NELSON NURSES of WORLD WAR ONE

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1 New Zealand Society of Genealogists NELSON BRANCH est WORLD WAR ONE COMMEMORATION PROJECT NELSON NURSES of WORLD WAR ONE Biography of Marjorie Grace LITTLE Australian Imperial Force Australian Army Nursing Service N/54 Full Name: Marjorie Grace LITTLE Birth: 1887 Marriage: Charles Robert DUKE 14 January 1918 Scotland Death: 20 January 1964 Buried: RSA section Wakapuaka cemetery, Nelson Prepared by: Cheryl Carnahan Date Completed 26 July: 2013

2 Chronology Marjorie Grace LITTLE 08 July 1915 appointed as a staff nurse to the Reinforcement Convalescent Depot Harefield Park London. 14 July 1915 embarked from Sydney on Orsova ship no.a67 03 Sep 1915 commenced duty 1 st AAH [Australian Auxilliary Hospital] from Convalescent Depot Oct 1916 sick Nov 1916 giddiness and influenza 11 April 1917 proceeded overseas on Londonderry 20 April 1917 No 3 [AGH] Australian General Hospital at Abbeville France 26 Nov 1917 transferred to Nurses Hostel Boulogne 12 Dec st [AGH] Australian General Hospital 14 Jan 1918 final discharge as a consequence of marriage. Origins Marjorie Grace Little was born at Potts Point parish, Sydney, Australia in 1887, the daughter of Mrs Susan Little. Training Nothing is known of Marjorie s schooling or nurse training. War Service At the time of enlisting with the Australian Imperial Force on 12 June she was 28 years old 2 and living at Paddington, New South Wales. This form was in her war file: I.. swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force from 1 April 1915 until the end of the War, and a further period of 4 months thereafter unless sooner lawfully discharged, dismissed, or removed there from; and that I will resist His Majesty s enemies and cause his Majesty s peace to be kept and maintained; and that I will in all matters appertaining to my service, faithfully discharge my duty according to law. SO HELP ME GOD. Marjorie was described as 28½ years old, 5 foot 4 inches tall, 9 stones in weight, of dark complexion, with brown eyes and hair and her religion was Anglican. She had been vaccinated against small pox. She was examined and declared fit for service. When Marjorie enlisted her address was Paddington. NSW and her mother was living at Yamba Peak Hill, NSW 3. To England on the Orsova On 08 July 1915, Marjorie was then a staff nurse to the Reinforcement Convalescent Depot London. She Sydney Australia on the ship HMAT 4 Orsova no.a67 on 14 July The SS Orsova was an ocean liner of 12,026 tons, 534 feet long, owned by the Orient Steam Navigation Company, built in 1909 and capable of 18 knot. She had operated as a passenger liner between London and Australia. 20 June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 2 of 12

3 Nurses prior to boarding HMAT Orsova [A67] HMAT Orsova First Australian Hospital, Harefield London After the voyage to England, Marjorie commenced duty with the First Australian Hospital, Harefield, London on 3 September Harefield is about twenty miles from London and the old manor house and grounds were loaned to the Australian Government for the purpose of establishing its own hospital in England 5. The house itself was used as a headquarters and temporary wooden wards, kitchens and mess huts built in the grounds. These were all connected by covered duck-walk pathways and in the end the hospital would contain up to 500 or more beds and was completely staffed by Australian doctors, nurses and orderlies. Marjorie was nursing at Harefield Hospital towards the end of 1915, in the convalescent depot 6. The purpose of the convalescent depot was to provide rest after sickness or injury and to collect invalided soldiers for return to Australia, although this purpose broadened as the war progressed and at the height of the war contained 1,000 beds June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 3 of 12

4 Almost two and a half million soldiers were returned to England as Blighty patients. [Blighty is the Hindu word for home, corrupted by the British Army in India.] As they left France, their ships were escorted across the Channel by the Dover Patrol, although after unrestricted U-boat warfare commenced in March 1917 a policy was developed for retaining more casualties in France. Patients marked for return to England went to the docks by ambulance and were loaded onto ships bound for Southampton or Dover. An ambulance train ran right up to the side of the ships so patients could be disembarked directly, and a casualty clearing hospital was established in each British port to help in rush times. A system of AAH [Australian Auxiliary Hospitals] was developed in Britain to relieve pressure on the British units. Australian casualties in France were subject to a plan known as the 6 months rule. Patients fit for duty within one month were retained in France, those requiring 2 to 6 months further treatment were sent to England. If not fit within 6 months the patients were repatriated, or some remained longer for rehabilitation or reparative surgery. In July 1916 the rush of casualties from the Somme necessitated the opening of extra hospitals in England. Since May 1915 almost 300 Australian nurses had been serving with various British hospitals in England, although No.1 AAH at Harefield was the main centre of AANS [Australian Army Nursing Service]. The large number of cross-channel sinkings due to unrestricted U-boat attacks had made it imperative to retain casualties in France wherever possible 8. Harefield, England. c Harefield, England. c nursing staff of No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital Harefield, England. c Formal group portrait of the nursing staff of No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital (1AAH) in 1915 or early Seated in the middle of the front row is Matron Ethel Gray, Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) 20 June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 4 of 12

5 It was at the convalescent depot Harefield Hospital where Marjorie first met her future husband Charles Robert Duke from Dunedin New Zealand 9. Charles 10 was in a ward run by an Australian and Sister Little. They started to do a bit of serious courtship which continued at broken intervals of leave etc, until they were married in January 1918, but during those two years they saw one another only at long intervals. Charlie tells the story:- Marjorie, later in 1917, was sent to No 3 Australian General Hospital at Abbeville, France 11 and I used to duck away from the line at all sorts of odd times to see her. At Harefield we hired horses and went riding round those beautiful English lanes and in Abbeville we would hire a fiacre or landau with an old French woman on the box and drive along the banks of the Somme which was equally beautiful. We would drive a mile or two along the banks of the river, past several old chateaux which were architectural gems and have a meal of chicken, good wine and fraise de bois (wild strawberries) and cream. Abbeville, France by Arthur Streeton Australian War Memorial. I left my nurse fiancée at Abbeville when I shifted to the Paschendale fighting, but we had decided to get married as soon as leave and other arrangements could be made and finally it was set for the middle of January Abbeville is on the Somme River, 20 km from the English Channel. A nurse writing home describes Abbeville about the time that Marjorie was there A delightful walk along the Somme We arrived at Abbeville at a.m. and had three and a half hours in which to amuse ourselves there. We first went to a cafe for some omelettes and coffee, then spent the rest of the time sight seeing. We visited the cathedral (St Vulfran s), gazed in the shops, then went for a delightful walk along the Somme. Here there is a lovely avenue of trees casting a cool shade over the sloping grassy banks. We sat down on the grass to rest and dream-to dream of all the future held for us and of what was happening further along this same Somme. The barges coming down so slowly and peacefully called to our imagination no picture of a war but rather, a picture of a dream world where all is peaceful and beautiful. Charlie continues Paschendale had finished and we moved a few miles south to the Messines Ridge which was a comparatively quiet sector. We had a well-organised and fairly comfortable camp here. I was acting Adjutant of the Battalion at this time and each day would go back to Battalion Headquarters on that duty. I was to leave for London on the 9th of January and was to be married on the 14th at my cousin s home near Aberdeen. My fiancée had gone over earlier to make the necessary arrangements and Bunn (his batman) and I had been busy getting my gear into good shape. I had practically new uniform for the event and each day Bunn would hang the tunic up to air. About the beginning of January there was a tragedy. Bunn had lit a good fire in the dugout - it was dug into the bank with a chimney and all - hung my tunic up and had gone out when a spark must have lit the too-near scrim and tunic. Scrim and other stuff went up in smoke. Bunn did his utmost to save things, almost to he extent of recklessness and got both is hands and face burned. To revive him they had given him a liberal dose of rum and when I got there, what with remorse and the effects of the rum, he was inarticulate. Under the circumstances I couldn t do anything about it so gave him another good shot of rum and that put him to sleep. But there it was, I left on the eve of my wedding without a tunic. 20 June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 5 of 12

6 I wrote immediately to my tailors Squire Weston Ltd of Regent Street who had my measurements and they rose to the occasion by having a new one ready by January 12th. Fortunately my breeches had been in my box and had not been burnt. 12 Abbeville France Original staff of 3 rd AGH. No. 3 Australian General Hospital Abbeville France Original staff of 3rd AGH. No. 3 Australian General Hospital was based at Abbeville from June 1917 to April 1919.Abbeville was headquarters of the Commonwealth lines of communication and a number of hospitals were located here. Officers and sisters hockey team at No. 3 Australian General Hospital at Abbeville C Group portrait of the officers and sisters hockey team at No. 3 Australian General Hospital at Abbeville. (Donor F. D. H. B. Lawton) AWM C June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 6 of 12

7 King George and Queen May visited No.3 AGH July 1917 [it is not known where this photo was taken] No.3 AGH February 1918 Matron s report. [Marjorie had left the hospital by this time] The Sisters have shaped very well Every effort has been made by the Sports Committee to do all that is possible for the recreation of the Nursing Staff both mental and physical. Hockey matches have been played against other units in which the Sisters have shaped very well, having come off victors on several occasions Marriage DUKE - LITTLE - At Toftwood, Murtle, Aberdeenshire, Charles Robert Duke, Lieut. A.1.F. of Dunedin, was married to Marjorie Grace Little, of N.S.W., formerly of the Australian A.N.S. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. James Thomson, B.D., minister of Culter Parish Church January June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 7 of 12

8 Marriage of Lieut.Charles Robert Duke of Dunedin and Marjorie Grace Little, of N.S.W. Culter Parish Church Lanarkshire Scotland On 9 February 1918 S/N Marjorie Grace Little of 1 st A.A.H. applied for and was eligible for discharge in England in consequence of being married. Marjorie was formally discharged from the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS), 17 July 1919 with the rank of Sister. Charlie continues with the story 20 June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 8 of 12

9 For our honeymoon we were going further up the Dee to Aboyne and had arranged for a motor car to take us there after the ceremony. How kind all those good Scottish people were to us. It was an event for them, to have two people married in the house from the far side of the globe. We left to start on our married life with lots of warm wishes. The weather was not warm though, it was snowing heavily and before we had gone a mile or two we could see that our car would not be able to get through. Fortunately we were alongside the railway and managed to get a train to take us the remainder of the way to Aboyne. On arrive there was neither a cab nor any wheeled vehicle to take us to the private digs where we were booked in. Instead there were sleighs, so we travelled in one and a second brought our baggage. With two candle lanterns throwing their weak gleams on the snow we started off into the black night in just that setting. There was not very far to go but again on arriving at our destination we were surprised to find the house half-buried in a snowdrift. It had piled right up above the spouting to the dormer windows of the upstairs rooms and an entrance to the front door had been dug through the deep drift. We had no complaints about the warmth and kindness of our welcome and if we had been the kith and kin of those Scottish folk, they could not have been kinder to us. The snow remained for the week we were there. One day we took the train to Ballater, the end of the line and the station much used by the Royal Family on their way to Balmoral. We wanted to visit the castle and I was advised to ring the King s Factor and ask for permission. He could not have been nicer about it when I told him we were an Australian soldier and wife on their honeymoon. We hired a sleigh - again there were no wheeled vehicles - and away we went. Our driver muffled up in front and we in the back with our feet in deep straw which was supposed to keep them warm. Very definitely it didn t and in the few miles drive we were nearly frozen. It must have been a hard time for feeding stock, as I remember seeing the black-faced sheep trying to get at the grass. Anyhow to get on to Balmoral Castle - it was all very magnificent seeing it stand out in that snow setting and we were permitted to wander all round and look in through the windows at the fine furniture and pictures. There were stags heads galore and old King Edward VII must have been very keen on shooting when he was younger, for half the heads were marked as having fallen to his gun. We had that cold drive back to our lodgings where we thawed out with good Scottish broth and a roaring fire. It was all over too soon. Ten days in which to get fixed up with a uniform in London, get married and then return to France hoping to get leave again in March. Sure enough my leave became due but just as I was about to leave for England on March 21st, the Hun very inconsiderately broke through the Fifth Army on that day and all leave was cancelled. So instead of going on leave, we were hurriedly transported down to the Somme to take our part in stemming his rush - as he thought to Paris. It was not until the following September that I again got leave, which under the circumstances my wife and I both thought a little hard, since we had only had those all too short five days together in the snow and on sleighs. But after all, it was perhaps a unique experience to start off married life on a sleigh. On 29 November 1919 Charlie recorded that he didn t know where Marjorie was, she left Abbeville on the 26th to report to Boubugne and it was either to go to Italy or be near to a Causality Clearing Station [CCS]. There are so many CCS in this district. Although Marjorie had left Abbeville in January 1918 to get married, but not long after this the routine existence came to an abrupt and shattering end when the Germans began to advance in March Abbeville was now directly in line of attack, and the hospital in a dangerously exposed position. It became in effect a casualty clearing station, taking cases directly from the front. Men arrived with olyn the first field dressing in place and most came by road on a trip that took 36 hours or more. Many died including a high proportion of abdominal cases but they would have responded if treated earlier. Almost every abdominal case was very septic by the time it arrived in Abbeville. One of the nurses admitted she was frightened to the core when they were being air raided 14. Honours and Awards - Rank: Unit: Sister Australian Army Nursing Service 20 June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 9 of 12

10 Conflict: First World War, Marjorie Grace LITTLE British War Medal and Victory Medal 15 Charlie was awarded the Military Cross by the King and the investiture was at Buckingham Palace on 26 June Life after the war Marjorie and Charlie returned to NZ and with a cousin, began farming at Collingwood, Golden Bay on a rehabilitation farm. As a consequence of a crash in the farmers butterfat price from 2/8d a pound to 8d a pound, and a mortgage of 6500 the returns from farming were not enough to support two families. The Dukes moved to Nelson where Charlie practised as an Architect and was appointed supervisor and clerk of works on the building of the new hospital. He also supervised the building of the Trafalgar St Bridge on behalf of the city engineer, J.G.Littlejohn. Charles continued as a valuer and in 1963 took Peter G. Cooke into partnership forming Duke and Cooke Valuers. Charlie and Marjorie had three sons: William L. Duke, born in Kawerau; Auckland; Peter L. Duke, born in Blenheim. Robert E Duke, born in Death Marjorie died in 1964 and is buried in the RSA section of Wakapuaka cemetery, Nelson 16. Her funeral notice reported that the funeral will leave their residence 10 St John s Drive, Nelson for the Nelson cemetery, Wakapuaka June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 10 of 12

11 RSA section Wakapuaka cemetery Sources Cheryl Carnahan Arch Barclay of Bests Island, Nelson for access to his notes on Charles Duke and the book written by Charles Duke An Anzac Looks Back. National Archives of Australia Further Reading: Duke C.R. An ANZAC Looks Back Rees Peter The Other ANZACs Nurses at War, ISBN Butler Janet Kitty s War the remarkable wartime experiences of Kit McNaughton. (An Australian nurse) Barker Marianne Nightingales in the Mud the Digger Sisters of the Great War ISBN Endnotes 1 Marjorie Little s War File held at Archives Australia. 2 On 19 June 1915 she signed Attestation Paper for Service Abroad to say she was willing to be inoculated against small pox and enteric fever 3 Australian Army Nursing Service, Nominal Roll 4 HMAT His Majesty s Australian Transport 5 AWM P Harefield Park House was used as the No. 1 Australian Auxilliary Hospital from December 1914 until January Originally it was estimated that the house would accommodate fifty soldiers under winter conditions and 150 during spring and summer. At the height of its use it accommodated over 1,000 beds and had a large nursing and ancillary support staff Barker Marianne Nightingales in the Mud the Digger Sisters of the Great War , page Duke C R An Anzac Looks Back 10 Born Dunedin 21 Dec1888, died Nelson 19 May 1970 aged 81. The son of William Henry Duke and Annie Thorne Duke (nee Ceslin) --- both of England. Educated Waitaki Boys High School & Otago University. Joined the architectural firm of Salmond and Vanes and qualified as an Architect in Went to Australia and worked as a journalist in Sydney and Orange, NSW, until outbreak of WW1. Volunteered for war service Sept.2, 1914 and joined the 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade of the Australian Imperial Forces as a private. Served at Gallipoli and in France right through the War. Commissioned as a Lieutenant in late1915 and transferred to 5 Pioneer Battalion. Won the Military Cross in 1918 for his actions during heavy shelling on July 9, and his later efforts to remove the wounded. 20 June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 11 of 12

12 11 At the beginning of 1917 the increased activity of the German U-boats had led to the decision that casualties were not to be sent out of France unnecessarily. This necessitated an expansion of the medical units in France and No.3 AGH was sent across the Channel to begin work at Abbeville. The matron and 90 nurses reached Abbeville at the end of April The hospital was on a cliff top, 400 feet up. It could be reached by climbing 365 steps, by a funicular lift or by a winding road. On 9 July 1917 there was a visit by King George and Queen Mary, which involved the nurses in a flurry of preparation. Everything was spotless, the boys were in clean blues. Barker Marianne Nightingales in the Mud the Digger Sisters of the Great War , page An Anzac Looks Back. Chapter VII by Duke Charles. 13 Aberdeenshire Wedding- Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16162, 16 March 1918, Page 2 14 Barker Marianne Nightingales in the Mud the Digger Sisters of the Great War ,page Letter dated 24 September 1922 from Captain C.R.Duke, Ferntown, Collingwood, Nelson, NZ applying for B.W & Vict Medals for himself and his wife ex Staff Nurse M.J.Little no 3 Australian General Hospital. Marjorie s medals the British War medal and Victory Medal were sent to her from the headquarters 2nd district base, Australia. Ref war file. 16 Block 4 Plot 5 Burial records Duke Marjorie Grace buried ashes 22 Jan 1964 aged 76 [Day undertaker]. Headstone Sister Marjorie G.Duke A.I.F. 1914/18 War died 20 Jan 1964 [Insignia Australian Imp Forces] Husband Charles in next plot. Plot 6. Headstone 963 Lieut Colonel C.R.Duke M.C.E.D. A.I.F. 1914/18War 1970 aged 81. [Insignia Australian Imp Forces]. 17 Death Notice Nelson Evening Mail. January Duke at Nelson, on 20 January 1964 loved wife of Charles Robert Duke and mother of Bill, Peter and Robert. Ref Family Notices NZSG Nelson branch library. 20 June 2014 Marjorie Grace LITTLE /DUKE page 12 of 12