quarantine station at Woodman's Point with an emergency staff boosted by 20 volunteer nurses. The situation developed into both a medical and political nightmare; immigration officials continued to refuse to allow unaffected soldiers to disembark and tensions mounted to the point that the Returned Servicemen's Association threatened to storm the ship to return what it termed "the prisoners" to shore. The Boonah was eventually allowed to continue its journey some nine days later with another 17 cases detected before she reached Adelaide - in total, 27 servicemen and the three nurses died at the Woodman's Point, later casualties from the voyage are unclear but did not include further nurses. Although not technically from the area, the list of nurses includes two of the casualties, May Dickson an Elizabeth Regan, both of whom died after returning to Australia and who are interred in the Coburg General Cemetery. (Perhaps ironically, HMAT Boonah was a captured German vessel originally known as s.s. Melbourne - the vessel was seized in Sydney just after the outbreak of war and was one of several German ships converted for troop carrying). As for serviceman, however, the official World War One lists do not take into account those nurses such as the local Amy Simpson who died of war-related illnesses after the official disbanding on the A.I.F. on 31 March, To date, our research had identified four women who meet this criteria' See Appendix Australian Nursing Casualties, page 59) The Sinking of the RMS Mooltan The casualty list of Australian nurses may well have been massively higher. After picking up passengers at various ports, the 9,273-ton P. and O. steamer RMS Mooltan left Australia in mid-june, 1917, carrying nearly 300 mostly newly-trained nurses bound for Salonika and eight regular passengers en-route to England. Fortunately, the nurses disembarked at Port Said before the Mooltan continued its journey to England. They boarded an alternate transport for Greece on 25 June and on the following day, the Mooltan was sunk by the German U-boat UC267 in the Mediterranean. The regular passengers and most of the crew were transferred safely to two Japanese destroyers, the Kusonoki and Ume, who after unsuccessfully searching for the German submarine landed those rescued at Marseilles. One Goanese crew member was killed and it was noted at the time that the Mooltan was the seventh P. and O. liner to be lost to enemy action. (It is not generally realised today that Japan sided with the Allies during the First World War - none of her ground troops were involved, but a number of Japanese Navy vessels escorted troop and regular mail ships to the eastern Mediterranean where they handed over to the Royal Navy). And, of course, the Uniform "the new military uniform for the nurses is very attractive. It is carried out in dark grey material, the bodice fastened down with oxidised buttons, the cuffs being of a chocolate colour. Embroidered on the sleeve is the Australian war badge, a little larger than a five-shilling piece, in the centre of which is a red cross surmounted by a crown aid surrounded with floral design picked out in fine silver wire, this replaced by silk in the case of the sisters. These will wear the decoration above the elbow, the matron displaying hers between elbow and wrist. "All the staff will wear red military capes after the style of the English Army Nursing Sisters, but the Australian capes are a little longer, reaching almost to the waist, and are fastened at the throat with a silver brooch inscribed, "Australian Commonwealth Military Forces". "The costumes are completed with long grey cloaks and bonnets for outdoor wear. Beneath the grey brims of the bonnets, above an edging of white, is a narrow band of the chocolate material. This colour also appears on' the cuffs of the sisters' dresses, not solidly, as in the case of the matron, but in two hands of narrow dimensions. The ward dresses are of grey zephyr, with which are worn cuffs, collars, and aprons of white, with red capes, and army caps of handkerchief shape. Each also wears on the arm a wide band of white, upon which the red cross is woven. This costume would be a most attractive one in which to dress dolls for sale for Red Cross purposes. Workers might bear this in mind". Preston Leader, 10 July, This was the preliminary uniform only there were many later adaptations for the vastly different climatic conditions in Egypt, England, Salonika and India. The Great War : Women In Uniform And, of course, the Uniform... 13

18 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Local Care On the outbreak of the War, there was no military medical in facility in Melbourne, in fact the only such centre a small hospital ward at Queenscliff for the accommodation of the Permanent Artillery force based at The Heads. A network of local hospital and convalescent facilities rapidly sprang up, mostly through the conversion and expansion of existing civilian centres. 5 Australian General Hospital (St. Kilda Road) The first, and major local medical centre was the 5th Australian General (or Base Depot) Hospital in St. Kilda Road established in March, 1915 in buildings originally constructed as a police hospital and stables, but never occupied. (The St. Kilda Road Police Station was between the 5 AGH site and the Homeopathic Hospital and Victoria Barracks to the south of Grant Street, the former later the site of Prince Henry's). On opening, there was a single medical officer, 8 nurses and 40 beds; by the end of the war, the staff included 17 full-time officers and 63 nurses serving 620 beds. The Hospital received its first overseas patients with a group of sick soldiers returned from Egypt aboard HMAT Kyarra on 13 March, 1915, and an outbreak of measles and later meningitis in the next few months saw the conversion of the adjoining Immigrant's Home as an Isolation Ward until a facility was established at the Alfred Hospital, the wards later absorbed into the hospital proper, as where the buildings originally intended for the police stables. Most of the patients from 5 AGH were transferred to Caulfield and Mont Park in September, 1918, the St. Kilda Road facility then used for special cases requiring isolation, out-patients, and, because of its location, as an emergency ward. The original red-brick buildings remain today on the south-western corner of Nolan Street (now Southbank Boulevard) and St. Kilda Road, used for many years as a centre for the Victorian College of the Arts and believed Heritage protected. 11 Australian General Hospital (Kooyong Road, Caulfield) No. 5 AGH was supplemented by No. 11 AGH in Kooyong Road, Caulfield, the latter facility appearing to have catered for longer term patients. The centre was established early in the war years, the former Caulfield mansion Glen Eira converted into a General Military Hospital (although usually known as Caulfield Military Hospital). Caulfield became the major centre for post-war care of those returning wounded and for others that had either arrived home with, or later contracted diseases, many of which ultimately proved fatal. No 1 Ward, 5 AGH There was a proposal post-war to convert its usage to that Staff and patients at 11 AGH, 1 December, 1918 of an infectious diseases hospital, but it remained as a repatriation facility and permanent home for many disabled soldiers through to the end of the Second World War when it reverted to the civilian Caulfield General Medical Centre. 14 Local Care The Great War : Women In Uniform

19 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by 16 Australian General Hospital (Mont Park) Our northern districts also came into play, the Shire of Heidelberg almost certainly unique outside of the capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne in having no less than four institutions catering for wounded or sick servicemen. The Mont Park Hospital was established in 1910 as a mental facility, and late in 1914, an agreement was made with the Defence Department for the hospital to construct a new central block (sometimes referred to as "the Chronic Ward") for use as a military hospital, eventually known as the 16th Australian General Hospital. The military section operated from 1916 with one wing set aside as a recovery centre from September, 1917 for what were rather unkindly called "bomb happy" cases, those suffering from shell shock and other traumas from which many never recovered. 6 This section of Mont Park was the first of the military hospitals to revert to purely civilian use, the Defence Department relinquishing control from 1 August, In September, 1918 when it was announced that the use of No. 5 AGH in St. Kilda Road would be drastically reduced to outpatients and cases requiring isolation, it was revealed that 11 AGH at Caulfield could accommodate 1,035 in-patients and Mont Park 1,000. A further ward was constructed in 1919 to accommodate another 80 patients suffering from psychiatric conditions resulting from their war service. This continue to operate until 1933 when the remaining patients were transferred to Commonwealth facilities. As part of a Department of Repatriation initiative to provide training to help returning servicemen back into the work force, a system of "Curative Training" was introduced at Mont Park around the middle of 1919 a Department report of December, 1919 revealed 349 men at Mont Park were attending the classes, divided across : carpentry, 79; metalwork, 25; boot making, 58; sea-grass matting and weaving, 39; shorthand, 9; bookkeeping, 29; general gardening, 17; plant propagating, 13; poultry raising, 41 and typewriting, 39. The men taking the courses were derived from four sources - from No. 11 AGH, Caulfield, (which by then was the primary military hospital) or from No. 5 AGH.; they may have been men who have been operated on overseas and sent to Mont Park direct by Defence; or they may have been discharged men whom the District Military Officer at Repatriation Department State Office had assigned directly to 16 AGH. for treatment of disabilities caused by war service. "Though the instruction given paves the way for vocational training, it is primarily as a curative agent". 7 The last troops left 16 AGH on 1 April, 1920 and were mostly accommodated at 11 AGH in Caulfield with tubercular cases remaining at the nearby Macleod facility. The hospital had a close association with the Preston branch of the Red Cross with many local women serving as volunteers at the hospital and a number of special efforts to raise both cash and other small luxuries of life for the patient were regularly noted in the Leader, including one campaign after those wounded at Gallipoli arrived home in the second half on 1915 to purchase a gramophone and records for the entertainment of those confined to the hospital. An Avenue of Honour of sugar gums was planted by inmates of Mont Park in 1919 to commemorate those that had died there; like many of its kind, the unmarked trees lost their significance until 1993 when the Macleod Progress Association uncovered the history of the Avenue and preserved it from a proposed sale and development of the land. Main building,16 AGH, Mont Park, 1917 One of several typical buildings at Mont Park, just prior to closing, late 1990s Portrait of Mont Park Hospital, matron and nurses. AWM DAX2442A 6 Designated 14 Australian Auxiliary Hospital 7 "Repatriation", December, 1919 The Great War : Women In Uniform Local Care 15

20 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM "No. 16 A.G.H. (Macleod)" (The Number 5 : A Magazine Published Monthly by the Patients and Staff, No. 5 Australian General Hospital, St. Kilda Road. October, 1918). (Like many references at the time, the article confused the two medical facilities by referring to 16 AGH as "Macleod" rather than "Mont Park")" "No. 16 Australian General Hospital, such is the official title of the new military hospital at MacLeod, a short distance from Heidelberg. Beautifully situated, this superb suite of buildings was built for the purpose for which it is being used, unlike in this, the 5th A.G.H. Typical Australian bush scenery, large gums, and a magnificent view from its high elevation, are the chief characteristics of its environment. At first sight one is amazed at the size of the hospital. Twelve blocks, each capable of accommodating 100 soldier patients, will give one some idea of the dimensions of the place. At the present time, only six blocks are in use as wards. Formatted: normal-p0, Centered, Space After: 6 pt "Quarters for the nursing staff, ward-attendants' quarters, orthopaedic block, where electrical treatment, etc., is given, quartermaster's store, and medical officers' quarters and staff accommodation take up most of the available space. The head- quarters' block, situated in the centre of the building, comprise the 0.C., registrar's, and adjutant's offices, the general office, matron's and post office, as well as the operating theatre and officers' mess. The train service to MacLeod is fairly good, with special trains on leave days - always filled to overflowing, of course. Curative classes are held in various sub jects, the idea being to take the patients' mind off his illness, and with the view of preventing a very real malady, which is commonly called "hospitalitis". "Classes are being held at present on gardening, typewriting, engineering, The Number 5, Issue 1 (of 3) basket work, chip carving, needlework, and raffia work, under the direction of Mrs. Courtney, assisted by Mesdames Needham and Stewart, and Miss Chambers. Classes shortly to be started include boot making, carpentry, fitting, etc. The gardening class, under the voluntary tuition of Mr. Linaker, landscape gardener at the Lunacy Department, commences "graft" at 8.30 a.m., and the members of this class very soon begin to show their appreciation and enthusiasm. Everything to do with gardening can be learned from the actual planting of the seeds, potting, bud ding, grafting, etc. Plants for the hospital garden and pot plants for the wards will be obtained through the excellent work of our soldier patients. "Typewriting, a most necessary and advantageous subject to the qualified, is taught by lady volunteers, i.e., the Misses Solomon and Wilson, as also are rugmaking, raffia, and basket work, etc. The poultry farm is almost complete, and will be ready to receive "patients" at about the beginning of next month. This farm, without a doubt, when finished, will be one of the best laid out in the Commonwealth. "The garden, of immense size, is now beginning to show some return for the energy expended. A large recreation reserve is in course of preparation down in a hollow below the hospital, which suggests to us a modern amphitheatremodern amphitheatre. Here will be a cricket ground, tennis court, bowling green, and croquet lawn - surely a sight to make any sick man feel well. Pending the completion of the cricket ground, a temporary matting wicket is available, and every day patients and members of the staff may be seen practising for any matches which may be arranged. "The Red Cross Room, with one large and two small billiard tables, is largely patronised. In this room are held concerts and occasional euchre parties. Afternoon tea is prepared at a kitchen attached, and on Wednesday after noon patients are able to take their visitors to tea, the minimum charge per patient being one penny and per visitor (civilian) sixpence. A fine library is also attached to the Red Cross room. Ladies of the surrounding districts arrange social evenings, and transport is arranged by the Y.M.C.A. Theatre parties are held on Wednesdays, and motor drives in the afternoon. The Y.M.C.A. are erecting a handsome building, with lounge and all comforts, in conjunction with same. A canteen, in which almost anything may be purchased at most reasonable prices, is to be set in motion at an early date. "The present officer in charge is Lt.-Col. H. A. Embling, at one time O.C. No. 5 A.G.H. The Registrar is Capt. A. H. Melville, also late of No. 5 staff, and Captains Day and Chambers, who were previously attached for duty at No. 5. "The members of the staff at present include: Lt.-Col. H. A. Embling, O.C.; Capt. A. H. Melville, Registrar; Major R. H. Gibbs, Senior Medical Officer; Major J. F. Wilkinson, Senior Medical Officer; Major A. S. Johnson, Orthopaedic Specialist; Major Hollow, Mental Specialist; Chaplain-Lt.-Col. S. Wells (resident), Chaplain-Capt. Harvey, Chaplain-Capt. Robinson (visiting), Cap tain N. C. Barber, Captain W. B. Heyward, Captain H. C. A. Haynes, Captain R. P. MacGillicuddy, Captain J. Downing, Captain A. J. Day, Captain J. L. Champs, Captain L. W. Johnston, Captain W. A. Graham, Lieut. A. J. Phillips (Q.M.), Lieut. H. R. Hambrook (Adjt.). "Lt-Col A. V. M. Anderson left us after six months as senior medical officer, his place being filled by Major J. F. Wilkinson. The Military Sanatorium, about a mile away, is under the able command of Major Mitchell; both Captains K. R. Moore and G. Good have been transferred temporarily, to No. 5 A.G.H. 16 Local Care The Great War : Women In Uniform

21 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by "We regret to have to report the severe illness of Major Mitchell, who is an inmate of No. 11 A.G.H., Caulfield. Several of the nursing staff have been lately transferred from No. 5 A.G.H. to No. 16, and, we understand, were not elated over the change. After a week at No. 16, however, we understand how difficult it would be, even for "wild horses" to drag them away. Very many ex-members of the staff of No. 5 A.G.H. are now doing duty at No. 16, chiefly on account of the big reduction in personnel of the Base. "Heaps of good luck to you No. 16, and, as the Scotchman says, "Lang may yer lum reek" 8 "Curative training at Mont Park, Victoria" ("Repatriation", December, (A Monthly Bulletin Published by the Department of Repatriation for Information of its Local Committees and all interest in the Return to Civil Life of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Forces) 349. "In the past, there was much debate as to when patients in military hospitals should begin to receive curative training. Some opinion was in favour of it commencing as soon as the patient was able to do anything at all, while other opinion was for a delay until the patient was on the road to convalescence. "From the results obtained at No. 16 A.G.H., Mont Park, Victoria, it would appear that the former opinion has proved to be the correct one, and at present the system evolved from that belief is working wonderfully well. There, in conjunction with the Defence and Repatriation departments, the Red Cross Society is now running curative training classes which are auxiliary to both; to the first, inasmuch as the work done in the society's workshops is not only a valuable aid to, but part of the medical practice known as physio-therapeutics; and, in regard to the second, because it prepares the way for at least a third of the men who take the courses for the vocational training which, on their discharge, the Department will give them. "At present 349 men at Mont Park are attending the classes, and they are divided among the various classes as follow: Carpentry, 79; metalwork, 25; boot-making, 58; sea-grass, 39; shorthand, 9; bookkeeping, 29; general gardening, 17; propagating, 13; poultry raising, 41; typewriting, 39. Total. "The men taking the courses may be derived from four sources. They may be cases sent from No. 11 A.G.H., Caulfield, or from No. 5 A.G.H., the Base Hospital; they may be men who have been operated on overseas and sent to Mont Park direct by Defence; or they may be discharged men whom the D.M.O. at Repatriation State Office has sent out for treatment of disabilities caused by war service. "The last named, no matter what their disabilities, are, during their stay in hospital, eligible for full pension at the rate of 30s. per week. Though the instruction given paves the way for vocational training, it is primarily as a curative agent that it is employed, for experience has proved that it is always preferable that men return to whatever may have been their pre-war work. "This instruction is given under a scheme, the present plan of which was devised by Mr. W. Moffat, late A.1.F., the Red Cross Society's director of curative workshops, who has under his direction three such groups. The Mont Park group is guided by Captain Chaplain T. C. Robinson, late 21st Battalion, A.1.F., and under him again are twelve instructors, three of whom are voluntary. "As soon as possible after a man's arrival at Mont Park, the M.O. who has his case in hand sends the man to Chaplain Robinson with a form, in which the man's particulars are set out in such a way that the chaplain can fairly well estimate what type of curative training will best suit his case. The form shows, among other things, the man's disability, his pre-war occupation, the estimated period before his discharge, the M.O.'s opinion as to the man's ability to follow his pre-war occupation, and the medical treatment he is receiving. This information, and an interview with the man himself, enables Chaplain Robinson to decide on the class of work to be given, and the form, with the recommendation filled in, then goes to Lieut-Colonel K. C. Cross, the M.O. in charge of the Physio- Therapeutic Department, who "O.K.'s" the form, and the man goes into the workshop chosen. "His record is carefully kept, and when he is finally dis charged, it goes with him to the Repatriation Department, to whom it is a valuable guide, especially if the man should be due for vocational training. In every case, it is emphasized that the training is curative, and the desirability of the man getting back, when discharged, to his prewar occupation is always stressed. "Half a day is given to medical treatment, so curative work is followed during the other half, and, therefore, it may be that a man's forenoon is occupied in the hospital with massage and his afternoon with carpentry or poultry or vice versa. The main thing is that he is occupied; and in this connexion, it may be said that his attendance at the curative workshop is a strictly military concern. 8 No, we don't know what it means, either! The Great War : Women In Uniform Local Care 17

22 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM "At the shops, the necessity is continually impressed on the trainee of not forgetting that his future welfare is at stake and to give it a good "leg-up" or not, is according to how he himself decides. And here it should be said that with the very rarest exceptions, the men have taken this sound advice to heart, and any sudden descent on the workshops will find at work as busy a lot of men as any prosperous factory can show. The classes are filled in the morning by about half of their full strength, the other half then being medically treated; and in the afternoon a change-over takes place. "This means that the carpentry class has continuously at work about forty men. These men are under the instruction of Mr. Yates and his assistant, Mr. Lalor, both returned disabled soldiers. Under these gentlemen, the trainees are producing practically all varieties of woodwork, including wardrobes, rocking chairs, chests, tables, night-stands, cutlery boxes, trays, frames for discharge certificates, glove boxes, hospital fly-catchers, general turning, and any woodwork required by the hospital or the curative training shops. Attached to the woodwork shop is a frenchpolishing shop, but this at present is on a small scale. Soon a special instructor is to be provided for a separate class, as there are a fair number of men desirous of taking up this necessary adjunct to furniture-making. "Metalwork and plumbing are under Mr. Franklin, who, morning and afternoon, has about sixteen men under him. The men in this class have a wide range of products, and supply the hospital with articles which otherwise they would have to go to the city for, such as watering-cans, egg-slicers, pannikins, ventilators, drinking vessels for the poultry farm, dippers, ash cans, and colanders. They also learn how to repair bicycles and "dixies" and find a demand from outside for cockatoo stands, water pipes, spouting, and other tinsmiths' work. Their furnace was built by themselves, and they are making Canadian down-draught stoves. At one end of the shop is a blackboard for theory, and with this, the training they get is complete enough to fit them to go out as fully equipped metalworkers. "Under Mr. Thompson, who lost a leg at Pozieres, thirty-nine men are learning to work in sea-grass, which is imported from China in lengths, like coarse string. These men work like practised hands, any of their work being worthy of a place in the show-windows of high-class furniture firms. His Excellency the Governor-General lately ordered from this class six arm-chairs; and it also makes excellent stands, screens, baskets, ornamental tubs, and many other useful and pretty things. "The boot-making and harness class has close on thirty men working all day long. Mr. Bold and his assistant, Mr. Hill, have charge, and most of the work their pupils turn out is work that has been ordered. The Department of Defence has pronounced their repair work as being up to the military standard, so in this connexion they have their hands full; so much so that a boot polishing machine has been put in to meet the demands. The benches in this shop were made by the trainees. "There is a small wood-carving class, where lids for chests and glove boxes, panels for sideboard and wardrobe doors, chair seats, and backs are designed and cut. The enthusiasts in this class have all their work disposed of before it is completed. "Miss Wilson, a volunteer, gives instruction in bookkeeping, and has under her twenty-nine keen and industrious men, who evidently appreciate and are fired by her enthusiasm. Mrs. Matthews, voluntarily assisted by Mr. Kirsland, give instruction to nine shorthand pupils and thirty-nine in type- writing. The typewriting is worked in three shifts of thirteen men at a time. "Poultry and squab raising attracts forty-one trainees. The instructor, Mr. McDonald, is a notable expert, and a tour of his fowl-yards makes one realize that poultry farming is a science. Some of the stock are pedigree birds of champion strain, but all are of good stock. The latest type of incubators are used, and the most up-to-date methods employed in keeping track of the egg-laying and table qualities of the birds. Everything is scientific and sanitary, and the work is eminently absorbing and of high curative value. "Then there are general utility classes, which were established mainly to give those men going on the land a good all- round knowledge of those trades which would best serve them as farmers. They attend several classes, not with the idea of perfecting themselves in any one, but to become handy in all. General gardening accounts for seventeen men under Mr. James, but for propagating, thirteen men go to Mr. Linaker, chief of this section of the mental asylums of the State of Victoria. Mr. Linaker gives his instructional services free, and, with the usual ardour of irreclaimable gardeners, takes an intense interest in the progress of the men, not only from his own professional point of view, but from the point of view of the curative enthusiast. In this he is in line with all those at Mont Park who are associated in this far-reaching work. "The Curative Training Section of the Red Cross work is directed by a committee comprised of the following : Colonel W. E. Jones (chairman), Lady Creswell, Mrs. Linaker, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. C. Courtney, and Messrs. Donald Clark (Inspector of Technical Education, State Education Department), Speeding, McLeod, Payne, and Stirling. 18 Local Care The Great War : Women In Uniform

23 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by The Great War : Women In Uniform Local Care 19

24 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM The Mont Park spur The establishment of the Mont Park facility led to the construction of the Macleod railway station, opening on 1 March, 1911 and the hospital eventually had its own spur line, although it was never part of the passenger network. The track branched from Macleod station to serve the Mont Park Asylum complex, with the construction expense met by the government Health Department. It opened soon after completion of the station and was a goodsonly line - an Act was passed in 1946 allowing passenger services but these were never implemented. At the same time, it was suggested that a somewhat fanciful scheme for a railway from Alphington to East Preston would probably be extended through to Bundoora and Mont Park. The Mont Park section was electrified in 1928, some five years after the main line then terminating at Eltham. The last troops departing 16 AGH from Macleod Station, 1 April, Images from the Alice E Broadhurst collection courtesy of Yarra Plenty Regional Library. 1 Australian Military Sanatorium (Macleod) Less than a mile away from Mont Park (their proximity caused them to be often confused), the Macleod Sanatorium (later designated 1 Australian Military Sanatorium) was constructed in 1915 for the treatment of tuberculosis patients, officially opening on 11 August, Initially for military use only, it later provided care for civilian patients remained until 1933 when the Commonwealth Repatriation Department took over control of the remaining inmates, most of whom were transferred to an existing (pre-war) facility at Greenvale. Images taken from a State Library of Victoria collection of photographs taked the visit of the Governor General (Sir Ronald C. Munro Ferguson ) & Lady Helen Ferguson to the 16 AGH, Mont Park on 21 June, 1917 From left H , H , H Bundoora Park and Homestead After the war, the Commonwealth Government identified the Bundoora Park estate, and its 1899 Queen Anne style federation mansion and its grounds (formerly a leading thoroughbred stud in the 1880s and 90s), as a suitable site for a convalescent farm for the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen suffering psychiatric and behavioural disorders resulting from their military service. In 1924, Bundoora took over from Mont Park as the repatriation and mental hospital for returned servicemen with an accepted psychiatric illness resulting from their war service, initially in the Great War and subsequently the Second World War. A review of the repatriation hospital system in 1985 recommended extensive changes to the system under which hospital and medical care for ex-servicemen was delivered including a move towards decentralisation and integration of services. 20 Local Care The Great War : Women In Uniform

25 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by As an eventual result, the Bundoora hospital was formally decommissioned after operating for just on 70 years as a repatriation facility and the remaining patients at Bundoora were transferred to alternative accommodation. The grounds passed to the State-controlled Urban Land Authority with plans to demolish Bundoora Homestead along with all of the hospital buildings for residential housing, but through the combined efforts of Darebin City Council, La Trobe University and Preston Historical Society the building was saved. In 2001, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre was opened as a cultural and heritage facility for the community funded and managed by Darebin City Council. 12 Ward, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg Bundoora Homestead circa 1917 In September, 1917, two wards at the Austin Hospital - still designated as the "Austin Hospital For Incurables" with admission restricted to those considered terminally ill - were set aside for the treatment of servicemen and was generally referred to as the "Military Ward" (later No. 12 Ward). Several of the casualties listed in our Honour Rolls died at the Hospital from injuries or illnesses. Deaths recorded in Family Notices during 1917 and 1918 appear to relate primarily to those as a result of tuberculosis and gas poisoning rather than wounds, the symptoms much the same. This Ward provided post-war care of servicemen hailing from the northern parts of Melbourne in similar fashion as No. 11 AGH in Caulfield for the southern suburbs. Queen's Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital (Fairfield) Although it was never classified as a Military Hospital, the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital was also used by the A.I.F. during the latter years of the war. What is not clear is when the A.I.F. started to use the hospital and just what its official status was - with one exception (and that where the cause of death is somewhat clouded), all of the six men that passes away at the hospital in 1918 were suffering from cerebro-spinal meningitis after the hospital Board agreed to accept a small number of cases of those suffering from the disease. The hospital in all army records is shown simply as the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital; it never came under A.I.F. control, but official statements from medical officers in the archives suggest that it was properly known as the Queen's Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital. Some histories of the site suggest that Queen Victoria asked that funds raised during the Jubilee celebrations of her 60th year on the throne in 1897 to be used to help the sick. Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital (date unknown) State Library of Victoria image b51398 Some 16,000 was raised by municipal levies in that year and the Victorian colonial Government granted 15 acres of land at Yarra Bend for the hospital, considered an ideal site isolated by the Yarra to the east and south and Merri Creek to the west. A Lunatic Asylum had existed nearby since the 1860s, the location selected for much the same reasons. The hospital opened in 1904 with the funds for operations drawn from the Melbourne, Fitzroy, Brunswick Coburg, Richmond and St. Kilda councils. Each of these councils contributed to the upkeep of the hospital and had representatives on the Hospital Board, with ratepayers from their district entitled to be treated free of charge. Other councils were required to pay for any of their residents who needed the use of the hospital. (Admission procedures required a written order from the Town Clerk of the municipality where the patient resided). This arrangement caused something of a public outcry as one of the first six patients was a boy living in Northcote within a mile of the hospital who had contracted diphtheria and whose admission was delayed, some critics claiming that the Town Clerk of Northcote refused to agree to his admission as it was not clear who was to pay for the boy's hospital fees. The Great War : Women In Uniform Local Care 21

26 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM An order for the boy's admission was subsequently issued with the Town Clerk demanding an indemnity form be signed by his parents and doctor to reimburse the Council from any expenses and the boy was immediately removed to the hospital after a delay of five hours and operated on, but to no avail, the lad dying at 10 o'clock the same night. (Northcote Council vainly tried to defend the actions of the Town Clerk, claiming that although the hospital had opened, the necessary forms for admission had not been received until after its previous meeting and that he had no power to act, two councillors in fact suggesting the matter was a ruse to force the Council to become a contributor to the financing of the facility). Further public disquiet about the running of the hospital resulted in an inquiry being held in 1912 and an Act of Parliament was introduced in 1914 to establish a Board of Management and to have all councils contribute to the running of the hospital as well as providing funding from the State Government. The Board was expanded in 1915 to include Northcote and Preston and minutes of Council meetings suggest Northcote share of the upkeep was 33 per quarter; Preston's are noted alternatively as 12 or 15while plans were also announced for a 25,000 upgrade of the facility (ultimately over 75,000 was spent). In October of that year, the Board opposed suggestions that the hospital should accommodate cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis that had reached alarming proportions; it was noted that the Government and some 30 councils then comprised the Board. This was later overturned with the Government allowing special cases to be admitted with the proviso that patients could only be transported to in the hospital's own ambulances. Oddly enough, all the deaths, both of servicemen and civilians noted at the hospital are recorded in Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages under Clifton Hill rather than Fairfield. No. 5 Infectious Diseases Hospital (Glenroy) The final military hospital within the WikiNorthia boundaries was a far lesser known facility in Widford Street, Glenroy, then like Macleod and Mont Park a semi-rural district on the outskirts of suburban Melbourne. Also known as the Glenroy Measles Hospital, it consisted of two large properties originally owned by the Wiseman family, "Ashleigh" and "Sawbridgeworth" (the pair were originally constructed as mirror images of each other), one of the buildings used to house around 40 beds, the other, staff and administrative offices, although it was suggested that given the extensive grounds, between 150 and 200 patients could have been accommodated with tents. A Salvation Army Girl's Home was also taken over, Conversion of the buildings into a hospital commenced in June, 1915 and by September, all 40 beds were in use despite unfavourable reports from the local Health Officer of open drains emptying into Moonee Ponds Creek "to which dairy cows have access". The facility was closed around April, 1917 and the few patients remaining mostly measles and mumps cases were transferred to an isolation camp at Ascot Vale. Prior to closure, 1996 "Ashleigh", 1916 (courtesy Broadmeadows Historical Society) As the alternative name suggests, the facility handled mostly cases of measles, but the disease is often closely accompanied by a susceptibility to pneumonia and there were a handful of deaths at Glenroy as a result. "Sawbridgeworth", circa 1914 There may have been others, but an extensive check of Family Notices and deaths of young males in Campbellfield (under which two known deaths at Glenroy were listed) reveals that five servicemen passed away at the hospital four from measles which was often associated with broncho-pneumonia, the fifth from tuberculosis which appears to have been a pre-existing condition before he volunteered. 22 Local Care The Great War : Women In Uniform

27 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by All five appear on the AWM Roll of Honour the place of death of two directly acknowledged as at Glenroy; the others generically "Victoria" or "Australia" : Melbourne Hospitals - a Summary As a guide to the relative importance of the medical facilities, the staffing levels of hospitals under control of the Defence Department as at 30 June, 1918 were: 9 Medical officers Other Other N.C.O.'s Full Time Part Time Officers Ranks Sisters Nurses Masseurs Beds 5 AGH AGH AGH MS Victorian Death records do not differentiate between the local facilities, but total deaths recorded against Heidelberg show a stark picture of the impact of servicemen affected by tuberculosis and influenza returning from overseas. In 1916 before any of the facilities were fully operational, there were 210 deaths recorded under Heidelberg; in 1917, 207; in 1918, 216; in 1919, 272; in 1920, 273; in 1921, 255 and in 1922 when the effects of the war appear to have been exhausted, 214 or roughly the pre-1919 level. Hospital Ships Twelve British "hospital ships' were available at the start of the Gallipoli campaign although "hospital ships" in name only as they were converted merchant vessels fitted out as well as time permitted and manned primarily by staff from No. 21 British General Hospital in Egypt, a typical voyage involving four medical officers, eight nurses and 20 "other ranks". Most in the early stage of the campaign were "black ships" - unprotected by the Geneva Convention which required them to be painted white and equipped with suitable fittings and medical staff adequate for full hospital treatment of the sick and wounded. 10 They were also under British control and prone to be diverted into a role of a standard troop transport with at least of the assigned transports not returning after they transported wounded to England. The situation was obviously unsatisfactory and in the first week of May, it was announced that the Australian Government had taken over the s.s. Karoola for conversion to a hospital ship and that she would be removed immediately from domestic services perhaps because she was already operating as a troop carrier to Rabaul and the islands, there was virtually nothing mentioned of the pending conversion of the Kanowna. 11 The planned contingents for the two ships left on A67 HMAT Orsova in the middle of July the medical team on Karoola four medical officers, 12 nurses and two masseuses all from N.S.W.; six medical officers and eight nurses on Kanowna drawn from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. No. 1 Hospital Ship Karoola Built in 1909 by Harland & Wolff Ltd in Belfast, the Karoola was a 7,391-ton steamer of 15 knots constructed for McIlwraith, McEacharn's Line Pty Ltd, Melbourne for the local coaster trade. As A63, HMAT Karoola, she transported servicemen from Sydney and Brisbane in June, 1915 and continued to England for re-fitting as a hospital ship, then designated as HMAHS Karoola or more commonly, No. 1 Hospital Ship Karoola. 9 The figures are taken from Volume XI of the Official History of the First World War, but they differ greatly from a newspaper report (The Argus, 18 December, 1918) report on the proposed shutdown of 5 AGH which suggested "17 full time officers and 63 nurses are at attached to the hospital, and the beds number 620", and that "a number of nurses have been suspended (without Pay), leaving only 17 on the premises". "Beds" in the table may have correctly been "Beds in actual use" 10 There were similar concerns over the two hospital ships when they returned to England carrying staff and supplies, not wounded or sick servicemen. 11 Around the same time, it was revealed that the New Zealand Government already had a full hospital ship, the Maheno which was due to call in Sydney of her way to Egypt. The fitting out was financed by a public subscription initiated by the Governor-General. She was also built by Messrs W. Denny & Co. at Dumbarton, smaller than her later Australian compatriots at around 5,000 tonnes, but around 18 knots faster. She called at Sydney on her way back to New Zealand in mid-july with 280 wounded on board. After returning to domestic service, she was sold to a Japanese shi9-breaker, but while being towed to Osaka, the hull was washed ashore on Fraser Island during a cyclone the wreck remains today on the island as a popular tourist resort. The Great War : Women In Uniform Local Care 23

28 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Most of the funds for the re-configuration came from donations to a special fund initiated by the Australian Red Cross in New South Wales and it is probably not coincidental that all of the medical team originated from there. On completion, the Karoola made one trip from Egypt to England carrying around 500 British and Australia troops en route, she received a wireless S.O.S. off the coast of Spain where the steamer Highland Warrior had struck a reef. The Karoola wont to the assistance of the wrecked vessel and rescued 29 passengers despite the big seas that were running. After her arrival in England, it was decided that both Australia hospital ships should only be involved in transporting invalided servicemen back to Australia. Karoola made her first voyage back arriving in the first week of December, 1915 with 137 Victorians, 23 Tasmanians and five nurses disembarking at Port Melbourne on the 4th and driven through Melbourne in a fleet of cars provided by the Automobile Club before assembling at Victorian Barracks prior to distribution to hospitals or convalescent homes depending on their condition. In all, she made 11 round trips (mostly to England, but a couple to Egypt), the last departing in February, 1919 before she returned to passenger services in June. She continued plying the Australian coastal trade until 1937 when she was laid up in Sydney and sold to Shanghai for scrap the following year. No. 2 Hospital Ship Kanowna Built in 1902, Kanowna was a 6,942-tonne steamer serving the Australian coastal trade before being requisitioned by the Government late in She made one trip to the north of Australian carrying around 500 reinforcements for the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force before transporting 1,038 service personnel to Egypt in June, In her original configuration, she was a sister vessel to HMAT Kyarra which also served as a hospital transport prior to the conversion of the two specialist vessels; both were built by Messrs W. Denny & Co., Dumbarton, Scotland for the A.U.S.N Co. for local service. Hospital ship Kanowna at Fremantle State Library of Western Australia b _1 After one trip to Egypt, she was converted to a specialised hospital ship with accommodation for around 450 patients, an operating theatre, X-ray room and dental surgery. The conversion took just 29 days and she left England on 26 September, 1915 and Egypt on 20 October and arrived in Melbourne on 22 November. Given the number of seriously wounded on board, the journey was considered a success despite the deaths of four servicemen (three from illnesses and one from wounds). She subsequently continued to Sydney where further re-fitting was completed. During her first voyage, Kanowna was staffed entirely by male orderlies, but before she left Sydney in December to return to Egypt, it was decided that 14 women would sail as nurses, freeing up the orderlies for combat duties. The decision met with controversy - the women were classified as probationary nurses and the Australian Trained Nurses Association protested vigorously that this was unfair given so many fully-qualified nurses were waiting for their chance to serve overseas. On return, the women were praised by the senior Medical Officer and Matron as having performed admirably on the voyage, but pressure from the Nurses Association saw all 14 discharged on 1 April. 12 On early voyages back to Australia, HMAHS Kanowna originally carried 12 medical officers and nine nurses; after re-fitting in August, 1917, the nursing configuration was changed to a matron, eight sisters and twelve nurses. Kanowna made ten trips in all as a hospital ship, from May, 1917 travelling via the Cape of Good Hope because of the escalating submarine threat in the Mediterranean and on her last voyage being diverted from Egypt to pick up 700 repatriated British Prisoners Of War for return to Cairo. She was officially decommissioned as a hospital ship in March, 1919 and in April left carrying civilian passengers for India where she collected British troops for return to England. She embarked for Australia carrying another batch of invalided servicemen and ended service with the A.I.F. in October. 12 The Embarkation Roll for the Kanowna when leaving Sydney on 22 December, 1915 shows the group's occupations as five nurses (yet to qualify for their Nursing Certificates) and nine as "domestic duties". There were also around a dozen qualified nurses heading for postings in Egypt and one Florence Raines, listed as a cook in civilian life but her rank shown as seamstress/stewardess. All the Probationary Nurses as well as Florence received both the British War and Victory Medals. 24 Local Care The Great War : Women In Uniform

29 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Kanowna returned to the coastal trade, initially carrying cargo before being re-fitted as a passenger vessel and was lost in February, 1929 when she ran aground as Wilson's Promontory, fortunately with no loss of life with passengers transferred to another steamer than had come to her aid the wreck was not discovered until 2005, some 50 kilometres from where she had first foundered and in approximately 80 metres of seawater. A Statistical Oddity? Some criticism was made after the initial voyages of both the Karoola and Kanowna - the ships had been fitted out to return men needing extra care which could only be provided by a specialist vessel - instead, they brought back men who had been already declared permanently unfit and who were to be discharged. There are no specific figures as to the numbers invalided back to Australia on the two vessels, but given they were roughly the same size and came into service around the same time, it would be reasonable to assume they would have carried around the same volume. Again, there is nothing to indicate whether one or the another was fitted out to carry more critical cases, but a scan of the AWM Roll of Honour suggest just four men died on the Karoola, yet 24 on the Kanowna! With the mounting submarine menace in the Mediterranean, the standard route for the two hospital ships (as well as troop transports) was altered around the end of 1916 to proceed from Suez around the Cape of Good Hope and up the West African coast. As well as those nurses specifically assigned to hospital transports, many also continued serving on the troop transports bringing them home. From early 1916, a new system of Sea Transport Sections, consisting of a medical officer, seven nurses, a dispenser, masseur and six "other ranks" of the A.A.M.C. specially selected and trained and with standardised equipment and stores resulted in efficiencies almost equal to the two hospital ships. Seven sections were established at Suez, with later bases at Cape Town when the alternative West African route was adopted. The sisters : Warilda and Wandilla Whilst the Kanowna and Karoola are the most widely recognised Australian Hospital ships of the First World War, but there were two other the sister ships Warilda and Wandilla Of around 7,750 tonnes, the pair (along with a third Willochra which was not involved in war-time service) were built by William Beardmore & Co Ltd., Dalmuir, Scotland for the Adelaide SS Co Ltd, Adelaide, for the coastal trade. Both were requisitioned in 1915 as troop transports and while under the control of the Australian Government, were converted in England to hospital ships around the middle of 1916 and lent to British authorities where they were mostly manned by British crews and medical staff. Their background as troop transports was remarkably similar - each making four round trips to Egypt in 1915 and 1916, Warilda carried some 5,603 service personnel, Wandilla 5,499 before both sailed for England for re-fitting. Warilda was the earlier of the pair, built in 1909 and converted a hospital ship in July She spent a few months stationed in the Mediterranean before being put to work transporting patients across the English Channel. Between late 1916 and August 1918 she made over 180 trips from Le Havre to Southampton, carrying approximately 80,000 patients. Commonwealth control ended 24 January 1917, but she retained a proportion of her Australian merchant navy crew, including the Captain, James Sim, when on 3 August, 1918, she was torpedoed and sunk by the U-boat UC-49 in the English Channel while transporting 471 wounded soldiers from Le Havre to England. 123 lives were lost - most reports (based on contemporary newspaper accounts) suggest 15 were Australian, but this figure appears to include only the servicemen and not seven crew members identified on the AWM Commemorative Roll. There were a handful of women aboard Captain Sim later recalled four, but the master of the rescue vessel who took the survivors aboard thought six. There was one female casualty, Mrs Violet Alice Long, who was Deputy Chief Controller in London of the British Army's Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps. The Great War : Women In Uniform Local Care 25

30 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Due to Germany s threat in early 1917 to sink any vessel in the English Channel, the Admiralty decided to remove all distinctive exterior markings from hospital ships employed in this area. They were therefore re-painted, camouflaged, armed with a 4.5-inch gun at the stern, and thenceforth bore every semblance of ordinary transport ships. They were known as Ambulance Transports. Many reports of the time suggested the Warilda was clearly showing a Red Cross - the veracity of the claim is impossible to verify, especially as the incident occurred on a moonless night. UC-49 was sunk by British destroyers shortly afterwards with the loss of all but five of her crew. Wandilla was launched in 1912 and subsequently survived the war despite being hit in February, 1918 by a German torpedo that failed to explode. She was sold to new owners in the West Indies (s.s. Fort St. George, 1921) and the Lloyd Triestino Line (Italy, s.s. Cesarea) in Later renamed s.s. Arno, she was requisitioned by the Italian Navy in 1940 and, remarkably, converted back to a hospital ship. She came to an equally controversial end when sunk by British torpedo-bombers on 10 September, 1942 in the Mediterranean about 40 miles off Tobruk. It was claimed by the British that a German radio message intercepted some weeks before revealed that the vessel was carrying military supplies to Benghazi in violation of the Geneva Convention and was therefore a justifiable target, while others claimed the sinking of the Arno was potentially a war crime that was never properly investigated. Nurses Certificated in Heidelberg This section briefly identifies those nurses noted as earning their three-year Certificate in Heidelberg; there are probably others as probably only about 40% of Attestations shown the certificate details. There are also few instances where the actual place of employment is shown. Muriel Fanny Essington Anstey Born at Albury, she enlisted in June, 1917 with her Nursing Certificate earned at the Austin Hospital, her mother shown at Moe (it is not clear whether she was still at the Austin). She embarked from Melbourne for Indian service in June, 1917 returned April, 1919 and discharged 15 September. Died 11 June 1953 at home in Orrong Road, Armadale, cremated Springvale Cemetery Isabel Austin Born at Mirboo North, she also enlisted June, 1917 and embarked for India in 1917, returned March, 1919 and discharged April. She had a brother, 1298, Private Edwin Alexander Austin, Killed in Action 17 September 1917, his father shown at Mirboo North as next of kin. Died 21 January, 1967 and cremated at Springvale Cemetery Harriett Mary Hazel Bain (See Honour Roll : Northcote, page 46) Lillian Martha Malster Born Hamilton, next of kin at Hamilton, 25 years of age when she enlisted in May, Nursing Certificate from the Austin Hospital. She embarked May, 1915 and served in Egypt, Lemnos, England and France before returned in February, Died 8 November, 1972 at Canterbury, cremated Springvale Cemetery. Nora O'Connell Phillips Born Murchison, enlisted November, 1917, sister at Euroa as next of kin, embarked Sydney for service in India December, 1917, returned December, 1919 and discharged June, She died 1 April, 1965 in Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, unmarried and living in Heidelberg prior to her demise. Nursing Certificate from Austin Hospital. Ada Francis Tracy Richardson Born Williamstown, enlisted July, 1917 at age 37 with a sister in Armadale, embarked August and served in Egypt, returned July, 1918 and discharged February, Died 15 August, 1929 in Glenhuntly, the Mrs Hector Stooke, buried Springvale Cemetery. Nursing Certificate from Austin and Women's Hospitals. 26 Nurses Certificated in Heidelberg The Great War : Women In Uniform

31 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Florence Maud Tabor Born Semaphore, South Australia, parents at Semaphore. Enlisted September, 1916 in Adelaide, embarked December, 1916 and served England and France with 3 AAH, returned January, 1919, discharged June, Died in Ivanhoe and was living in Ivanhoe prior to her death, buried Fawkner Cemetery. Nursing Certificate from Austin Hospital. Cecilia Annie Telleson Born Moama, N.S.W., parents in Moama, enlisted June, 1917 at 26, embarked June, 1917 and served at Salonika until return to Australia May, 1919 and discharged December. Married Scott Bell in 1934 and died in N.S.W Nursing Certificate from Austin Hospital. Helen Sutherland Torbet Born Harrow, Victoria, resident in Hawdon Street, Heidelberg, next of kin a niece in St. Kilda. She enlisted September, 1919 on Special Service and served just four weeks in Egypt before returning in January, Died at home in Orrong Road, Elsternwick 28 July, Nursing Certificate from Austin Hospital. Honour Roll : The City of Brunswick Elizabeth Gertrude Fleming (Royal Red Cross, Second Class) Address : "Fernside", Warwick Street, Ascot Vale Next of kin : Jessie Fleming, same address She was born in Brunswick in 1879, the daughter of William and Janet Fleming nee WEIR of Union-street. She enlisted in November, 1914 at 35 years of age with a sister Jessie Fleming in Warwick Street, Ascot Vale as next of kin, and embarked 5 December aboard HMAT Kyarra. She served with 1 AGH in Egypt and England and later 3 AAH in England. She disembarked in Melbourne on 8 February, 1919 and was discharged 12 April. Although not dated (probably around 1922), one receipt for a medal is noted as signed and witnessed at Macleod, almost certainly the Sanitorium treating returned servicemen suffering from respiratory diseases, She was awarded the Royal Red Cross (Second Class), Gazetted in Australia 25 July, 1917 Her Nursing Certificate was from Melbourne Hospital and she was awarded the Royal Red Cross (2nd Class), gazetted in Australia 25 July, 1917 and also Mentioned In Despatches. After return, she married William Hunter in 1922, and died 26 March, 1969 in Essendon. The family in 1892 were shown in 1892 as "off Mt. Alexander-road, Ascot Vale", but this changed within a year or two to Flemingstreet, although her father appears to have been a draper, again in Mt. Alexander-road Several places in Elizabeth's archive refer to a sister with the initials "N. M" as being Sub-Matron at Melbourne Hospital and later serving at the 11 AGH at Caulfield; this was Neni Mary, her registration when she died in Ascot Vale in 1954 at 80 years of age showing her born in Sydney Linda Flower Address : 7 Stewart Street, Williamstown Next of kin : Frederick Flowers, same address Table Talk, 26 March, 1969 Another whose link is via place of birth in 1885, shown as in Brunswick, but with her father at the time and for several years after shown in Queensberry-street, Carlton as an artist before the family moved to Williamstown where she earned her Nursing Certificate at the local hospital. She embarked August, 1915 and served at 4 AAH in Egypt, 2 AGH and 2 AAH in England and 2 AGH in France, promoted to Sister on 10 December, She returned on transport duty, arriving in Melbourne 14 May, 1919 and discharged 21 July. Post-discharge, she appears to have served briefly at 11 AGH in Caulfield, but 1923 correspondence regarding medals have her at the Banksia Private Hospital, Banksia Street, Heidelberg. Unmarried, she died in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital on 21 March, 1962 and was interred at Springvale Cemetery; she was resident in Brighton prior to her demise. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The City of Brunswick 27

32 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Mabel Lucy Hutchinson Address : "Craiglee", 33 de Carle Street, Brunswick Next of kin : father, Mr James Andrew Hutchinson, "Craiglee", 33 de Carle street, Brunswick, mother Elizabeth "Lizzie", nee Clidd. Mabel Hutchinson volunteered for overseas service on 4 April, 1917 at 27 years of age, listing herself and her father James as next of kin at 33 de Carle Street, Brunswick where she appears to have been born. She had earned her Nursing Certificate at the Homeopathic Hospital in St. Kilda Road. She was another who served with the British India Nursing Service, and after embarking on 12 June, 1917 on RMS Mooltan, she was assigned from Egypt to Salonika on 30 July, missing the sinking of the Mooltan along the way. She served at 66 General Hospital until January, 1918 and was then sent a Convalescent Home, but it is not clear whether was part of her tour of duty or as a result of an undisclosed illness. Nurse Hutchinson returned to duty at No. 43 General Hospital in February, 1918 and served until 11 June when she was diagnosed with amoebic dysentery. She was declared unfit for either active or home service by a Medical Board on 19 August and returned to Suez a few days later. She embarked for return on 30 August and arrived back in Australia on 3 October with her appointment terminated on 23 January, Born Brunswick, Presbyterian, died in Armadale in December, 1968 at 79 years of age, cremated at Springvale Cemetery, daughter of James Andrew Hutchinson and Lizzie nee Cliffe. A younger brother, Norman William Hutchinson served as a transport driver with the 3 Divisional Supply Column. He returned on 11 January, 1919 suffering from nervous debility and after taking a wife, Kathleen (nee Francis) while in England. Blanche Catherine Kilsby (Mrs Blanche Whittenbury) Address : "Gower", Burke Road, East Malvern (born 17 December, 1888 and raised 243 Edward Street, Brunswick) Next of kin : father Francis at "Gower", Burke Road, East Malvern Blanche Kilsby was living with her family in East Malvern when she enlisted at 29 years of age on 8 November, 1917, but she was born and raised in Brunswick. She is the second nurse (after Harriett Bain) in our Roll to marry while serving and thus having to resign. Nurse Kilsby embarked from Sydney on 15 November, 1917 aboard s.s. Canberra, assigned to the British India Nursing Service after previously completing her Nursing Certificate at the Melbourne General Hospital. After arriving in Bombay, she served firstly at the Victoria Hospital, from August, 1918 at the Freeman Thomas Hospital and from 19 August, 1918 at the Station Hospital at Murree. Unlike the other nurses that served in India (perhaps because of her later enlistment), Nurse Kilsby does not appear to have taken the standard one month's leave in England in early She resigned from the Australian Army Medical Corps while still in Murree on 4 August, 1919 after she became Mrs Charles Thomas Whittenbury, the couple marrying in Bombay and apparently moving soon after to England. She had returned by 1925 when her medals were distributed, giving an address in Ferncroft Avenue, East Malvern. Born Brunswick, Church of England, died Canterbury, 14 December 1969 at 79 years of age and cremated at Springvale Crematorium, parents Francis William and Gwendoline, nee Rees. She was residing in Canterbury prior to her demise. Alice Elizabeth Barret Kitchen (Kitchin) Address : 337 Sydney Road, Brunswick Next of kin : Mother, Margaret nee Conway, father (late) William Barrett Kitchen Alice enlisted 26 September, 1914 her Attestation appears to have been transcribed incorrectly from the Nominal Roll showing her as 27 and her mother Margaret she was born in 1873 and was probably 41 years of age. She embarked on HMAT Benalla - shown only as KITCHEN, A and a Sister with the 8th Infantry Battalion! - with the rank of Sister assigned to 1 AGH 19 October, initially serving on transport duties to and from the Dardanelles, later with 1 AGH at Rouen and 1 CCS. In January, 1917, she was repatriated back to England with influenza and after recovering served at 1 AAH and 3 AAH. She was granted ten weeks' Paid Leave to undertake a course in Sanitation before she returned to Australia 28 August Punch, 3 December Honour Roll : The City of Brunswick The Great War : Women In Uniform

33 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by 1919 on Nursing Duties aboard HMAT Kanowna which had been converted to a hospital ship under British control. and was discharged 5 March, She died 17 June, 1950 at her home on the Nepean Highway at Edithvale. Born in 1873 at Amherst, now a ghost town near Talbot; the family name was correctly KITCHIN, both her birth and death under this variation. Charlotte Joan McAllister (O.B.E) Address : 11 Charles Street, Brunswick Next of kin : father, Mr William McAllister, 11 Charles Street, Brunswick, mother Lillias Amy McAllister, nee Shaw. Sadly, less is known of the First World War Service of Charlotte McAllister as she served again in World War 2 and an administrative decision was at some point made to combine Great War archives in such cases into World War 2 records which are not available on-line. She was, however, a remarkable woman. Like most of the 49 that sailed on RMS Mooltan on 26 December, 1916 for service in India, and later England; her enlistment date is shown as the embarkation date. She was 26 years old at the time, her and her father William's address 11 Charles Street, Brunswick. She is known to have at point been one of six AANS members sent to 18 British Hospital at Rawalpindi where the temperature in the hospital ranged from 46 to 51 degrees centigrade. Situated on the Baluchistan border, where the hospital in the town of Tank was vividly described by Matron Davis, Here, where no woman has ever been sent before the last place God ever made". Sister McAllister embarked for return to Australia on 27 February, 1919, arriving on 17 April 1919 per HMAT Anchises and was discharged14 June 1919.On 8 December, 1942 and while the first Matron of 115 (Heidelberg) Military Hospital General Hospital 13, she enlisted for the Second World War as VX She was still shown in Brunswick, her father again next of kin. She was discharged on 23 April, 1945 holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and in charge of the Nursing Section of the AAMC in William Street. She was the first matron of the Military Hospital after serving in the same role at the Albury Hospital for nearly ten years. Ms. McAllister was awarded on O.B.E. for services to nursing in 1951 and reached the age of 97 before she died on 31 March, 1987 in East St. Kilda and was interred at Fawkner Cemetery. Flora Melville Address : 438 Albion Street, Brunswick Matron C. J. McAllister, 115 (Heidelberg) Military Hospital, 16 November, 1943 Sisters Browne, Steel, McAllister, Furness and Jack in Tank, India in around AWM H Next of kin : father, Donald Melville, 435 Albion Street, Brunswick, mother Catherine Melville, nee McKay. Flora Melville was one of those whose enlisted date was shown as 26 December, 1916, the same date as she embarked aboard RMS Mooltan with reinforcements for the British India Nursing Service. Her father Donald was shown as next of kin, Flora herself was 35 years of age. Just where she gained her Nursing Certificate was not shown, but she was noted as serving at No. 5 AGH in Caulfield prior to embarkation. She was initially assigned to the Colaba Hospital, then from May, 1917 at the Victoria Hospital, both in Bombay. In February, 1918, she was transferred to the Stationary Hospital in Rangoon, returning to the Freeman Thomas Hospital in Bombay in October. Shortly afterwards, she was transferred to England suffering from bronchitis and general debility, after her month's leave, she was ruled medically unfit and embarked on 3 March, 1919 for return to Australia, arriving 20 April with her appointment terminated 19 June. Nurse Melville was one the nurses deemed ineligible for the Victory Medal because of her service in India only, deemed by the Defence Department to be a non-theatre of war (Heidelberg) Military Hospital operated between 13 March 1941 and 19 May 1947 in conjunction with the 6th RAAF Hospital. It was then handed over to the Repatriation Department and became the Repatriation General Hospital, Heidelberg, more commonly, simply "the Repat". The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The City of Brunswick 29

34 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Born in Brunswick, Presbyterian, and died in Kew on 4 April, 1949, interred Springvale Cemetery. Her father, the Hon. Donald Melville was the Legislative Council member for the seat of Melbourne North Province for over 34 years after originally being elected for the Southern Province in December, At various times, he served as Minister of Defence in the Colonial Government prior to Federation in 1901 and later as the State Health Minister, Melville Road in Brunswick carries his name. Elvina Mary Overend Address : "Glengariff', Orrong Road, Elsternwick Next of kin : Brother "Glengariff', Orrong Road, Elsternwick Born in Brunswick circa 1874, she enlisted on 16 August, 1916 at 44 years of age but did not embark until 17 January of the following year per HMAT Omrah, serving in the interim at 5 AGH in St. Kilda Road. She served exclusively in England, first at a training depot at Weymouth and later at 2 AAH, Southall. She returned to Melbourne, arriving 25 April, 1919 and was discharged 8 June, Unmarried, she died 4 March, 1949 at Camberwell and was cremated at Springvale Cemetery; parents Best and Elizabeth Overend (nee Goold/Gould); there is no record of her birth under that name, but Victorian registrations show six siblings born in Brunswick between 1862 and The brother shown as next of kin, George Best Overend was a prominent solicitor and continued the family line with his four children born in Brunswick between 1889 and 1898, shown around that time at 60 Parkstreet with his widowed mother at 76. He remained in the town until at least Directories around the time of Elvina's birth were well before a street grid or numbering and simply show the family in Sydney Road. The family is commemorated by today's Overend Street between Lygon and Hunter streets Sarah Jane Procter Address : Brunswick Next of kin : sister, Mrs J. H. Treloar, Hamilton. Father Charles Frederick (late), mother Sarah Jane (nee Evans. Nurse Sarah Procter stretched the limits by enlisted on 12 August, 1915 at 45 years of age, the maximum acceptable age. A sister, Mrs J H Treloar (Amelia) in Hamilton was given as next of kin. Her Attestation shows she had 13 years nursing experience, having earned her Certificate at Stawell Hospital, served for one year with the Women's Hospital with the balance with private amenities. The Embarkation Roll lists her residential address simply as Brunswick - there is no Attestation or other material surviving to suggest a more specific address, but the Daily Advertiser at Wagga suggested in a report on her death that she was well-known in the district prior to enlisting and two brothers still lived in the area. She embarked from Melbourne on board RMS Morea on 24 August, 1915 and like many that served in Egypt in 1915, her record is a little hazy, but it appears that in January, 1916 after serving with No. 2 AGH, she was promoted to Nursing Sister and returned on HMAT Ulysses transporting wounded back to Australia. Nurse Procter embarked again on 4 April, 1916 to re-join her unit. She arrived in England 30 December after further service at Alexandria and was initially assigned to No. 2 AAH, then at Southall. She was transferred just a few weeks later to No. 1 AAH at Harefield where she remained until February, She proceeded to join No. 1 AGH at Rouen, France in May, 1918; she returned to England on 23 November, 1918 after spending a month off duty with general debility and on return was admitted to South Kensington hospital with rheumatism. She was released around a fortnight later and at the same time promoted to the rank of Sister. Perhaps because of her age, she embarked for Australia soon afterwards and was assigned to No. 11 AGH at Caulfield from 9 February, 1919 until her appointment was terminated on 3 May. Born Stawell, Protestant, Sarah Jane Procter died at 75 years of age in a private hospital in St. Kilda, on 6 July, 1945 as the result of an accident (details unknown) and was interred in Eltham Cemetery. Her National Archives are held as Procter, AWM files as Proctor, the former is correct. 30 Honour Roll : The City of Brunswick The Great War : Women In Uniform

35 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Blanche Lily Ricketts Address : 19 Hotham Grove, Elsternwick Next of kin : father, George Oswald Ricketts, same address Born in Brunswick, 1881, parents George Oswald and Helen Blanche nee Quick; George shown as a printer and stationer at 408 Sydney-road up until Her address on enlisting on 10 April, 1915 was shown as 19 Hotham Grove, Elsternwick and she first embarked at 33 years of age from Sydney on 13 April, 1915 aboard HMAT Kyarra with reinforcements for 1 AGH in Cairo. She re-embarked for India on RMS Mooltan, 22 August, 1916 and transferred to England in February, 1917 and attached to 2 AAH, later 3 AAH before promoted to Sister and joining the 23 General Hospital in France. She embarked for return to Australia on 19 January, 1919 suffering from gastritis but was not discharged until 3 August, 1920, suggesting she may have been hospitalised in the interim. She married Thomas Powell at Balaclava Methodist Church in June 1923 "present address 11 Alexandra Street, East St. Kilda" and the same address shows on receipts for medals signed around the same time. Her parents appear to have remained in Elsternwick. Blanche Powell nee Ricketts died 10 July, 1975 in Canterbury and was buried in Springvale Cemetery Olive Mary Rose Address : 37 Locke Street, Essendon (born Albion Street West, Brunswick) Next of kin : father, William Rose, Traralgon, mother Annie Rose, nee Parker. Olive Rose was living with Mrs J. A. Payne at 37 Locke Street, Essendon when she enlisted on 2 May, 1917, but she was born and raised in Brunswick (there does not appear to have been a family relationship between her and Mrs Payne). Her father William was shown as next of kin, then living in Traralgon. At 28 years of age, she was one of the youngest nurses from the northern suburbs to volunteer for overseas service, her Nursing Certificate earned at the Melbourne General Hospital. She embarked on RMS Mooltan on 12 June, 1917 and after arriving in Egypt was posted to No. 66 General Hospital at Salonika, transferring in November, to No. 42 General Hospital. After an appendix operation in January, 1918, she was diagnosed in June with malaria and in September declared unfit for either overseas or home service. Nurse Rose was repatriated back to Egypt early in October, but for reasons unknown (possibly her physical condition), she did not embark at Suez for return to Australia until 22 December, arriving home on 22 January, 1919 and discharged 22 August, Following enquiries after she failed to collect the standard medals to which she was entitled, it was revealed that in 1924, she was Mrs Alexander Hardie Reith ESSON, married and left Australia for the U.S. and living in California. Still Mrs Esson and living in San Francisco; she died 17 January 1975 in Sonoma, California. A brother, 13078, Cyril Rose embarked as a Driver with 2 Army Transport Corps and returned safely in August, Born Brunswick, Roman Catholic Florence Willans Address : 111 Park Street, East Brunswick (alternatively shown as 107 Park Street) Next of kin : Mother, Mary Willans, same address Florence Willans enlisted at 28 years of age on 3 April, 1917, her Nursing Certificate from the Port Fairy District Hospital. She embarked 21 April 1917 from Melbourne per HMAT Karoola and served at 25 British Hospital in France before being returned to England with appendicitis in January, Subsequently she was at 2 AAH Southall before being returned to Australia, arriving 25 April, 1919 and discharged 20 June. Florence was one of a small number in our archive that married after return, in her case in 1923 to Leslie McNab Robertson, formerly a Lance Corporal with the 2nd Field Ambulance. The couple may well have engaged prior to their respective enlistments; the Port Fairy Gazette carried a letter from her to Leslie's mother in September, Letters in her archive place the couple in Arlington Street, Preston in 1928 She died 25 September, 1970 at 81 years at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, previously living in Hawthorn. Born North Carlton, parents Thomas James and Mary Willans nee Jarvie. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The City of Brunswick 31

36 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Honour Roll : The Town of Coburg Milanie Treleaven Ambler Address : 168 Moreland Road, West Coburg Next of kin : mother, Mrs Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ambler (nee Treleaven), 168 Moreland Road, Coburg. Father Llewellyn Ambler (late, 1894) Milanie Ambler was 28 when she enlisted on 12 April, 1917 and living with her widowed mother Lizzie and siblings at 168 Moreland Road, Coburg. She had qualified for her three-year certificate at the Children's Hospital. Staff Nurse Ambler embarked from Melbourne with the AANS on board RMS Mooltan on 12 June 1917 and after arriving in Egypt was transferred to 66 General Hospital at Salonika. She remained in Greece (also spending time with 42 Hospital until February, 1919 when she was transferred to England for the standard one month's leave before joining No. 3 AAH at Dartford. She was promoted to Sister on 12 July, 1919 before embarking for return to Australia on 18 September, arriving 16 November; in the interim, she was granted twelve weeks' special leave to attend a Cookery Course at the National School in London. Although no details of her later service are recorded (probably at 11 AGH), Sister Ambler remained in the AANS until being discharged on 23 May, 1921 as medically unfit. She later acted as the Secretary of the Returned Army Nurses Club. A younger brother, 2085, Sapper Llewellyn Ambler, 2 Field Company Engineers embarked in September, 1915 and was Killed In Action at Borre, France on 6 Jane, Born Woodstock-street, St. Kilda, Church of England, died in Camberwell, 1970 at 81 years of age. Birth records show her parents as Llewellen and Lilly, nee Trealeven. Octavia Ione Kelson Address : 18 Royal Parade, Caulfield Next of kin : Mother Emily Annie (nee Thorne), father Horatio (late, died 1905, Ascot Vale) Victorian registrations show four of the five children of the family as born in Coburg between 1878 and 1883; directories around the time of her birth show the family in Rennie's Lane, a few years later the entry shows as Horatio (Melbourne Savings Bank). "Rennie's Lane" is now Walsh Street. The family appear to have moved to Ascot Vale around 1895 there remains a Kelson Street (some distance from "Rennie's Lane", but probably perpetuating the family name is some way. Octavia was 33 years of age with her Nursing Certificate from Melbourne Hospital when she enlisted on 26 April, She embarked 9 May from Sydney aboard HMAT Ulysses and served from July, 1917 to September, 1918 with 1 AAH at Harefield. Her records then show her admitted to hospital with a "slight" skin infection, but she embarked for return as an invalid with general debility on 1 October and was discharged as medically unfit on 6 March She later married Cedric DUDLEY (not shown in Victorian records and was shown in 1941 at South Yarra when applying for a replacement medal - she died in Middle Brighton in 1960 at 76 years of age and was cremated at Springvale Cemetery. Margaret Ellen Rotherham Address : Alfred Street, Coburg Milanie Ambler, third from left, pictured at a Patriotic Fund Stall in Melbourne, 29 January, 1943 Next of kin : mother, Mrs Margaret Rotherham, Alfred Street, Coburg, father Henry John died in Coburg in Margaret Rotherham was 28 when she enlisted on 29 November, 1917, giving an address for herself and her mother (also Margaret) as "Coonooer", Alfred Street. Coburg. She had qualified for her three-year Certificate at St. Arnaud where she was born and was the last of the nurses in our Roll to be accepted for overseas service.. With most nurses already fully trained, most embarked with a couple of weeks of enlisted, but in her case, she did not sail on RMS Ormonde until 7 March, She was assigned to the British India Nursing Service and was initially served at the Freeman Thomas Hospital in Bombay, later also at the Stationary Hospital at Trimulgherry. While there, she suffered a acute bout of appendicitis in June, 1919 and at one stage was classified as Seriously Ill after being removed to the Victoria War Hospital in Bombay. 32 Honour Roll : The Town of Coburg The Great War : Women In Uniform

37 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Nurse Rotherham embarked at Bombay for return to Australia on 17 November, A rather arduous voyage saw her off-loaded at Singapore before a berth was found to Fremantle. On arrival there, there was another delay as a suitable vessel could not be found and she eventually undertook a four-day train journey, finally arriving back in Melbourne on 23 January, She was discharged on 28 May, 1920 as medically unfit with complications following a knee operation. She was another deemed ineligible for the Victory Medal due to her exclusive service in India. Enquiries in 1924 following her failure to collect the standard medals reveal she was then working at the Bloemfontein Private Hospital in South Africa. Her National Archives are held under Margaret Elizabeth Rotherham, although "Ellen" is used consistently throughout. Born St. Arnaud, Presbyterian, married in South Africa in December, 1925 to William Smith, death unknown. Interred Coburg Cemetery Although not technically from the town of Coburg, there are two other nurses that perhaps should be included through their internment in Coburg General Cemetery May Dickson Address : Oxford Street, Sydney Next of kin : Aunt, Miss A. M. Begg, same address May Dickson is included as the only serving Australian nurse to be interred in Coburg Cemetery. From Sydney, she was one of the 130 Australian nurses to be accepted for overseas service with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service. After serving for just over a year, she became ill under the stress and it was believed that a return to the warmer climate of Australia may help her condition. She was bound for her home town of Sydney, but when the vessel reached Melbourne en route, she was in a critical condition and it was decided to transfer her off the ship. Nurse Dickson was admitted to the Base Hospital (the date unknown), but she died "a few weeks later" at 2 p.m. on 4 October, 1917, the only reason given "natural causes", although there are references to "an affectation of the heart". She was 37 years of age. Her connection to the area came when she was awarded a full military funeral the following day at Coburg General Cemetery, one of only two women of around 175 Great War casualties to be buried there. May Dickson was the first Australian woman to be accorded the honour of a full military funeral service. Elizabeth Regan Address : 33 Mollinson Street, Abbotsford Next of kin : Parents. Augustus and Elizabeth Regan. A brother, identified only as Mr G. Regan at Asling Street, Gardenvale appears to have the main contact with Base Deport HQ. Sister Elizabeth Regan is again included based on her internment in Coburg Cemetery, although in her case, she survived the First World War. She was 29 when she enlisted in Sydney on 3 August, 1915, embarking on the 20th aboard HMAT Shropshire with reinforcements for No. 2 AGH. She had completed her training at the Launceston General Hospital and later served in Egypt with No2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, transferred to France Nurse Regan proved an outstanding war nurse, being Mentioned in Despatches by Sir Douglas Haig for distinguished and gallant service and devotion to duty in 1917 (gazetted 28 December 1917), and was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class in July She was promoted to Sister in October, 1918 and arrived back in Australia in March, Post-war she ran a private hospital in Oakleigh before taking the position of Matron of Guildford Boy's Grammar in Western Australia. She had only returned to Victoria a few months before her death in July, 1945, aged 60 years. She was another that went through the trauma of having a brother killed in Action. Charles Graham Regan enlisted from at Donald and saw service in Egypt as 2785, Private, 21 Infantry before he was killed by machine gun fire at Mouquet Farm in France on 26 August, Another brother, Frederick Ogden Regan served as 10167, Sergeant, Field Company Engineers and returned October, The Great War : Women In Uniform Interred Coburg Cemetery 33

38 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Honour Roll : The Shire of Eltham Mary Ann Farrell (born Yarra Glen, see page 39) Edith Caroline Muncton Miller (Mrs Norman Griffiths) Address : "Rellim", Eltham Next of kin : mother, Mrs Rhoda Miller (nee Muncton), "Rellim", Eltham, father Alexander George Miller. Edith Miller was a 33-year-old nursing sister when she enlisted on 10 August, She was working in a private hospital after serving at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1910 to Her Attestation suggests she had a total of five years' experience in the execution of medical orders. She was living at "Rellim" in Eltham at the time of her enlistment with her mother Mrs Rhoda Miller who was noted as next of kin. She embarked from Port Melbourne on board RMS Morea on 24 August and was assigned to No 4 Auxiliary Hospital in Heliopolis, Egypt, spending a period there hospitalized with mumps before transferring to England in August, 1916 and No 1 AGH. Nurse Miller proceeded to Wimereux, France with No. 2 AGH on 28 February, She returned to England on 3 December, 1917 and embarked for return to Australia on 27 December, arriving back in Melbourne on 12 February, She served locally at No. 11 AGH in Caulfield until being discharged on 25 November, She continued at the hospital until She was awarded the Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, although strangely, she does not appear to have collected them until 1937 and there is some indication she went overseas after completing her service at Caulfield where in fact she was hospitalised for three months with a hip problem. Her archives reveal she was living at Waikato, New Zealand and Mrs. Norman Griffiths at the time of collecting her medals after marrying in 1921; Norman was fourteen years her junior, the couple first meeting at Wimereux where Norman had been admitted seriously ill with pneumonia. Born Bendigo, Church of England, died in New Zealand in 1963, aged 89 years. She had a slightly younger brother, Ernest Russell Miller, born in Albury and who enlisted in Sydney early in September, 1914 He served as 985, Private, 4 Infantry Battalion after embarking with the "First Fleet" in October. Miller suffered a gunshot wound to the head at Gallipoli on 3 May, 1915 and in May of the following year, he was transferred after recuperating to England where he served with the Army Pay Corps. He subsequently returned to Egypt in April, 1917 with the Pay Corps. In October, 1918 when he was repatriated back to Australia for the Special Leave granted to servicemen who had served four years. Post-war he worked as a stockman in Queensland before moving to New Ireland off New Guinea, where he purchased two plantations in the mid-1920s, previously owned by German settlers, and became well known as a businessman. In 1942, he and other residents were captured by the Japanese army and interned on the island. In 1944 and following a massive American bombardment and invasion of a nearby island, he and up to 35 other internees died in a horrific massacre on Kavieng wharf after they were taken to an off-share barge one-byone, garrotted with wire and thrown into the sea with their bodies weighted with concrete to ensure no evidence remained. The Japanese claimed that the men had been placed on a motor vessel for transfer to another island, but it had disappeared without trace. In December, 1947, a Military Court in Hong Kong found six Japanese officers guilty of the war crime the commanding officer Rear Admiral Tamura Ryukichi was sentenced to death by hanging, ultimately carried out at Stanley Gaol, Hong Kong on 16 March The five junior officers received sentences of imprisonment ranging from 20 down to four years. Frances Mary Miller Address : "Rellim", Eltham Next of kin : mother, Mrs Rhoda Miller (nee Muncton), "Rellim", Eltham, father Alexander George Miller. Both Edith and Ernest Miller had been clearly identified before a correspondent kindly supplied an image of the First World War Honour Board at St. Margaret's Church in Eltham. This included the name "F. M. Miller", who remained untraceable until the same correspondent from the Church came across information that identified what had been assume a soldier as Nurse Frances Mary Miller. 34 Honour Roll : The Shire of Eltham The Great War : Women In Uniform

39 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Her name does not appear on embarkation records, but she has subsequently been identified as one of 130 Australian nurses that paid their way to England to join the Queen Alexandra Military Nursing Service. It was noted in the Evelyn Observer of 9 May, 1917, that her mother had receive advice that Frances was seriously ill in hospital in England, but other than this brief snippet, like most that were with the unit, virtually nothing is known of her other than she embarked for return to Australia with a number of other Queen Alexandra nurses aboard RMS Osterley on 21 May, Neither sister's name appears in any of the dozens of "Welcome Homes" either covered by the Evelyn Observer or noted in their advertising columns. Frances Miller died in Heidelberg in 1952 at 73 years of age. There were two other nurses from Yarra Glen that served - while Yarra Glen does not now fall within Eltham and thus the current scope of WikiNorthia, it was part of Eltham Shire during the First World War. There was no mention of either of the women on any of the lists of volunteers published in the Evelyn Observer or its later counterpart, the Eltham and Whittlesea Advertiser, and if it wasn't for their names being mentioned by the Advertiser at a Yarra Glen Welcome Home on 12 September, 1919 along with a group of servicemen, their considerable service during the war may well have faded into history. Jessie McHardy White (M.B.E., R.R.C) (nee Williamson) Address : Crathie House Private Hospital, Gipps Street, East Melbourne Next of kin : Sister, Margaret Woodhead,"Glenarra", Queen's Parade, North Fitzroy Parents : John and Mary Williamson (nee McHardy) "McHardie" is the spelling in most of the First World War documentation and many other references; it was correctly "McHardy", her mother's maiden name, but it was always used in conjunction with "White", although not hyphenated). Along with Edith Cornwell (Northcote) and Charlotte Joan McAllister (Brunswick), Matron Jessie McHardy White was one of the three outstanding nurses from the northern part of Melbourne during the First World War. Given enrolment with the Australian Army Nursing Service was restricted to single or widowed nurses, Jessie McHardy White was also unique in being the only widow from the 30-plus group of nurses within the WikiNorthia boundaries. She married Thomas James White in 1893, and he appears to have been the Thomas James White listed as passing away in Hawthorn in 1896 at 27 years of age. There were no children of the marriage. She had two periods of service, the first scantily documented in official records, but her second Attestation in June, 1917 reveals she obtained her three-year Nursing Certificate at the Alfred Hospital, had worked at the Royal Women's and had been a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service for 12 years. At the time of her volunteering, she was in charge of Crathie House Private Hospital in Gipps Street, East Melbourne. 14 She left Melbourne on 19 October, 1914 on HMAT Benalla as part of a small medical team attached to the 8th Infantry Battalion (the embarkation record shows "White, J McH, 8th Infantry Battalion", there were around 1,270 servicemen also aboard). There is a brief record of her serving in Egypt with 1 Australian General Hospital, and she later continued on to England where she later served as the first Principal Matron at the new Commonwealth Military Offices in Horseferry Road, Westminster London. Subsequent reports suggest that her major role was in ensuring the welfare of the nurses themselves rather than an active medical involvement (see letter below). She returned to Australia on 28 June, 1916 and in October was noted as being the Guest of Honour at a function held in her honour at the Caulfield Military Hospital. Principal Matron Jessie McHardie White (AWM H15254). This and the image below were just two of a series of photographs donated to the Museum by Matron McHardy White herself. The record of her return is marked "for retirement" and she was formally discharged on 24 September, but with war spreading to the Balkans, the British Government requested additional nurses and she reenlisted in June, 1917, claiming to be 44 years of age. 14 Craithie House was a newly established private hospital at Gipps Street, East Melbourne, the north-eastern corner of Powlett Street. Little of its background is known, but for some years prior to its opening, a Mrs Kate Craithie was noted nearby at 74 Gipps Street. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Eltham 35

40 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM She was actually 47 and thus over-age - no record of her original enlistment in 1914 survives for comparison, but Victorian registrations show her as born in Healesville (the 1917 Attestation suggests Yarra Glen) in 1870, one of six girls to John and Mary Williamson). Matron McHardy White left Sydney on 9 June aboard the ill-fated RMS Mooltan as Principal Matron in charge of the first unit of nurses bound for Salonika. As well as herself, the group consisted of a Matron, eight sisters and 80 nurses, most of whom were experiencing their first taste of military service. She served at 66 General Hospital and later 52 GH before embarking on 7 March, 1919 for the one month leave in England granted to all Australian nurses regardless of their theatre of service. In recognition of her service over nearly four years, Matron White was invested as a Member of the Order of the British Empire, gazetted in London on 15 April, 1919 and in Australia on 23 July. Before her original return to Australia, she was also awarded the Royal Red Cross (gazetted 3 June, 1916(1st Class) as part of the King's Birthday Honours, and 21 September in Australia. She was also Mentioned in Despatches twice (June 1916 and June, 1918). Her service in Greece also saw her awarded two foreign decorations - the Greek Medal for Military Merit and the Serbian Order of St Sava - 5th Class. While the former was awarded to 18 Australian nurses who served at Salonika, Matron White was the only Australian to be awarded the Serbian decoration. The decoration was instigated in 1883 and awarded by the Kingdoms of Serbia and (then) Yugoslavia and the Serbian Orthodox Church for meritorious achievements in the arts, science, education and religion. It was expanded in 1914 to take into account humanitarian services by members of the military regardless of gender. Post-war, Matron McHardy White appears from correspondence in her files to have been at her sister's address in North Fitzroy until 1925 when she settled in Kew (where she displayed some prowess as a golfer, noted as winning a couple of Kew Golf Club Ladies events). She moved to Hawthorn in 1938 where she died at her home on 26 October, 1957 at 87 years of age. Fittingly, she became the first President of the Salonika branch of the Returned Nurses Club in 1922, a position she held until around 1954 and for several years in the 1930s was a vice-president of the Alfred Hospital Nurses League; TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARGUS. Sir, - The public who so generously responded lo Lady Bridge's appeal should know how the Christmas gifts were appreciated by the nurses at the front, as the following shows:- "The Australian nurses in England desire me to thank you most sincerely for the beautiful Christmas boxes, especially for the thought and care in the gifts chosen, everyone getting just what she wanted. I was able to get them all distributed before Christmas Day, and it was a very pleasing task. (Signed J. McHardy White, Principal Matron, A.A.N.S. in England. (The Argus, 12 February, 1916) Matron White with Lieutenant Wilkins at a British General Hospital, Salonika, Greece, c (AWM H15762) Member of the Order of the British Empire as awarded in 1919 to Matron McHardy White. The order was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. A Member was the lowest of five levels of the Order, the two senior levels entitle the bearer to use the titles "Sir" or "Dame". 36 Honour Roll : The Shire of Eltham The Great War : Women In Uniform

41 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Isabel Russell Ross Address : "Kincraig", Yarra Glen Parents : John Russell (late) and Isabella Jane Ross (nee Cain) Although mentioned at the Welcome Home along with Matron McHardy White, she does not appear in Australian War Memorials records as embarking for overseas service. It was initially assumed that she may have served at a local hospital as part of the Home Nursing Service, but deeper research reveals - sadly, in a reference to her death in that she, like Frances Miller, was one of the early volunteer nurses that paid their own way to England to serve with the Queen Alexandra Military Nursing Service. According to a report in the Healesville Advertiser, she left Australia on 14 April, 1915, but there are no official records of embarkation of the Queen Alexandra volunteers. She returned with same group as Miller on RMS Osterley on 21 May, and nothing else is known of her before a chance discovery of a little-known archive which records her death in A follow-up on family notices reveals that Isabel Russell Ross died in the Caulfield Military Hospital in Kooyong Road on 12 December, 1924 and thus she has been included in our Shire of Eltham Memorial Roll. Unfortunately, no cause of death was given in the few reports of her demise, and with no official records ever kept of the Queen Alexandra group, it is impossible to determine her medical condition on return, but an obituary published for her mother in 1932 confirmed that her daughter died from an illness contracted during the war, confirmed by her admission to the Caulfield Military Hospital. One of her sisters, Jessie was farewelled from her position as secretary of the Yarra Glen Red Cross Society because her impending marriage and leaving the district at a function on 18 January, 1919, a position she had held for three-and-a-half years. Her mother, shown as Mrs J. Russell Ross was president of the Society. The family patriarch, John Russell Ross died in 1896 at 60 years of age, with "Russell" appearing in all of the children's names, although like McHardy White, it was never hyphenated. Prior to his death, he was a well-known banker in Melbourne, for many years the general manager of the London Chartered Bank and later he was appointed manager of the Australian Loan and Finance Company. His brother, David, also at "Kincraig" died in 1930 at 80 years was with the National Bank for 30 years and after his retirement in 1915 he gave much of his time to astronomy, which had long been one of his favourite studies. He was the discoverer of two comets, one of which is called the Ross Comet. The Russell Ross family was originally from North Scotland. On the distaff side, Isabel Russell Ross's grandfather, Captain Cain was credited in a family obituary as in 1848 supervising the first building of the first ship designed for overseas sailing. The Mr. G. A. Maxwell referenced in the report below was the husband of Janet Russell Ross and a King's Counsel who also represented the Federal Seat of Fawkner in the House of Representatives for 18 years. H. Campbell-Jones was the husband of Annie, a third sister, Marguerite is noted as marrying (Mrs F. L. Baggs) in December, ROSS - On the 12th December, at Caulfield Repatriation Hospital, Isabel Russell Ross third daughter of the late John and Mrs. Russell Ross, "Kincraig", Yarra Glen. "ABOUT PEOPLE. Our Christmas Hills correspondent records the death of Miss Isabel Russell Ross, a well-known war nurse, on 12th inst. She went to the Great War on April 14, 1915, with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve, and gave continuous service throughout the war. Nurse Ross was a daughter of the late John and Mrs Russell Ross, of "Kincraig", Yarra Glen. She was a sister-in-law of Mr G. A. Maxwell, M.H.R., and Mr H. Campbell Jones, of the "Sun," and a niece of Mr David Ross, the astronomer". (Healesville Advertiser, 19 December, 1924) The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Eltham 37

42 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg Emma Argyle Cuthbert (R.R.C. 2nd Class) Address : Main Street, Heidelberg Next of kin : mother, Mrs Emma Argyle Cuthbert, King Street, Sydney (later South Yarra), Father Robert (late) Emma Cuthbert was living with a Mrs Annette Borthwick, "Malwa", Main Street, Heidelberg when she enlisted on 28 November, Her mother was given as next of kin in King Street, Sydney, but she appears to have been at "Arundel", a large guest house on the corner of St. Kilda and Commercial roads from June, 1918 and in Davis Avenue, South Yarra the following year. One of the most senior Nurses to enlist, she had been a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service on its inauguration in She originally obtained her nursing qualification with three years training at the Children's Hospital in Carlton commencing 1906 and where she spent another two and a half years as a Nursing Sister. She had also spent nearly three years with two private hospitals. She was assigned the more senior rank of Sister rather than Staff Nurse and embarked on HMAT Kyarra on 5 December, 1914 with the first consignment of the Australian Army Nursing Service to sail for overseas, eventually establishing No. 1 AGH at Heliopolis in Egypt. Sister Cuthbert served on transport duty on board the troopship HMAT Themistocles shipping around 900 wounded back from Gallipoli in August, 1915, and after three weeks of leave, she was returned via the same vessel to 1 AGH in Cairo, re-embarking on 5 October, AGH sailed from Egypt in late March, 1916 shortly after she was promoted to Head Sister on 1 March, 1916; the unit arriving at Marseilles on 5 April. She was temporarily in charge of a batch of 16 nurses assigned to a British hospital, and in June appointed to No. 6 Stationary British Hospital just behind the front line at Arras, later to No. 1 AGH at Rouen. In 11 November, 1917, she was appointed Matron-In-Chief of the hospital, although just two months later she was ordered back to England and assigned to No. 3 AGH which was at Brighton preparing to go to France for the first time. After several delays, 3 AGH went to France in April, but was broken up and the staff assigned to British hospitals. Sister Cuthbert served with 2 British Stationary England at Abbeville and transferred again to 3 AGH in September. Sister Cuthbert pictured at 16 AGH, Macleod, circa 1919.Reproduced from the Alice E. Broadhurst collection held by Yarra Plenty Regional Library Royal Red Cross (Second Class). 146 were awarded to Australian nurses; 44 received the higher First Class. She returned to England on 17 January, 1919 and a week later was awarded the Royal Red Cross (Second Class), invested by the King at Buckingham Palace on 26 February and gazetted in Australia in Australia, 23 May. Head Sister Cuthbert embarked for return home on RMS Kashmir on 1 March, 1919 in charge of the nursing staff aboard the vessel and arrived 30 April and formally discharged 14 July. Although there is no reference to her post-discharge service in her archive, she was assigned to No. 16 AGH at Mont Park, then along with 11 AGH in Caulfield the major military hospital in Melbourne and said to be housing around 1,000 patients. Receipts for medals issued in 1922 place her as living with her mother in South Yarra and then a Nursing Sister at No. 11 AGH. Reports of a presentation to her of a silver tea service in May, 1938 suggested she had served at the "Repatriation Hospital" for more than twenty years. Born Geelong, Church of England, died at her home in South Yarra, 7 August, 1963 at 85 years of age. Her relationship to Mrs Borthwick is unknown, as indeed is any further relationship to Heidelberg. Mrs Borthwick's name appears a handful of times in the Heidelberg News over the war years, invariably in relation to Patriotic Funds and prizes for the Coreen School. She was Mrs Annette Marie Stuart Borthwick (nee Bertram), referenced in a Family Notice for her only child Agnes who died in Heidelberg in 1912, aged 23. Her husband, shown in Victorian registrations as Alexander Hay Borthwick was deceased at the time. 38 Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg The Great War : Women In Uniform

43 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Evelyn Davies Address : Fairfield, Infectious Diseases Hospital Next of kin : mother, Mrs Alice Davies (nee Davies), "Fron", Healesville. Father George Meddins Davies (late) Probably the longest serving nurse from the district, her address on embarkation aboard RMS Mooltan with 3 Australian General Hospital on 15 May, 1915 was given simply as Fairfield where it was noted she had spent two years at the Infectious Diseases Hospital. Her three years of training to qualify for the Nursing Certificate were completed at Geelong Hospital and she was 31 on enlisting. Known to family and friends as "Tevie", Evelyn served initially with 1 Australian General Hospital in Lemnos, but in July, 1916 was transferred to the British Indian Medical Service at the Station Hospital in Peshawar. In January, 1917, Evelyn Davies embarked for England where she served with the 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital before being sent to various units in France from January to December, She embarked for return to Australia on 20 May, 1919 after spending time in hospital with a sprained ankle and attending a training course at the Royal Sanitary Institute in London. She was discharged on 23 January, 1920 and when Service medals were being distributed in 1922, it was noted she was residing in Christchurch, New Zealand. Staff Nurse Davies was promoted to Sister in March, Born in Healesville, Church of England. Her mother's maiden name is confirmed as also being Davies by four other births of siblings under that name. Death unconfirmed, but NZ registrations show an Evelyn Davies dying in 1965 at 79, our nurse would have been 81. Elsie Longman Deakin Address : 114 Station Street, Fairfield Next of kin : mother, Mrs Janet Deakin (nee Longmore), 114 Station Street, Fairfield, father, Thomas Henry Deakin Born South Melbourne in 1881 (father shown as a bootmaker at 95 York-street West) and enlisted 10 May, 1915 at 35 years with her recently widowed mother Mrs Janet Deakin (nee Longmore) at 114 Station Street, Fairfield. She served locally at the Base Hospital in St. Kilda Road before volunteering for overseas duty on 9 August, She embarked with the rank of Sister per RMS Mooltan just over a week later on the 22nd. On arrival in India, was appointed to the Victoria Hospital, Bombay until January of the following year when she was transferred to England and a Military Hospital at Bagthorpe Military Hospital in Nottingham. She later served in France with the 25 General Hospital and 1 AGH at Rouen, but suffering a serious injury to an ankle in February, 1918 and was invalided back to England for light clerical duties, although she returned to France post-war and served another four months before being returned to Australia in April, Her appointment was terminated 09 June Her three years of training were completed at the Melbourne General Hospital. Parents Thomas Henry (died Fairfield, 1915) and Janet Deakin (nee Longman), she died in Elsternwick on 14 October, 1969, aged 87 and is believed to have resided in Elwood prior to her demise. Mary Ann Farrell Address : "Darebin", Waterdale Road, Heidelberg Next of kin : sister, Mrs M C McCormack, Fort Battery, Mansfield (nee Margaret Cavanagh Farrell, born in Heidelberg, 1882). Father William Cavanagh Farrell, mother Margaret Bridget, nee Hearne) Mary Farrell was a 30-year-old nurse living at "Darebin" in Waterdale Road in Heidelberg when she enlisted 4 August, Whether or not there was a family relationship is not known, but this was the same address as given for the mother of Charles Henry Horty (also Roman Catholic) when he enlisted just a month earlier. A sister at Mt. Battery near Mansfield was given as Mary's next of kin. Her Attestation revealed she had completed her three-year nursing qualifications at St. Vincent's Hospital. Following the award of her Certificate, she had spent another seven years at St. Vincent's and at the time of enlisting was in charge of the Casualty Ward. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg 39

44 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM On arrival in the Middle East, Nurse Farrell was assigned to No. 3 AGH on Lemnos and returned to Egypt with the same unit in February, She continued serving at Abassia in Egypt until October when the hospital was shipped to England, arriving in October, No. 3 AGH shipped to Abbeville, France in May, 1917 where Farrell remained until January of the following year when she returned to England and worked briefly at No. 2 AAH before returning to Australia, embarking at Southampton on 15 February and arriving back in Melbourne 16 April, After a short break, Nurse Farrell re-enlisted on 2 July, 1918 with the rank of Sister, most of the details on this Attestation identical to the earlier version, but now including her two years and eleven months of previous service Despite her long service during the war years, Nurse Farrell had one more tour of duty before returning to civilian life. On 16 October, 1918, she embarked from Sydney via s.s. Malta for Bombay, and after arriving on 14 November was assigned to the 34th Welsh Hospital, later transferring as Temporary Charge Sister to the Station Hospital at Dagshai. She returned to Bombay for return to Australia via Calcutta on 8 December, 1919 and landed in Melbourne on 11 January, Born in Yarra Glen, Roman Catholic, died in Fitzroy, 17 March, 1963, aged 78 years. Both her AWM files and National Archives are held simply as Mary Farrell. Elizabeth Gallagher Address : Mont Park Hospital for the Insane Next of kin : Mother, Mrs Elizabeth Mary Gallagher, Lime Avenue, Mildura (later at 34 Banole Street, East Prahran), father George, late. Elizabeth "Bessie" Gallagher was a resident nurse working at the Mont Park Hospital for the Insane when she was mobilised for overseas duty at 30 years of age on 23 August, She had completed her three-year certificate at Maryborough Hospital and boasted a total of eleven years' experience including periods in several bush hospitals. She embarked from Melbourne on HMAT Orsova on 12 November 1915 and was initially appointed to No.1 Australian General Hospital in Alexandria. Nurse Gallagher was transferred to England in April, 1917 and assigned to 3 AGH at Dartford. She was admitted to Southwell Hospital suffering from a duodenal ulcer early in December, 1917 and it wasn't until late in May of the following year that she resumed nursing duties. She proceeded to France soon afterwards, spending around three months with 3 AGH there before returning to England. Promoted to Temporary Sister on 1 July, 1917, she went through a confusing series of changes of title - Sister, Temporary Sister-In-Charge, and at one point, even back to Staff Nurse before finally being confirmed Sister on 1 October, Despite the changes, her services were brought to the notice of the Secretary for State for War in July, 1919 for valuable services rendered through the conflict. She disembarked in Melbourne on 23 August, 1919, coincidentally exactly four years after she volunteered. Bessie had a 19-year-old brother, 377, Lance Corporal Godfrey David Albert Gallagher who enlisted in Mildura on 6 January, 1915 and reached the rank of Sergeant with the 22 Infantry before he died of wounds at Pozieres, France on 11 August, He is commemorated on a family grave in Mildura Cemetery which reveals his and Elizabeth's father George died on 31 December, 1907 at 47, their mother Elizabeth on 29 September, 1928 at 66 while living in South Yarra. Born Wentworth, New South Wales, New South Wales registrations reveal she was Caroline Elizabeth from which some of her post-war history can be traced. One of the few returned nurses that later married, she wed William Henry Cox in 1921 and is noted as dying on 13 March, 1958 at her home in Moorabbin at 83 years of age. Florence Eva Harte (Mrs James Webb) Address : Studley Road, Ivanhoe Next of kin : Sister, Mrs Alexander Barnett (Elizabeth Hannah), 'East Neuk', Studley Road, Ivanhoe. Parents Thomas and Aliza Harte (nee Chisney) Nurse Harte enlisted on 27 August, She was 39 years and living in Studley Road, Ivanhoe with a sister, Mrs Barnett who was nominated as next of kin. No details of her qualifications were given, but it was noted that prior to nurses being required for overseas service, she had served at No. 11 AGH in Kooyong Road, Caulfield. 40 Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg The Great War : Women In Uniform

45 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by She embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT Orsova on 6 December, 1916 and proceeded to France on 5 March, 1917 and was assigned to No. 1 AGH at Rouen where she remained until June when she was transferred to No. 46 General Hospital. Nurse Harte returned to No. 1 AGH in March, 1918 and was repatriated back to England in October and promoted to Sister on 31 December, She arrived back in Australia on 20 April, 1919 after embarking for return on 9 March with her appointment terminated on 21 June. She was awarded the standard British War and the Victory Medal, but it appears that attempts to locate her post-war proved fruitless and the medals remained uncollected. In September. 923, she became Mrs James Bell and later lived in Camberwellan annotation on her file suggests she passed away on 1 March, 1953 in Heidelberg (probably the Repatriation Hospital) at 77 years of age and interred in Box Hill Cemetery. Born in East Ballarat, Protestant. Olive Lilian Creswell Haynes (Mrs Norval Henry "Pat" Dooley) (The final addition to the background on Nurses from within the WikiNorthia boundaries. The discovery of her post-war connection is largely based on "Women Were There, Too", one of the contributions written by Liz Pidgeon for "Fine Spirit and Pluck", an anthology of World War One stories from Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea, published 2016 by the Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries) Address : 12 Kenilworth Street, Ivanhoe Born Adelaide, parents Rev. James Crofts and Emma (nee Creswell) HAYNES, Henry Street, St. Peter's, Adelaide Olive Haynes breaks the mould a little in that it is was only after the war that her connection to Ivanhoe came about. She was one of the early volunteers, registering 21 November 1914 and being allocated as a Staff Nurse to No. 2 Australia General Hospital. She embarked from Melbourne on 8 December, 1914 on HMAT Kyarra (A55), just one of the first shipment of 455 men and women attached to various branches of the Australian Army Medical Corps. After arriving at Alexandria in mid-january and served tending firstly those afflicted by the various diseases and illnesses rife under the oppressive conditions of Egypt (and the local brothels), then later the hundreds of wounded invalided back from Gallipoli. Although she had no idea of the significance at the time, 23 November 1915 saw the embarkation for Egypt with reinforcements for 2 Casualty Clearing Station of Norval Henry Dooley (generally known as "Pat"), a recently graduated 22-year-old law student from the family home, "Airlie" at 12 Kenilworth Street, Ivanhoe Olive Haynes was promoted to Sister in December while still in Egypt, and after arriving at Marseillaise in June, 1916 was temporarily transferred to 2 Casualty Clearing Station where at some point she met Pat Dooley. On 31 October, 1917, she returned to England after being granted 21 days' sick leave; coincidentally Pat Dooley suffered a gunshot wound to the chest in France just a few days later and was invalided back to England. The next entry on Olive's file shows her compulsory resignation on 11 December following her marriage in Oxford to Lieutenant Pat Dooley. Pat's injuries were sufficiently serious for him to be invalided back to Australia as soon as he was deemed fit to travel, departing England on 10 January, 1918, but Olive had to wait a little longer for civilian shipping, embarking in late February as an "indulgence" passenger (meaning the Government paid for the passage) and arriving in Melbourne on 2 May. Liz Pidgeon's extensive research into the family background post-war reveals an astonishing record of service to both military and civilian communities. Pat Dooley was accepted into the Permanent Army after the cessation of hostilities, initially with his wartime rank of Lieutenant, but promoted to Captain in 1920 and later as a Staff Officer with the Intelligence Section. He resigned in 1931 to establish a private legal practice, but on 16 May, 1942, Dooley was accepted back into the Army and granted his old rank of Captain, serving with the Australian Army Legal Department at Caulfield. He was officially discharged on 13 January of the following year and returned to private practice, established the partnership of Norval H. Dooley and Breen in Queen Street, Melbourne and serving as the Honorary Treasurer of Legacy, the foundation setup after the First World War to assist the families of deceased servicemen. Olive, despite the rigors of a large family (including one daughter Phyllis stricken with Down Syndrome) dedicated much of her time to helping others during the Great Depression of the early 1930s and worked The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg 41

46 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM tirelessly for the local Comforts Fund and Red Cross during Second World War; as well as with the Children's Hospital Canteen and the Women's Hospital where she was made a Life Member in She later established a school for intellectually handicapped children which later evolved into the Helping Hand Association. The family was later in Maltravers Road, the number varying at times between 29, 31 and 37, the latter shown in 1955 when Olive Dooley applied for replacement medals in 1955 after she lent to her originals to one of her grandsons for his school Anzac Day celebration, apparently lost when they fell from his clothing while he was riding through a thickly grassed paddock. The combined Haynes-Dooley family's service to Australia was far from restricted to Pat and Olive. One of Olive's brothers, James Dalrymple Creswell Haynes, enlisted on 7 June, 1916 as a 28-year-old professional soldier at the Fort Largs Artillery Barracks, South Australia with his mother in St. Peter's, Adelaide as next of kin. He served as 89, Gunner, Siege Artillery Brigade, later Private, 36 Heavy Artillery Brigade, before being invalided ("bad feet") home to Australia arriving 28 February, 1919, Pat's younger brother, Raymond Dooley enlisted as a 19-year-old clerk from Kenilworth Parade and embarked as Corporal with the 29th Infantry (Machine Gun Section) and was promoted to Adjutant of the 29th and made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday list of 1918, gazetted in Australia, 7 November, Even more remarkably, all five of Pat and Olive's sons served during the Second World War - in order of age: James Creswell DOOLEY (born 30 January, 1919), Service Number(s) NX129859, N378671, Sapper, LHQ Engineering School, David Raymond DOOLEY (28 June, 1920), , VX22300, Private, (later promoted to Staff Sergeant while serving in the Middle East), 1st Army HQ, Malcolm Henry DOOLEY (19 November, 1921), VX60719, Gunner, 2 Battery, 12 Field Regiment Artillery, Alan John DOOLEY (3 March, 1923), X77803, Signalman, 1st Armoured Division Signals Corps HQ, Richard Dalrymple DOOLEY (28 March 1927), PM8348, Able Seaman, HMAS Lonsdale MOTHER WAS THERE TO MEET HIM. Cpl D. R. Dooley, of Ivanhoe, was greeted by his mother when he arrived at a Victorian hospital after being wounded in Papuan fighting (The Argus, 21 January, 1943) Born in 1888 in Norwood, Adelaide, Olive Lilian Creswell Dooley, nee Haynes passed away on 10 May, 1978 in Heidelberg; Pat, her partner for over sixty years followed her just a few months later in September. 42 Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg The Great War : Women In Uniform

47 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Ada Hodson (R.R.C. 2nd Class) Address : Redesdale Road, Ivanhoe Next of kin : sister, Mrs Cyril Menkens (Annie), Redesdale Road, Ivanhoe. Parents George and Sarah Frances (nee Batchelder). Ada Hodson was living with a sister Amelia, then Mrs Cyril (Annie Gina) Menkens at Redesdale Road in Ivanhoe when she enlisted at 30 years of age. Mrs Menken's address was adjusted in November, 1920 to c-o Admiralty Experimental Station, Dunbartonshire, Scotland, while Ada's own address was given as Sunbury-on-Thames, England. Her enlistment date is uncertain - Her Attestation shows a date of 26 December, 1916, but she is also show as embarking on that date and it appears the Attestation may have been completed some days after her actual enlistment. It notes that Nurse Hodson had served at a little-known Army facility, Osborne House, a convalescent home in North Geelong before enlisting. She was attached to the British India section of the A.A.N.S. and arrived at Bombay on 15 January, Hodson was initially posted to the Colaba War Hospital in Bombay, but like others on assignment to India, she served at a number of hospitals in different locations on the sub-continent as well on at least three hospital ships for a period totalling eight months. Hodson was promoted to the rank of Sister on 26 December, 1918 while still in Bombay and did not embark for England until 15 October of that year, serving both in India and on the Afghanistan border. After being granted one month's leave, she resigned from her appointment in the A.I.F. on 3 January, 1920, quoting medical reasons for her decision. (Transportation to England and the month's leave was standard procedure for nurses serving in Egypt and India). It appears to be at this stage that she decided to remain in the U.K., a note referring to her discharge revealing her sister was living in Scotland and "I have no home in Australia and my sister wishes me to live with her", although a later letter from her sister suggests that they planned to return to Australia around twelve months later. Other letters from Mrs Menkens still have her at the Admiralty Experimental Station in Scotland, but later correspondence relating the distribution of medals in July, 1925 reveals that Ada Hodson was nursing in Bulawayo, Rhodesia and she is known to still been nursing in As well as the standard British War and Victory Medals, Sister Ada Hodson was awarded the Royal Red Cross (Second Class), gazetted London, 30 July, 1920 and in Australia on 21 October as well as Indian General Service Medal with Clasps. She was born in Lilydale, Church of England, death unknown. Eileen Jessie McCalman She was born in Horsham in 1884 and when enlisting at 32 years of age on 20 July, 1916 showed a brother Norman (1565, Sergeant Norman McCalman) at Curraburrana via Young, N.S.W. as next of kin. Her Nursing Certificate was gained at Warracknabeal District Hospital, but she was nursing in Brisbane when she embarked on HMAT Kyarra on 16 August, 1915, aged 32 years. She served in Egypt at Gezireh Hospital before being returned in February, 1916, her archive suggested she had been admitted earlier to 1 AGH with influenza and had become addicted to morphine. She was discharged 15 April, 1916, the notice suggesting she was still in the Base Depot hospital at that date. Post-return, she worked at the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital and died there on 26 May, 1919 from pneumonic influenza, aged 35 years. A Death Notice places one of her two sisters as Mrs. Alex. Dalton of Ballantyne street, Thornbury. and it may well be that she was living at that address if not at the hospital itself. Both her parents died while she was a child and Norman also in 1922 and Eileen's war medals were passed to an aunt Mrs Isabella Boase in Murtoa who had been the foster-mother to Eileen, her brother and a sister. Daughter of Dugald McCalman and Jessie nee Cameron. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg 43

48 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Olive Winifred Petersen Address : "The Olives", Heidelberg Next of kin : father, Mr. Peter Herman Petersen, "The Olives", Heidelberg, mother Caroline Petersen, nee Hartry. Nurse Peterson was 33 years of age when she enlisted on 10 July, Her address was given as that of her father, Mr. Peter Herman Petersen at "The Olives", Heidelberg. Her Attestation reveals she had trained for three years at the Colac District Hospital She embarked from Sydney on board HMAT Wiltshire on 31 August, 1917 and arrival in Egypt in October was assigned to 19 AGH at Alexandria where she served until June, Nurse Petersen was then transferred to Salonika where she almost immediately contracted a severe case of dysentery and she was returned to Egypt on 23 August for repatriation to Australia after a Medical Board hearing ruled her unfit for service. Coincidentally, she returned to Australia via HMAT Wiltshire, the same vessel on which she originally embarked. She arrived back in Australia on 3 October, 1918 and was discharged from service as medically unfit on 22 January, A Welcome Home service was noted at the Scots Church on 12 October Receipts for the British War and Victory Medals issued in 1923 place Nurse Peterson at the Kantara Private Hospital in Bendigo. Born Williamstown, Presbyterian, died Malvern, 23 July, 1974 at 90 years of age and was cremated at Springvale. Mary Elizabeth Jane Roberts Address : 114 Westgarth Street, Fairfield Next of kin : mother, Mrs Elizabeth Roberts (nee Couch), 114 Westgarth Street, Fairfield, father Thomas Frederick Roberts. Mary Roberts enlisted 12 June, 1915 at age 42 and with some 15 years of medical experience as a nurse, sister and theatre sister in both public and private hospitals after completing her three years of training between 1901 and 1903 at the Melbourne General Hospital. She embarked from Melbourne on board RMS Morea, 24 August, 1915 and served in Egypt until December, 1915 when she returned to Australia. She was discharged from the A.I.F. on 17 January, 1916 and transferred to the Australian Military Force and subsequently served (briefly) at No. 5 AGH in St. Kilda Road, and later 11 AGH in Caulfield. She transferred in September, 1916 to 14 AAH at Sydney and appears to have served there until the end of the war, although correspondence in 1920 regarding war medals again shows No. 11 AGH. Born Molesworth, Church of England, died in St. Kilda, 21 February, 1955 and cremated at Springvale Crematorium. Eliza Smith Address : "Fallowfield", Perry Street, Alphington Next of kin : mother, Mrs Emma Jackson Smith, Birmingham, England Eliza Smith enlisted on 3 August, 1917, giving her then-address as Bayswater. She served with the 19 Australian General Hospital in Egypt, but when on leave in England in January, 1918, she contracted bronchitis and was returned to Australia. Despite a medical examination in January, 1919 ruling she was only 75% capable of performing her normal nursing duties, she managed to re-enlist for duty on HMAHS Karoola in February, 1919 giving her address as c/- Mrs Clough in Perry Street, Alphington. She made one trip to England and while waiting return, suffered a relapse and applied for and granted permission to be discharged in England so she could return to her family in Birmingham. Although the AWM Honours and Awards archive does not show the details, her NAA file reveals Nurse Smith was Mentioned in Despatches, gazetted in London on 28 December, Born Birmingham, England, Church of England, date of death unknown. 44 Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg The Great War : Women In Uniform

49 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Helen Sutherland Torbet Address : 'Bearlog' Hawdon St., Heidelberg Next of kin : Niece, Gladys Poole, 77 Alma Road, St. Kilda A strange case. Whether she volunteered for overseas service earlier is not clear, but she did not enlist until 9 September, 1919, at 41 years of age and after serving for two years and nine months at 11 AGH at Caulfield. She embarked with the rank of Honorary Sister on Special Service for Egypt at Sydney aboard s.s. Frankfurt on 18 September. Her stay was brief: for reasons not shown, she did not disembark at Port Said until 6 November and re-embarked for return on the 16th, arriving back in Melbourne on 4 January, but was not discharged until 23 April of the following year. There is nothing to indicate the nature of the services she performed Born 1873 at Harrow, Victoria, parents Archibald and Esther Torbet, nee Sutherland, died in Elsternwick 28 July 1956, aged 84. A brother, Gordon James Torbet enlisted in September, 1914 with his next of kin "Nurse Torbet, c-o Nurse Cobb, Spring Street, Melbourne". He was killed in action on 2 March, 1917, the undated circular was returned by Helen Torbet from 21 Northcote Avenue, Caulfield. Nance O'Carrol Walsh Address : Heidelberg Road, Fairfield Next of kin : sister Mrs Mary Deague (husband Victor) Nance Walsh's connection to the district was purely through that of her sister who was nominated as next of kin and she possibly never set foot in Victoria, let alone our local district. Born at Scariff, Ireland, she gained her Nursing Certificate at Perth Public Hospital and had also spent a year in surgery wards at the Adelaide and Fremantle Hospitals before enlisting in Fremantle at 26 years of age on 14 June, Nurse Walsh was one of the earliest to embark, departing Fremantle on 24 May, 1915 and served initially in Egypt before proceeding to France in April, 1916 where she served with 1 AGH at Rouen. She was promoted to Sister on 1 September, 1917 and admitted to hospital herself while on furlough in England in January, 1918 before returning to France a month later. She arrived back in Australia via HMAT Ulysses on 24 February, 1919 on special Leave and was formally discharged on 25 November, In 1922, she was noted as being in charge of No. 4 Ward at the Base Hospital, but about to leave to take up a position in Sydney. She died 18 June, 1941 in St. Vincent's and was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery. Prior to her death, she was living in Kew, but she may also have continued living with her sister for some time after she returned from Sydney a brief report of her death in The Age noted her sister in charge of the baby health centre at Kensington for several years with Requiem Mass celebrated at St. Anthony's Church, Fairfield. Parents Patrick James and Jane, nee Carroll. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Heidelberg 45

50 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Honour Roll : The City of Northcote Harriet Mary Hazel Bain Address : 13 Darebin Street, Northcote Next of kin : father, Mr John Bain (mother, Winifred Louisa, nee Jones) Although the first in our alphabetical list, Hazel Bain was the last of the nurses connected to Darebin to be uncovered, and more of the more significant in that she was the only one of the Darebin group that was forced to resign due to marriage while still serving. (Amy Simpson, later Cordingley married, but after her time with the Nursing Service had expired). It was in fact a report in The Argus of the marriage of Staff Nurse Hazel Bain "eldest daughter of Mrs and Mrs J. Bain of Northcote, late of Romsey" to Captain Alan E. C. McGavin that brought her background to light. The announcement of the marriage was unlikely to have caused any great surprise to family or friends in Melbourne- although the notice was published on 31 July, 1919, the ceremony actually took place on 9 March at Deolali, India, the services conducted by the Rev. Boats, military chaplain. Just when Mr. and Mrs Bain moved into Northcote is uncertain - Hazel, then 27, enlisted late in June 1918 and embarked for Indian service from Sydney on 16 October, 1918, just three weeks before hostilities on the Western Front ceased, but many months before nursing services, especially in the sub-continent were demobilised. Her father was then shown at "Grantham", Moorhouse Street, West Richmond and may himself have been in the medical profession given the proximity of the address to the Epworth and Bethesda hospitals. She had completed the three-year Certificate at the Austin Hospital and had served locally with the Australian Army Nursing Service before embarking. She disembarked at Bombay on 14 November and was appointed to the 34th Welsh General Hospital at Deolali, but in what appears to have been a whirlwind romance was forced to resign under the terms of enlistment with the A.I.F. just over three months later following her marriage. There was no Alan McGavin with the Australian forces; the assumption based on later evidence is that he was probably an administrator with the British Colonial Government. Attempts to locate her as late as 1925 when her British War Medal remained unclaimed proved fruitless - John Bain had not advised his change of address and mail to Moorhouse Street returned unclaimed. The couple remained in India and Second World War records show they had a 22-year-old son, Alan Stewart Denzil James McGavin born in Calcutta. He was serving as VX14106, Temporary Captain with the 14th Australian Infantry when he was killed in action in Papua New Guinea on 28 November, An obituary revealed that he was educated at St. Edmund's College, Hertfordshire, England, where he received his early military training and qualified for a commission from the Officers' Training Corps. He was mentioned in despatches for distinguished service in Syria, and was at one point posted as Missing in New Guinea, but re-joined his unit two months before he was killed. His parents were then living in First Street, Black Rock, his father noted as Mr. A. E. C. McGavin. M.B.E., J.P., "retired administrator and Judge of the Political Department of the Government of India". When the family moved to Australia is uncertain, but there are strong indications it was only a year or two before the Second World War broke out, the report revealing that Alan junior had attended the local Duntroon Military College for a year before joining the A.I.F. in May, Later In Memoriam notices placed annually by his parents suggest he was known as "Chummy" and had a brother, Peter who was born in Hazaribagh, India who served as VX24412, Private also with the 14th Infantry. 15 National Archives also reveal that Alan senior twice offered his services to the A.I.F., but in what capacity and whether they were accepted is not stated. Presbyterian, Hazel was born in Maryborough, remarkably as one of a family of eight sisters, two of whom died as infants. She died in Seaford in 15 March, 1973 at 81 years of age and was interred in the New Cheltenham Cemetery, Alan pre-deceased her, dying in Mordialloc in 1970 at 86 years of age. 15 Unfortunately, it is impossible from Army records to determine who was the elder of the pair - Peter's date of birth is shown as 25 March, 1920, Alan's just four months later on 25 July, 1920! 46 Honour Roll : The City of Northcote The Great War : Women In Uniform

51 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Eileen Beagley Address : 2 Herbert Street, Northcote Next of kin : father, Mr Richard Griffith Beagley, 2 Herbert Street, Northcote (mother Hannah "Annie", nee O'Connell) Eileen Beagley was just 23 when she volunteered for overseas service on 19 April, 1917, by some years the youngest of the group included. Her three-year qualification for her Nursing Certificate was completed at St. Vincent's Hospital. She was one of the batch of Victorians that embarked from Sydney on 9 April, 1917 aboard HMAT Ulysses and like Elsie Fahey below, was assigned to the Croydon War Hospital until January, 1918 when she was transferred to the 1 AGH in France. The hospital unit appears to have returned to London just a few days later and served there until the end of the war. Details are not clear but she spent around three weeks in hospital prior to leaving England in March, 1919 and arriving home on 15 May. Her appointment was terminated on 29 June. Born North Carlton, Roman Catholic, died in St. Kilda on 6 December 1980 at 83 years. She had two brothers that served, 5032, William Charles Beagley who enlisted in October, 1914 as a Driver with 3 Light Horse Brigade Train and who was in England when the Armistice was declared awaiting his return to Australia for the six months Special Leave granted to men who had served four years; and 4658, Arthur John Beagley, Private, 23 Infantry who enlisted in February, 1916 and returned to Australia with a gunshot wound to the right leg in December, Jessie Helena Couston Almost nothing is known of her, other than she was born 1891 in Northcote, parents James and Mary Ella (nee Wannon) with the family moving to Adelaide in She completed her training at the Adelaide Hospital in March, 1918 and volunteered 6 June, but was not appointed until she reported for duty at 7 AGH in Adelaide on Christmas Day. She travelled to Melbourne for around a week in February, 1919 for influenza duty and was transferred to 15 AGH in May before being discharged 16 June. Her file consists only of a two-page summary and suggests no address or next of kin, but an alternative file of volunteers who were rejected shows an address of Prospect, South Australia. Her archive shows her as later Mrs John Webster Wishart who she married at 20 June 1919 at Chalmers Church, Adelaide just four days after her discharge. S he died in Box Hill on 11 February 1963 at 71 years, the registration confirming her birth in Northcote. A Death Notice for her father James who died in East Melbourne in October, 1922 shows two brothers; he appears to have been on the Port Adelaide Council prior to his death. Both brothers enlisted 935 (later Lieutenant), Alec Wallace Couston from Adelaide in September, born Launceston, 1893, father in Waratah, N.S.W.; and 21723, James Douglas Couston from Newcastle in October, 1917, born Perth, father in Newcastle as next of kin Ernestine Mabel Edwards Address : "Hopetoun", James Street, Northcote (with her uncle, Charles Frederick Edwardes Next of Kin, father Mr Ernest George Edwards, 67 Grey Street, East Melbourne. Mother Marion, nee Mark. She was 32 years of age when she enlisted on 22 August, 1916, and as Staff Nurse "Nesta" Edwards she boarded SS Karoola on 25 April After disembarking in England some two months later, she proceeded to join the 25 British General Hospital at Hardelot, France, where she served more or less without incident until March, 1919 (the exception a spell in hospital in November, 1917 with severe asthma). She arrived back in Australia in mid-july, 1919, then as Sister Edwards after being promoted 1 June and discharged on 15 October. A letter in her files from an Isobel Arnold in Camberwell (who appears to have been her employer when she enlisted) dated February, 1918 revealed that Edward's father had died some four months after she embarked, that her only brother was on active service and that she (Arnold) was then administering Nurse Edward's affairs locally. The brother was Charles Frederick, married and living at Orbost, but with his wife Lilian listed at 27 Herbert Street, Northcote. He served as 3061, Private, 38 Battalion and returned in December, 1918 suffering a wound to the right eye. This is all that is revealed by the AWM and National Archives, but she appears to have been awarded the Star for those who saw service in those years; her surviving Attestation suggests she had spent three months with the Australian Army Nursing Corps. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The City of Northcote 47

52 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM She was noted as originally being educated at Westleigh College in Northcote with medical training at Melbourne Hospital and Queen's Hospital, Adelaide. In 1922, she was noted as being in Durban, South Africa as Matron of Kearnsey College, a large Methodist boys' school in Natal, but in 1924 and again in 1926, she underwent major breast surgery before finally retiring in 1946 and returning to Australia the following year. Born Snake Gully near Ballarat, Methodist, she died in Ivanhoe, 21 May, 1959 aged 76. Parents Ernest George (who died four months after she embarked) and Marion Edwards, nee Mark (died 1891); step-mother Emily Ursula Power (1898) Jessie Flannery Address : Hutton Street, Thornbury Parents : John Thomas and Mrs Matilda Flannery (nee Horgan) Jessie Flannery breaks the mould a little as she was not a member of the A.I.F., but was serving on Home Nursing duties at Bodington Park Soldier's Home and Sanatorium at Wentworth Falls north of Sydney caring for returned soldiers when she died in the Nepean Cottage Hospital from complications following an appendix operation. (There would undoubtedly been other women from the Darebin area that worked in military hospitals, sanatoriums and in convalescent homes who were never part of the A.I.F. and whose contribution to the war effort remains largely unrecorded). In Jessie's case, a little more is known as a Death Notice in The Argus revealed both a brother and her father were serving, although in different ways. Her brother, Vivian Flannery enlisted in April, 1915, his father then still in Hutton Street as next of kin. His Attestation shows him to have been born at Creswick and a 21-year-old tailor who had spent three years under the Compulsory Military Training scheme with the local 55th Regiment, then based in Collingwood but including Companies from Northcote and Preston. He had been twice invalided from France back to England, firstly with shell shock and later with scabies before he was suffered serious gunshot wounds and was admitted to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station on 3 May, 1917 and again returned to England where both feet were amputated later in the month. Remarkably, he returned to administrative duties on the staff of the 2nd Auxiliary Hospital in June, 1918 before embarking for return to Australia late in January, Their father, although noted in the Penrith Times report as "at the front" was in fact a Registered Munitions Worker (No. 1511) working at an Aerodrome in England. Details of munitions workers are recorded, but with no details he appears to have volunteered in 1917 and his file extends to There is no mention of the family in The Leader other than the standard recording of Vivian's wounds directly from official Casualty Lists; NSW Deaths shows her given name as Tessie rather than Jessie. "FLANNERY. - On the 20th September, at Boddington Military Hospital, Wentworth Falls, Sydney, Nurse Flannery, eldest daughter of J. T. Flannery, of "Crockelford Aerodrome," England, and Mrs. Flannery, of Thornbury Park, sister of Vivian, "Anzac," who lost both legs; loved niece of the Misses Flannery, Bank place, Melbourne" (The Argus, 21 September, 1918) "The death occurred at the Nepean Cottage Hospital on the 20th September of Nurse Jessie Flannery, at the age of 24 years. The cause of death was appendicitis and other complications. The deceased young lady had previously been engaged as a nurse at Bodington Soldiers' Home, Wentworth Falls. Her father is at present at the front, her mother residing in Victoria. The remains were interred in the R.C. portion of Penrith General Cemetery on the 21st instant, the Rev Father Ryan officiating. (Penrith Times, 28 September, 1918) Minnie Knight Address : "Brightlea", Murray Street, Thornbury Next of kin : sister, Mrs Henry A. (Caroline) Hall, Murray Street, Thornbury, father Edward, mother Maria E Knight (nee Bayliss). The English-born Minnie Knight enlisted at 34 years of age on 26 April, She was another that noted Home Service with the Nursing Corp and like several others, travelled to Sydney to embark on HMAT Ulysses. She had three years training at the Austin Hospital and after landing in England followed a welltrodden path in being assigned to the Croydon War Hospital and from January, 1918 to the 1 AAH. She was one of the last to return after being granted two months' leave, possibly to visit relatives in England. 48 Honour Roll : The City of Northcote The Great War : Women In Uniform

53 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by There is a possibility that she may have volunteered earlier and been rejected - National Archives contain an alternate series of files "MT1486/1 - Applications to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force" which in most cases refers to those men and women that volunteered, but were rejected for reasons which are not specified. In most cases of servicemen, the specific year is listed, but in Minnie Knight's case is shown as From the research into around 6,000 volunteers from the northern and north-eastern districts of Melbourne, between 8 and 10 percent of these re-applied and were later accepted - in some cases because of remedial medical (especially dental) treatment; in others for men, through the reduction in the minimum acceptable physical standards as recruiting numbers fell away. Minnie Knight's circumstances remain unknown: her Attestation in response to the question "Have you ever been rejected as unfit for His Majesty's Service?" is answered "No" - but then again, so that was the response of most of the men later re-applying and ultimately accepted! She was one of the last to return, embarking on 4 June, 1919 with the rank of Sister after being granted two months leave to complete course in Sanitation at the Royal Sanitary Institute. Her appointment was terminated on 31 October. Minnie Knight was another that did not claim her medals for many years, in her case 1934, suggesting the reason she had not received them earlier was that she had been away when they were delivered. She was still at the Murray Street address at that time. A letter in her file extends the possibility of her still living locally to 1956, when it is noted that a War Medal in her name had been forwarded by the Fairfield branch of the R.S.S.A.I.L.A. via Albert Park Barracks to Canberra for identification. Born Birmingham, England, she migrated to Australia in 1890 at six years of age accompanied by her mother Maria, her grandmother, also Maria and two siblings, Charles and Mary, later Mrs Henry Hall. Her father was not shown in immigration records. Congregational, died in Canterbury, 1969, aged 79 years. Her mother in Death records is shown as Gwendolyn. Florence May Laity Address : Godfrey Terrace, Leabrook, South Australia Next of kin : mother, Mrs Susan Lamont Laity (nee Mackay), father John Henry Laity Florence Laity is perhaps the odd-one out in our Roll. She enlisted at Keswick in South Australia with a residential address also in South Australia where her family appear to have been since about 1893, but she was born in Northcote on 20 May, 1888 when the family was in Barry Street (her father, John Henry was also listed in 1892 as a partner in the firm of Wheat & Laity, architects, in High Street, Northcote, then unnumbered but mid-way between Westbourne Grove and Hawthorn Road). Staff Nurse Laity enlisted at 28 years of age on 26 June, 1916 with her Nursing Certificate earned at the North Adelaide Children's Hospital. She appears to have served locally before embarking on HMAT Themistocles in Sydney on 19 December, 1916, arriving in England on 2 March, 1917 after a stopover in Egypt. Her career differed somewhat from the norm as she was sent to France a week after disembarking without serving in a hospital in England beforehand. She was assigned to 23 General Hospital (location unknown) and served there except for a couple of brief admissions as a patient with bronchitis until March, 1919, being promoted to Sister on 1 October, After the one-month Leave granted to all nurses, Sister Laity served briefly at No. 2 AAH until embarking for return to Australia on 20 June, arriving 6 August and being demobilised on 5 October. Born in Northcote, Church of England, died 17 June, 1947 in the Repatriation Hospital at Daw Park in Adelaide at 59 years. She had a younger brother, Henry Mackay Laity, just 20 years old and who embarked as Company Quarter Master Sergeant with 4 Australian Army Service Corps, was awarded the Military Cross and returned in May, 1919 with the rank of Captain. He was shown as being born in North Adelaide in February, 1894, obviously just after the family moved from Northcote. Thora Augusta McLennan Address : care of Mrs Jacobi, 91 Pender Street, Northcote (her married sister, Amelia) Next of kin : mother, Mrs Margaret McLennan (nee Rees), care of Mrs Walter Jacobi, 91 Pender Street, Northcote, father George Ross McLennan (late). The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The City of Northcote 49

54 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Thora McLennan was 32 years of age when she enlisted, shown as having completed her three years of training at Nhill Hospital and embarked for Egypt via RMS Mooltan on 26 June, After arrival in Cairo, she was transferred in August to Salonika, surviving the sinking of the RMS Mooltan during the voyage. She served in Greece at the 60, 66 and 42 AGHs. Local Girl Goes on Active Service Nurse Thora McLennan, sister of Mrs. Lindner, of the cordial factory, Dimboola, sails next month for service abroad. Miss McLennan had her name on the list of those willing to go, and has been called up. She was born in Dimboola, and went through her training course at the Nhill public hospital, under Dr Ryan. Since then she has had a private hospital at Cohuna, but latterly has done private nursing. Dimboola Banner and Wimmera and Mallee Advertiser Friday 01 June 1917 Late in May, 1918, she was herself admitted into hospital suffering from malaria and she was repatriated back to Australia, arriving 1 September with a file note suggesting she would remain unfit for even light duties for at least three months, although she did not require hospitalisation. After her return, she married Jack M. Millson, noted as a son of Mr. and Mrs. Millson (late of Albury), the wedding on 3 December, 1920 at the at Presbyterian Church, Ascot Vale. Her archives are the slimmest of any in the group and it appears that the British War and Victory Medals to which she was entitled were returned unclaimed to Base Depot in October, Confounding the issue further is that there is no record of her birth, although there are three siblings listed as born to George Ross and Margaret McLennan in Dimboola. Born Dimboola, Presbyterian, she died in Rockdale, N.S.W. on 26 June, 1963, her father being shown in NSW deaths as Donald Ferguson McLennan. Thora had a brother, Arthur, who enlisted from Queensland, but also gave their mother Margaret in Pender Street as his next of kin in Pender Street. He served as 4190, Private, 35 Infantry and returned in March, 1918 after being diagnosed with a heart condition. Gladys Nettska Sumner Address : 255 Clarke Street, Northcote Next of kin : brother, Claude Sumner, 255 Clarke Street, Northcote. Parents Sydney Frederick and Nettska Sumner, nee McIntosh The London-born Gladys Nettska Sumner, aged 28, enlisted on 6 August, 1916 as a nurse with the Australian Medical Corps and was assigned to the British Indian Service following a request from the Indian Government for assistance in combating a cholera outbreak. Prior to embarking, she had served 12 months at the Base Hospital in St. Kilda Road. She embarked as a Staff Nurse aboard RMS Mooltan on 26 August, spending around 10 months in India, before transferring to Salonika, tending British troops sent to support the Greek government against an advance by Bulgarian forces. She returned to Melbourne in June, 1919, after, according to the Leader on 6 June, 1919, suffering 28 attacks of malaria. Post-war she was noted as Matron of the North Shore Grammar School in Sydney in Claude was also English-born, two years younger than Gladys, and a younger brother born in Australia, Roy Gordon Sumner enlisted and died of gas poisoning at the 53rd General Hospital, France on 26 March, Immigration records suggest the family arrived in November, 1890 when Claude was six and Gladys four Their father was shown as Frederick and 29 years of age, and his father in turn, Joseph as 56. In response to the usual query from Base Depot as to whether she was "the nearest blood relative" following Roy's demise, Mrs Sumner suggested "his father is many years dead" - she is shown in some registrations as Gladys Jean, but Nettska on arrival in Melbourne. Archives do not reveal where Gladys Sumner completed her training. Born London, Presbyterian, died on 19 May 1970 at Dromana, aged 83 years. Ruby Emily Olive Wilson Address : Kerrisdale, Victoria Next of kin : mother, Mrs Catherine Wilson (nee King, 102 Rossmoyne Street, Northcote, father Thomas Wilson. Ruby Wilson's address was given as Kerrisdale (on the Goulburn Valley Highway) when she enlisted on 31 October, 1917, with her mother as next of kin in Northcote. She was 31 and had completed her three years at the Melbourne General Hospital. She enlisted on 31 October, 1916 and joined HMAHS Kanowna in Sydney on 8 November. She appears to have completed two round trips as a Staff Nurse on the ship before re-embarking for England on Honour Roll : The City of Northcote The Great War : Women In Uniform

55 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by December, 1917 on HMAT Ulysses. Her time in the military was almost identical to that of Winifred Jeffreys - after serving around 12 months on hospital ships, they embarked at the same time, both were assigned to No. 1 AAH at Harefield in England, both returned via s.s. Lancashire in February, 1919, and, sadly, both lost a brother during the war. The only variation was that Ruby served at the Mont Park Hospital before enlisting. She had a brother Norman Claude who served with the 8th Light Horse in Palestine, but after being wounded at Gallipoli, he spent most of the next two years in hospital with a variety of illnesses; diarrhea, dysentery, conjunctivitis, eczema and blepharitis (severe inflammation of the eyelids). His final admission was to the French Hospital in Damascus on 13 October, 1918 (despite the name, the hospital was briefly under Australian administration when Wilson was admitted). He died five days later, the rather unusual cause given as "malignant malaria". Born Whittlesea, Church of England, she died in Camberwell on 28 October1963, aged 73 years; she was residing in St. Kilda prior to her demise. Edith Cornwell, (R.R.C., First Class, Second Class, Florence Nightingale Medal) Address : "Cleadon", 81 Westgarth Street, Northcote Next of kin : brother, Alexander Cornwell, "Cleadon", Westgarth Street, Northcote. Parents Henry (late, 1915) and Isabella Cornwell, nee Winter. As Matron Edith Cornwell and at 47 years of age (possibly 48 when she joined a second time), she was the most senior of the women from the district to enlist, both in terms of rank and age. Her initial training was at the Alfred and Women's Hospitals and when she first enlisted in April, 1915, she was Matron of the Osborne House Hospital in Geelong. 16 The first of the local nurses to embark, she embarked as Matron with 1 AGH on the hospital ship Kyarra 17 from Sydney on 3 April 1915, and on arrival in Egypt was appointed sub-matron of No. 1 Auxiliary in Heliopolis and later as Matron of No.2 Auxiliary at Atelier. Her next of kin was then given as a sister, Mrs H. (Isabella) Norman in Waverley Road, East Malvern, shown as her own address. Matron Cornwell returned in February, 1916 and transferred to Home Service at 5 AGH, but on 27 April, 1917, she re-enlisted (perhaps a little coy or wary about her age, she now claimed to be 44 years), with her brother Alexander in Westgarth Street as next of kin and as her own address. This Attestation confirmed her three years mandatory training at the Alfred Hospital, but an alternative form specifically requiring details of earlier medical experience reveals she had held positions of Sister and Matron for 14 years, had been superintendent of the Royal Women's Hospital and in charge of other private and public hospitals where no surgeon was resident. She was embarked as a Matron with No. 1 AGH reinforcements in Sydney on HMAT Ulysses, and like several others in the group was first assigned to the Croydon War Hospital and then as Matron with 1 AGH at Rouen, France, although the latter transfer was delayed until February as she spent in Southwell Hospital with an unknown illness. Osborne House AWM H84.276/5/17A Osborne House was used as a Rest and Convalescent Home for returned Nurses in 1919 before a specialtybuilt facility "Wyunna" opened in Geelong. Osborne House returned to its earlier role as a Naval Training Base. Royal Red Cross (First Class). The Second Class was identical, except in silver rather than gold. 16 The Hospital had only been in operation a short time Osborne House was used from March, 1913 as the Royal Australian Navy College, but the training facility was moved to a permanent location at Jervis Bay in Sydney around the middle of Around 40 patients from the Kyarra's first shipment of sick and invalided soldiers were admitted in March, Matron Cornwell was noted in early April as "about to leave for the front" along with the other two female nurses at the hospital. 17 With the first convoy in October, 1914, the Kyarra was listed as a hospital ship, but was not fitted out to treat patients, just to ship hospital units to Egypt. She was again converted in March 1915 into a troop transport and later was sunk by the German submarine UB57 submarine in the English Channel, 26 May 1918 with the loss of six lives. The wreck was not discovered until the late 1960s. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The City of Northcote 51

56 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM In 23 February, 1917, she was awarded the Royal Red Cross (Second Class) for her services in Egypt. She continued as Matron of the 1 AAH until April, 1919 when she embarked to return to Australia. By this time, she had been awarded another Royal Red Cross, this time First Class (one of only 46 awarded in the AANS) gazetted in London on 1 January, 1919, in Australia 23 May. Her contribution to the nursing profession continued for many years - post-war she became Matron of the Caulfield Military Hospital and later of a Returned Soldier's Sanatorium at Wentworth Falls in New South Wales 18 before serving ten years as the Matron of the Child Welfare Depot in Royal Park (formerly the Neglected Children's Home). It was during the former assignment that she suffered the rather tragic loss of her two Red Cross awards - they were lost in a robbery where trunks containing war bonds to the value of 195 and deposit slips for other investments held in various banks in Melbourne, but it was the loss of the Badges that appears to have caused her the most distress. International Red Cross's Florence Nightingale Medal Matron Cornwell was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Red Cross in Geneva. The Medal was awarded in June, 1933 for outstanding services to nursing in both war and peace time and was presented with the award in September by Lady Isaacs, wife of the Australian Governor General, Sir Isaac Isaacs. At the time, Edith Cromwell's was just the 57th awarded and just the third to an Australian. She is noted in a letter in 1936 requesting replacement of a stolen Returned Serviceman's Badge on the stationery of the Edith Cavell Trust Fund and reveals that as well as being the incumbent secretary of that fund, she had previously been the founding President of the Returned Australian Nurses Club. Matron Cornwell died on 26 May, 1955 at Heidelberg House, Heidelberg and was cremated at Springvale Crematorium, a letter from the Imperial War Graves Commission requesting details of her service before her ashes were inserted into a memorial wall. Her father Henry was noted as passing away on 27 May, 1915 at the Westgarth Street address. The Northcote Leader suggested he was "an old pioneer of the state and a useful, energetic and esteemed citizen of Northcote for many years... the existence of the rockeries which beautified the entrance to the town was due in greater measure to no man than to the late Mr. Cornwell". An earlier edition noted that one section of the rockeries was named after him, the other notables so honoured Messrs. Bastings, Candy, Clauscen, Dennis and Mitchell. Cornwell was a prominent member of the influential South Northcote Ratepayer's Association, but it is not clear whether he ever served as a Councillor. In Voter's Rolls for the first Federal Election in 1903, Henry was shown at 49 Westgarth Street with his occupation listed as "independent means", but he is known to have been a builder who appears to have retired when he brought his family to Northcote from Bennett Street, North Fitzroy around He was still at 49 Westgarth Street when he passed away, Alexander at number 81. Edith Cornwell was survived by three sisters, Mrs Isabella Norman, Mrs Alice Cochrane and Mrs. Bessie Stone, while five other siblings pre-deceased her - Mrs Annie Adams and brothers Edmund, Harry, Frank and Alexander. Victorian registrations place her as being born in Melbourne in Alexander was listed as her next of kin when she volunteered. 18 This was Boddington House where Jesse Flannery was working prior to her death in October, 1918 (page Honour Roll : The City of Northcote The Great War : Women In Uniform

57 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by He enlisted himself on 19 May, 1915, shown with his wife Florence at Westgarth Street and nominally assigned as a Gunner with an Artillery unit, but despite passing the medical examination was discharged on 4 July as medically unfit with defective eyesight and hammer toes on both feet. Her father Henry was noted as passing away on 27 May, 1915 at the Westgarth Street address, the Leader suggested he was "an old pioneer of the state and a useful, energetic and esteemed citizen of Northcote for many years... the existence of the rockeries which beautified the entrance to the town was due in greater measure to no man than to the late Mr. Cornwell". In Voter's Rolls for the first Federal Election in 1903, Henry was shown at 49 Westgarth Street with his occupation listed as "independent means", but he is known to have been a builder who appears to have retired when he brought his family to Northcote from Bennett Street, North Fitzroy around He was still at 49 Westgarth Street when he passed away, Alexander then at number 81. Sisters Grace Edith and Harriet Selina Mogg 363, Private Leslie Valentine Mogg, Private, 18th Infantry enlisted in February, 1915 while living at "Bona Villa", Rathmines Street, Fairfield, with an elder brother Herbert Francis in St. Kilda as next of kin. He died of wounds suffered at Gallipoli whilst being invalided back to Egypt on 4 September, 1915 and was buried at sea. Although they had no personal connection to Darebin, Mogg had two sisters - "sisters" by both birth and rank - listing Herbert at 115 Dickens Street, St. Kilda as next of kin when they volunteered for overseas service with the Australian Army Nursing Service. Sister Harriet Selina Mogg embarked from Melbourne aboard RMS Somali on 30 June 1917, aged 29 and served in British hospitals in Salonika, Greece before returning September, 1919; she married Percy William Thompson in 1922, and died 1967 in Elsternwick, aged 79 (she was shown at 218 Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick when applying for replacement medals in 1923). There does not appear to have been children of the marriage. Sister Grace Edith Mogg embarked from Sydney, HMAT Wiltshire on 31 August, 1917, aged 26. She served at the 21st General Hospital at Alexandria in Egypt before transferring to also work at Salonika in July, The two sisters returned to Australia together on s.s. Katoomba and disembarked in Melbourne of 21 September, She was shown in Toorak in 1934 when applying for a replacement Returned Soldier's Badge before she married Claude Valentine Duncan in She died in Greenvale (possibly the Sanitorium) on 12 January, 1977 and was cremated at Springvale. Another brother, 777, Sydney Nelson Mogg enlisted March, 1915, his address in Williamstown, and again with Herbert as next of kin, although this time he was shown at Fairfield. Herbert was still at Dickens Street when he returned the circular for Leslie circa Whilst there are several examples of nurses that had brothers that died during the conflict, this appears to be the only occurrence of two sisters with the Australian Army Nursing Service that suffered the loss of a brother. Honour Roll : The Shire of Preston Elsie Lena Fahey Address : 32 Wood Street, Preston A section of the rockeries near the corner of High and Westgarth streets, circa 1910 Next of kin : father, Mr Stephen Andrew Fahey, at 32 Wood Street, Preston, mother, Johanna (nee Fahey) Staff Nurse Elsie Fahey was one of the younger women to enlist at 26 years of age. She had spent her three years in training at Maryborough Hospital, and like Ernestine Edwards appears to have spent some time with the Army Nursing Corps before officially volunteering for overseas service on 27 April, The lack of suitable transport meant she had to travel to Sydney to embark on the regular troop carrier HMAT Ulysses - of around 30 nurses that embarked, more than half were from Victoria, and around 80 servicemen were also taken on board. The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Preston 53

58 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM On arrival in England in July, she was attached to the Croydon War Hospital until February, 1918, when she transferred to the 2 AAH and proceeded on to France a couple of months later. She served in England with 2 AAH until being repatriated home, arriving 1 August, Elsie worked at the Caulfield Military Hospital until at least 1921 when she applied for replacement for a lost medal. Her history then takes a quantum leap in time with a letter in 1936 from her in New York thanking Base Depot for supplying her Victory Medal "... no doubt you think I'm rather late claiming it, but being so far away, one is apt to become careless about such things...". This was followed two years later by a request for official records of her time in the Australian Medical Corps - her address then 647 Madison Avenue, New York; the details required as she was seeking work in the U.S. She is believed to have moved to the U.S. in 1930 and was naturalised there in Born Horsham, Roman Catholic, died in New York, Victorian Birth records confirm her mother's maiden name was also Fahey (on five registrations), her parents probably cousins. The Northcote and Preston Leaders in 1918 ran many advertisements placed by a Miss K Fahey (although shown as Catherine in Birth Records) at the Wood Street address as a teacher of pianoforte and music, the notices revealing she had been educated at Trinity College in London as well as the Conservatorium of Music as the University of Melbourne. Winifred Jeffreys Address : Methodist Parsonage, Regent Street, Preston Next of kin : father, Rev. John A. Jeffreys, Methodist Parsonage, Regent Street, Preston, mother Janette K. Jeffreys (maiden name unknown). At 26 years of age, Winifred Jeffreys first enlisted on 30 October, 1916 after spending 16 months on local duty with 5 AGH in St. Kilda Road. Rather than the AANS, she was initially assigned to the Hospital Transport Corps (HMAHS Kanowna) and spent around eleven months travelling between Australia and England. She was struck off the ship's strength in October, 1917 and enlisted in the AAMC. On arrival in England in February, 1918, she was assigned to 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield where she remained until February of the following year when she returned home. She had an elder brother, Leslie Gordon Jeffreys killed during the conflict. Leslie was a professional soldier based in Queensland when he enlisted. In one of the more bizarre cases, the Methodist Church had planned a service to honour eight of their congregation that had died in service with the Rev. Jeffreys to officiate, but he received notice of his son's death just a few hours before the service was to commence and understandably stood down. Another brother, John enlisted and returned safely. There is no indication of Nurse Jeffreys movements after the war - the Rev. Jeffreys was transferred to Clunes via Creswick in April, 1918; receipts for her war medals distributed in 1921 have his signature as witness to their receipt. Her name is included on the Preston Cenotaph and she appears to have been the only woman other than Vera O'Grady acknowledged on a memorial in the Darebin district. Born Paddington, N.S.W. as Jennie Winifred Jeffreys, Methodist, died 28 July, 1977 at her home in Mornington. Amy Veda O'Grady Address : North Carlton Next of kin : brother, Rev. James O'Grady, Roman Catholic Presbytery, Clifton Grove, Preston AWM P Amy O'Grady was the first of two women connected to the district to die in the service of her country during the War, and the link appears to have been marginal at best. She enlisted on 10 August, 1915 at 38 years of age. Her attestation noted both parents were dead and next-of-kin was her brother, Father James Henry O'Grady of the Roman Catholic Presbytery in Clifton Grove, Preston where he was appointed from Brunswick in February, Her own address was listed simply as North Carlton. Her application to join the Nursing Service reveals she had 13 years' medical experience, her mandatory three years training at the Melbourne General Hospital with later qualifications from the Queen Charlotte Street Hospital in London. She served initially in Egypt with No. 10 AGH, but in July, 1916 was one of the first batch of 49 Australian nurses sent to India at the request of the Indian Colonial Government after an outbreak of cholera. 54 Honour Roll : The Shire of Preston The Great War : Women In Uniform

59 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by She died in the Sisters Isolation Hospital, Calaba, Bombay after contracting the disease, but no record remains of the period of confinement. Amy O'Grady was interred at the Sewree Cemetery, Bombay. One other Australian nurse, the Irish-born Sister Kathleen Power is known to have died in India the following day from the same disease; two others later after being returned to Australia. Her death is recorded on the Preston War Memorial. O'GRADY - On the 12th of August,1916, at Bombay, India, Sister Amelia V. O'Grady, Australia Army Nursing Staff, much loved sister of Catherine D. Harris, Mary A. Archer, Ellen I. Shaw, and Rev. J. H. O'Grady (Preston). Requiescat in peace. The Rev. James O'Grady was still in charge when the current Sacred Heart Church was constructed at a cost of 15,000 and opening on 18 July, 1926, the original wooden building removed to become St. Gabriel's in Reservoir. He was noted as celebrating his sacerdotal Silver Anniversary in the following September. Amy Alice Simpson (Mrs Robert Cordingley) Address : care of Mrs Walker, Patterson Street, Preston Next of kin : Sister in law, Mrs G. Simpson, Geelong Hospital Amy Simpson was just the second woman and one of the last entries on our Darebin In Memoriam roll and for all practical purposes, a fluke discovery when another project to match up names on the South Preston State School Honour Roll with their military history revealed an "A. Simpson" on the Roll; this some years later identified as Amy. 19 On later investigation, it was discovered that just the last page of 67 in her National Archive file gives a hint of her demise with notification that her husband, Mr Robert Cordingley was issued with a Memorial Scroll and Plaque. She first enlisted on 15 August, 1915, giving her address as care of Mrs Walker, Patterson Street, Preston, although she seems to have been based in Geelong for some years. Amy was a sister of Lieutenant Colonel James William Simpson, one of the highest-ranking officers from the district to have been killed in action (see Darebin Honour Roll; the Mrs G. Simpson noted at Geelong Hospital as next of kin was James' wife Grace, also a nurse at the hospital. The Simpson family were based in Garnet Street, Preston for many years, their father Robert a wheelwright in Plenty Road and a prominent worker in the local temperance movement. Lieutenant Colonel James William Simpson. Born in Preston, he was Headmaster at Albury Grammar School when he enlisted and equally the highest-ranking officer from the district to become a casualty of the war Prior to enlisting, she had worked at Geelong Hospital for some years. A brief snippet in the Geelong Advertiser following the award of the Military Cross to her brother James suggested he was "a son of Mr. R. Simpson, formerly of Geelong... he followed teaching pursuits in Geelong". Her early history in the military nursing services is a little clouded. After enlisting in August 1915 Amy served at No. 5 AGH in St. Kilda Road until April, 1916, and then at Caulfield Military Hospital from December, The Death Notice below, placed on 5 February, 1917 reveals she was still at the hospital shortly after James was killed. She was Attested for overseas service on 21 February, Her military career was somewhat different than that of most the other local nurses that enlisted in that other than a five to six-week period with 3 AAH in London after she first arrived in May, 1917 she appears to have exclusively served on No. 2 hospital ship HMAHS Kanowna for most of the next eighteen months ferrying wounded and ill servicemen back to Australia. (On early voyages back to Australia, HMAHS Kanowna originally carried 12 medical officers and nine nurses; after re-fitting in August, 1917, the nursing configuration was changed to a matron, eight sisters and twelve nurses - the number of medical officers was not revealed). On what appears to have been her third trip back home, Simpson was disembarked at Gibraltar with influenza and pneumonia. She was repatriated back to England and discharged. After spending six weeks in hospital, she was considered fit to travel, embarking January, 1919 for her final return to Australia. She 19 The name was shown as simply "A. Simpson" in the Leader report of the unveiling, but a year or so after the initial compilation of this archive, a sighting of the Board which has managed to survive at least two fires that destroyed much of the South Preston school confirms that she was acknowledged as a "Nurse A Simpson". The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : The Shire of Preston 55

60 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM was confined to hospital in Melbourne until late in 1919, her condition described as "breathless on exertion, easily tired, unlikely to improve". Then Mrs Robert George Cordingley, Amy died in a private hospital in Camperdown on 22 October, Although it was acknowledged that her demise was as a result of war service, her death came too late to be recorded on the AWM Honour Roll. The youngest sibling of the family embarked as 2893, Private Edgar Robert Simpson on 10 September, 1915 with 5 Infantry Battalion and returned March, 1918 suffering from a heart irregularity. Amy's bereaved husband enlisted in December, 1914 as a 25-year-old blacksmith and carrier from Neerim South and served as 58, 2 Field Artillery Battery. He embarked in February, 1915 but returned from Egypt almost immediately and discharged as medically unfit with severe back pain - it is not clear whether it was through medical treatment that the couple met. CORDINGLEY (nee Simpson)-On the 29th October, 1922, at private hospital, Camperdown, my Alice (Pop) the dearly loved wife of Richard George Cordingley of Derrinallum and formerly of Geelong, and loved only daughter of Robert James and the late Mary Simpson (of Geelong) and loving sister of Edgar Simpson, age 33 years. (Interred privately, Eastern Cemetery), Geelong, on 30 October) DEATHS SIMPSON _ Killed in action of 21st January, Lieut-Col. Jas, Simpson, M.C., C.O. 26 Battalion; beloved older brother of Sister Amy, No. 11 A.G.H., Caulfield and Gunner Edward, on active service, France Honour Roll : The Shire of Whittlesea See also Ruby Olive May Wilson, Darebin (born in Whittlesea) Rosalind Eva Ballard Address : care Whittlesea Post Office The cloth badge issued to nursing staff on board the Kanowna. Next of kin : Mother Mrs Charles E. Ballard, care Whittlesea Post Office. Father, Charles Ballard died in Whittlesea 13 August, Rosalind Ballard was the only nurse residing in the Shire of Whittlesea to volunteer for overseas service. She was 29 when she enlisted on 11 December, 1916 and embarked on RMS Mooltan with a group that included other from the northern districts assigned to the British Indian Nursing Service. On arrival on the sub-continent in January, 1917, she was initially posted to the Alexandria War Hospital in Bombay, later serving periods with the Victoria War Hospital, also in Bombay, the Station Hospital at Deccan and the Hislop Hospital in Secunderbad. She embarked for the standard one month's leave in England granted to nurses serving in Egypt and India on 25 November, completion of the leave, she worked at No. 2 AAH and was promoted to Sister on 20 March, On 10 April, 1919, she was granted special leave to attend courses in Domestic Economy at the Battersea Polytechnic in London before returning home, arriving 11 November, Sister Ballard returned to Australia on 10 November, 1919 after serving in Bombay, Secunderbad, and Bangalore and then hospital ship Egypt, running between India and Egypt. Later she was billeted in Egypt for a time before being sent to England, where she served in various military hospitals until 1920, when she returned to Australia. and her appointment was terminated on 28 February, She was another deemed ineligible for the Victory Medal because of her exclusive service in India during the duration of the war. For three years after her return she was sister and matron at the base hospital, Mildura, and then after a few months as theatre sister at the Wangaratta Hospital, returned to Mildura to open her own private hospital, which she ran for about 10 years. Later she was on the staff at Epworth Hospital, Sister Ballard enlisted in October, 1940 for Second World War duties in October, 1940 as V6574 and was assigned the rank of Lieutenant and appointed as Sister-In-Charge of the Tatura and Seymour camp dressing stations. As such, she became the only Nurse from the WikiNorthia area to serve in both World Wars. In 1941, Rosalind Ballard resigned her commission with the Second A.I.F. and was appointed Matron of the new Lady Dugan Red Cross Hostel and Convalescent Home for War Nurses in Domain Road, South Yarra, a property lent by Mrs. Ernest Poolman. The Hostel provided accommodation for 10 convalescent nurses and 20 nurses from interstate or country districts assigned to duties in Melbourne 56 Honour Roll : The Shire of Whittlesea The Great War : Women In Uniform

61 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by It was noted at the time that she had served in public hospitals at Bairnsdale, Mildura and Wangaratta as well as the Women's Hospital in Melbourne before opening her own private hospital in Mildura which she operated for ten years. Born Whittlesea, she died at her home in Church Street, Whittlesea at 69 years on 8 February, 1956 and was cremated at the Springvale Botanical Cemetery. Honour Roll : Glenroy Military Hospital The Glenroy Military Hospital at the time of the First World War was within the City of Essendon, but subsequent realignment and amalgamations place it within today's City of Moreland and thus within the Scope of WikiNorthia. Coburg and Brunswick local historian Cheryl Griffin has identified two nurses, who although not residents of the area are known to have been working at the Glenroy Military Hospital at the time of their enlistment, plus another that appears to have been Matron between her periods of overseas service. Hilda Adelaide Allen Address : "Corowa", Pine Avenue, Elwood Next of kin : Mother, Mrs Emma Elizabeth Allen Elwood (William Charles and Emma Elizabeth, nee Alp) Hilda Allen was born in St. Kilda in 1887 and was aged 28 when she enlisted 1 October, 1915 while working at the Glenroy Military Hospital after previously gaining her Nursing Certificate at the Melbourne Hospital. She embarked on HMAT Orsova (A67) on 12 November 1915 and served briefly in Egypt before embarking for the Station Hospital in Bombay, India where she remained until February, 1917 for No. 1 War Hospital in Birmingham, England. She was attached to 3 Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford. In February, 1918, she sailed for France where she served temporarily with 3 AGH at Boulogne before joining 2 AGH at Wimereux. She returned to England for treatment for a carbuncle in December, 1918 and was promoted to Sister a few days later. It is not clear whether the medical condition was a factor, but Sister Allen embarked for return to Australia on 7 February, 1919 disembarking in Melbourne on 31 March and formally discharged on 16 June. Nothing remains in her archives to suggest where she worked post-war, but like most of the war-time nurses, she never married before she died at Elsternwick on 19 January, 1979 at 91 years of age and was cremated at Springvale Cemetery. Sarah Leatham Duff Address : Glenroy Military Hospital Next of kin : Father, John Duff, 'Gungah', Radnor Street, Camberwell Punch, 2 December, 1915 Born Oakleigh, 1880, one of eight children of John James and Charlotte Henrietta Duff (nee Bowden), Sarah was 36 when she enlisted on 18 October 1916 and gave her address as the Military Hospital, Glenroy; her father in Camberwell as next of kin, although he shown in Casterton in She embarked from Melbourne with the senior rank of Sister, on board HMAT Borda just two days later. On arrival in England, she was attached briefly January, 1917 to 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital before transferring to 3 AAH at Dartford. In August, she joined 38 (British) Stationary Hospital in France (originally based at Calais, but later at Genoa in Italy; Sister Duff's archive shows her returned to England from Italy). She returned England mid-january, 1919 and was one of the nurses who opted to undergo non-military training in England post-war her archive showing her granted leave with pay from 21 January to 21 June, and subsequently extended to 22 September while she was nursing at St. Dunstan's Institute for the Blind in Regent's Park, London. She did not return to Australia until 20 May, 1920 and was discharged 9 August. By the mid-1920s, Sister Duff is known to have in charge of the Truby King Baby Health Centre in Coburg. Having never married, she died at her home in Darling Road, East Malvern in 1953 at 73 years of age and was interred in St. Kilda Cemetery; the Death Notice suggesting she was known as "Lil". Daughter of John James Duff and Charlotte Henriette nee Bowden The Great War : Women In Uniform Honour Roll : Glenroy Military Hospital 57

62 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Alice Marion Prichard (M.B.E., Royal Red Cross, 1st Class) Address : Next of kin : Mother Mary Ann Prichard, :Greenvale", Glenrowan (1915), brother Albert Ronald Prichard, Culcairn, New South Wales (1917), father James Stephen (late) Rather than her service at Glenroy prior to enlisting, Alice Prichard's inclusion is based on her appointment as Matron of the Glenroy Infectious Diseases Hospital after her initial return from overseas. Cheryl Griffin's research has uncovered a report from the Benalla Standard dated 26 June, 1917 which notes Sister Prichard's pending re-embarkation for overseas and "lately Matron at the Glenroy Military Hospital". Alice Prichard hailed from the north of Victoria and initially enlisted at 36 years of age on May 10, 1915 with four years as Superintendent and Matron of Mildura Hospital prior to enlistment. She embarked as part of reinforcements for 3 AGH aboard RMS Mooltan, 18 May, 1915.with her mother at "Greenvale", Glenrowan, as next of kin. Her Attestation suggests she attained her three-year Nursing Certificate at the Melbourne General Hospital with an annotation suggested she specialised in infectious diseases (for some years prior to her volunteering usually treated at Fairfield). Like most of the earliest nurses that served oversea, little remains of her history other than she was admitted to her own facility, the 3 AGH on Mudros with jaundice, before returning to Egypt where she embarked for Australia on transport duty on 19 March, There is no record in her military archives of her appointment at Glenroy; perhaps a little surprising as she does not appear to have been discharged after her initial return. Although her mother was still alive, she nominated a brother Albert at Culcairn, New South Wales as next of kin; her own address "as above" when she was re-attested in May, Sister Prichard re-embarked on RMS Mooltan 12 June, 1917 for duty at Salonika, where she was appointed Temporary Matron of 52 General Hospital, on 15 August and later Matron of 42nd British General Hospital which was one of the four hospitals at Salonika staffed by the Australian Army Nursing Service. She embarked in Egypt on 2 April, 1919 for return to Australia, arriving in Melbourne on 7 May and was officially discharged 3 September, She appears to have been in Ararat in July, 1920 when the Star was distributed and in 1922 was noted as Matron of the St. George District Hospital, Kogarah, N.S.W. She was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours List on 1951; she was still Matron of the St. George Hospital at the time. Alice Marion Prichard was one of just 44 Australian nurses awarded the Royal Red Cross First Class during the First World War. The award was made on 1 January, 1919 in recognition of her services with the British Forces at Salonika, but for some reason was not promulgated in the Commonwealth Gazette until 1 April, the award is mistakenly shown on the AWM Honours and Awards under the spelling PRITCHARD. Born Kyabram, 1889, she died at St Leonard's, Sydney on 19 August 1964, circa 85 years of age. The family had an outstanding record of service during the War. AWM A01891 Her sister Florence Mary qualified at the Alfred Hospital and also served as a nurse, her Attestation showing her as 27 years of age in 1917 and previously working at 5 AGH in St. Kilda Road and as Matron of Corowa Hospital. She embarked in May, 1917 and primarily served at 2 AAH at Harefield in England before returning in April, At least three brothers enlisted , Private (later Sergeant) Frederick John Prichard, 37 Infantry; 1216, Leslie Stephen Prichard, Private, 13 Infantry (later 33rd) returned December, 1917; and 3311, Trooper, Charles McDonald Prichard, 8 Light Horse (later private, 1 Divisional Train) A possible fourth brother may also have served the Benalla Standard 26 June, 1917 printed a letter from another serviceman that suggested "Richard" (also "Dick") had an arm amputated in France, but there is no obvious trace of this name in military records or Victorian registrations (the latter perhaps not surprising as Alice herself and at least two of the volunteer brothers are not shown and another, Angus is registered under PRITCHARD. This report in the Standard remains the only recorded connect of Alice to the Glenroy Hospital there were other references to the three recorded brothers, but nothing else was ever mentioned of Richard or "Dick". 58 Honour Roll : Glenroy Military Hospital The Great War : Women In Uniform

63 THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Prepared for WikiNorthia by Appendix : Nursing Staff Casualties, Australian War Memorial : Roll of Honour Name Date of Death Location Primary Cause Age Association BICKNELL, Louisa Annie 25 June 1915 Egypt Septic infection 35 Abbotsford, Vic CLARE, Emily 17 October 1918 India Pneumonia 28 Stawell, Vic DICKINSON, Ruby 23 June 1918 England Pneumonia 32 Mosman, NSW HENNESSY, May 9 April 1919 Geelong Malaria and acute Nephritis 25 Bendigo, Vic KNOX, Hilda Mary 17 February 1917 France Meningitis 33 Benalla, Vic McPHAIL, Irene 4 August AGH, Caulfield Heart failure 27 South Yarra, Vic MOORHOUSE, Edith Anne 24 November, 1918 France Pneumonia 26 Echuca, Vic MORETON, Lettitia Gladwys 11 November, 1918 India Enteric fever 26 Malvern, Vic MOWBRAY, Norma Violet 21 January 1916 Egypt Pneumonia 32 Albion, Qld MUNRO, Gertrude Evelyn 10 September 1918 Greece Pneumonia and malaria 36 Ballarat, Vic NUGENT, Lily 21 February, 1918 Sydney Phthisis? Wagga (nok) O'GRADY, Amy Veda 12 August, 1916 India Cholera 39 Preston, Vic O'KANE, Rosa 21 December 1918 Woodman's Point, Fremantle PORTER, Katherine Agnes 16 July, AGH, Randwick Influenza 28 Pneumonic influenza Charters Towers, Queensland 35 Milton, NSW POWER, Kathleen 13 August 1916 India Cholera 28 Ireland RIDGWAY, Doris Alice 6 January 1919 ROTHERY, Elizabeth 15 June 1918 STAFFORD, Mary Florence 20 March 1919 THOMPSON, Ada Mildred 1 January, 1919 Woodman's Point, Fremantle Beechworth, Victoria Torrens Park, South Australia TYSON, Fanny Isobel 20 April 1919 England WALKER, Jean Miles (aka Miles-Walker) WATSON, Beatrice Middleton 2 June 1916 Egypt Woodman's Point, Fremantle Influenza 28 Cooke Plains, S.A. Not shown 33 Narrabeen, NSW Leukaemia 27 Influenza 34 Cerebral haemorrhage Goodwood, South Australia Pallamallawa, New South Wales 28 Elsternwick, Vic 30 October 1918 England Pneumonia 39 Hobart Cerebral haemorrhage and abscess of the brain 34 Elsternwick, Vic WILLIAMS, Blodwyn Elizabeth 24 May AGH, Caulfield Lung carcinoma 37 Ballarat, Vic The interesting statistic is that ten of the 23 died after the cessation of hostilities, although this is probably less surprising given the outbreak of the influenza epidemic in Europe in the northern hemisphere autumn of The table also suggests that the two major respiratory diseases of pneumonia and influenza (the pair often occurring simultaneously) were the major causes of death. (It should be emphasised these of names appearing on the AWN Roll of Honour: personal research has uncovered at least a dozen that died before the end of 1922 with their early demise undoubtedly due in part to war service, but not recognised as "official" casualties; a similar anomolly applies to servicemen, many of whom died in military hospitals.) The Great War : Women In Uniform Appendix : Nursing Staff Casualties,

64 Prepared for WikiNorthia by THE GREAT WAR : WOMEN IN UNIFORM Australian War Memorial : Commemorative Roll In addition to the nurses listed on the AWM Honour Roll, there are a further ten on the Commemorative Roll of Australians who died in service, but were not part of the official A.I.F. Contingent. These are listed below, but unfortunately only skeleton records of these women are held in the National Archives. Name Date of Death Location Primary Cause Age Association BERRIE, Charlotte 8 January 1919 Palestine Influenza 32 Cairns (death report) BLAKE, Edith 26 February 1918 At sea (HS Glenart Castle) Killed 32 Sans Souci, NSW BRENNAN, Kathleen Adele * 24 November 1918 England Influenza? Woollahra, NSW CORFIELD, Agnes Beryl 2 February 1916 Egypt Not shown 24 Beaudesert, Qld DICKSON, May 4 October AGH, Melbourne GRANT, Lydia William Falconer * 20 1 April, 1917 HOBBES, Florence Narrelle 10 May 1918 Manchester, England RIGGALL, Louisa Blanche * 31 August, 1918 France Indian Ocean (HMAHS Kanowna) Bronchitis and heart failure Measles and septic arthritis 37 Sydney 34 Cairns (death reports) Hepatic tumour 37 Cremorne, NSW Cerebral haemorrhage? (No NAA, but a Death Notice suggests Tinanda in Gippsland) SAW, Nellie Mabel 31 March 1919 Albany, W.A. Tuberculosis 34 Albany, W. A. WILSON, Myrtle Elizabeth 23 December 1915 France Pneumonia 38? (No NAA) The list has two dying in the Middle East, four on the Western Front, two after return and one on the voyage home. Edith Blake was killed when the hospital ship she was on, the HMHS Glenart Castle, was sunk in the English Channel by a German U-boat on 26 February May Dickson was invalided back bound for Sydney, but was put off in Melbourne where she died at 5 AGH in St. Kilda Road a few weeks later, the only reason given "natural causes", although there are references to "an affectation of the heart". She was 37 years of age and became first Australian woman to be accorded the honour of a full military funeral service in Australia when she was interred at Coburg General Cemetery the day after her passing. Of the ten, seven served as Nurses or Sisters with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. The three marked with an asterisk were all members of a small group called the Voluntary Aid Detachment organized by the Australian Red Cross Society. Nurse Edith Blake AWM P It should be noted that the AWM Roll of Honour incorrectly shows Kathleen Adele (simply as "Adele") Brennan as part of the Australian Army Nursing Service, but archives reveal she was part of the V.A.D. group. 20 Lydia Grant is the V.A.D. for whom a Red Cross Wounded and Missing file is held. It reveals she was being treated for measles at the 2nd Western General Hospital when the condition turned to septic arthritis. The final note on her file, dated two days before her passing reads "became unconscious on Thursday, fear there is very little hope" and an addition postscript suggests her brothers in France had been sent for. One of the brothers was with her when she died and cabled the news through to the Red Cross in London. Press reports reveal she was born in Scotland, came to Australia as a baby and educated at the Methodist Ladies College in Melbourne before the family moved to Queensland where her father became the Police Magistrate in Cairns, although the family had moved to Brisbane when she became the first Queenslander to embark with the V.A.D. The serving brothers were noted as Captain John Grant, who because of his rank was forced to return to France, and Private (later Lieutenant) Chesborough Grant who was with her till the end. 60 Appendix : Nursing Staff Casualties, The Great War : Women In Uniform