Nursing
In the First World War, nurses were recruited from both the nursing service and the civilian profession and served as an integral part of the AIF. They served in Egypt and Lemnos during the Gallipoli campaign, in England, France and Belguin in support of the fighting on the Western front, and in Greece Salonika, Palestine, Mesopotamia and India. At least 2139 nurses served abroad between 1914 and 1919, and a further 423 worked in military hospitals in Australia, while 29 died on active service (Peter Dennis, 2008).
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When the First World War broke out in 1914, the Australian Government raised the first Australian Imperial Force (AIF) for overseas service. The nurses were recruited from the Australia Army Nursing Service Reserve and from the civil nursing profession.
Major General Howse said that “the female nurse did little toward the actual saving of life in war…although she might promote a more rapid and complete recovery”. By the time, the Nursing Service to the treatment of the wounded soldiers had not been recognized by the most of Australians yet.
The first draft of the Australian Army Nursing Services left Australia in September 1914. Throughout the war, the Nursing Service followed and served wherever Australian soldiers were sent. They served in places such as Burma, India, The Persian Gulf, Egypt, Greece, Italy, France and England.
The first awards for Australian women were given to four nurses, Clare Deacon, Dorothy Cawood and Alice Ross-King and Mary Derrer for their bravery. They are thanked for risking their lives to rescue wounded soldiers trapped in burning buildings after a German raid on the Western Front in France in 1917.
One nurse, Narrelle Hobbs, was with Australian forces at Gallipolu. She worte:
"I've been a soldier now for nearly three years, and please God I will go right to the end ... if anything happened, and I too passed out, well, there would be no finer way, and no way in which I would be happier, than to lay down one's life for the men who have given everything."
She died in May 1918, five months later after she wrote this (Government, 2009).
Major General Howse said that “the female nurse did little toward the actual saving of life in war…although she might promote a more rapid and complete recovery”. By the time, the Nursing Service to the treatment of the wounded soldiers had not been recognized by the most of Australians yet.
The first draft of the Australian Army Nursing Services left Australia in September 1914. Throughout the war, the Nursing Service followed and served wherever Australian soldiers were sent. They served in places such as Burma, India, The Persian Gulf, Egypt, Greece, Italy, France and England.
The first awards for Australian women were given to four nurses, Clare Deacon, Dorothy Cawood and Alice Ross-King and Mary Derrer for their bravery. They are thanked for risking their lives to rescue wounded soldiers trapped in burning buildings after a German raid on the Western Front in France in 1917.
One nurse, Narrelle Hobbs, was with Australian forces at Gallipolu. She worte:
"I've been a soldier now for nearly three years, and please God I will go right to the end ... if anything happened, and I too passed out, well, there would be no finer way, and no way in which I would be happier, than to lay down one's life for the men who have given everything."
She died in May 1918, five months later after she wrote this (Government, 2009).