The Nurses' War

In 2017 I did some research on Janet Muir Gaff, a nurse during World War I. I later used the research for an assignment for the unit, Families at War as part of the Diploma of Family History run by the University of Tasmania. Since then I have read a number of other books relating to nurses during the First World War.

The Nurses' War by Victoria Purman is a novel based the experiences of nurses at Harefield House (No. 1 Australian Auxillary Hospital) set up as a hospital for Australian soldiers. Cora, Gertie, Leonora and Fiona are four Australian nurses who arrive at Harefield as the transformation from large house to hospital begins to take place. Initially the hospital complex is established to accommodate 150 soldiers however it is not long before 1,000 soldiers are being cared for at the hospital in the temporary accommodation set up in the grounds of the house. 

The nurses have all had experience working in hospitals in Australia but they are not prepared for the horrors that they encounter as the wounded soldiers arrive. Jessie lives in the nearby village where she works with her mother as a seamstress. As the numbers of wounded rapidly increase at the hospital, Jessie offers to help and becomes a valuable member of the team. 

This is the story of how the nurses and other medical staff cope, not just with providing medical care but also in maintaining morale and hope among the wounded men and also the other staff. The novel provides an insight into the suffering and futility of war, not just on the soldiers but also on family, friends and those who care for them.

This is a moving story of friendship, dedication and heartbreak providing an understanding of the effects of war, not just on those actively involved but on the community as a whole.

Nursing in World War I

While writing an assignment on a World War I nurse I borrowed a number of books from the public library relating to this topic.

More than bombs and bandages: Australian Army Nurses in World War I by Kirsty Harris (published in 2011) provides a detailed and readable study of this topic. The book looks at the roles of nurses in the AANS particularly as to how the work in a military environment different from the work in a civilian hospital. The detailed appendices provide additional information.

Guns and brooches: Australian Army Nursing Nursing from the Boer War to the Gulf War by Jan Bassett (published 1992) provides a great introduction to the history of Australian military nursing. Three of the chapters over the challengers faced by World War I nurses and often contain quotations taken from interviews or written papers. A good starting point.

 Australian heroines of World War One: Gallipoli, Lemos and the Western Front by Susanna De Vries (published 2013) provides a history of the First World War through the diaries and writings of a selection of nurses who served overseas.

The other Anzacs: Nurses at war, 1914-1918 by Peter Rees (published 2008) tells the stories of a group of nurses who served overseas during World War I. This book was later the basis of the television mini-series The Anzac Girls (2014).

Stories of devotion: stories of Australia's wartime nurses by Robyn Siers (2013) is based on an exhibition at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. It is therefore a pictorial account of the history of Australian military nursing that provides a brief overview of the topic. 

Veiled warriors: Allied nurses of the First World War by Christine Hallett (published 2014) examines the contribution of allied nurses to the war effort in World War I.The author writes about the work of the nurses close to the major battlefields providing the history of the war with the emphasis on nursing.

Another book often referred to is Scarlet Poppies: the army experiences of Australian nurses during World War One by Ruth Rae (available in the State Library of Victoria).This book includes a chapter on 'Transport Nursing'.

In November 2012 the Victorian Historical Journal (volume 83 no. 2) published an article by Kirsty Harris entitled 'Two heads are better than one' Melbourne as the hub of Australian Army Administration in World War I. The article discussed the role of the Australian Army Nursing Service largely based in Melbourne and the two women responsible for the operation of this organisation during the war.

There is also lots of useful material online.

Official history of the Australian Army Medical Services, 1914-1918 was written by A G Butler and is available online on the Australian War Memorial website. This work was published in three volumes. Volume 3 was published in 1943 and chapter 11 is on the Australian Army Nursing Service. Chapter XIII is the The Australian Invalid in England while chapter XIV is Sea Transport of Australian Soldiers. This title is also available in the State Library of Victoria collection.

The research that I am currently doing is about the experiences of a nurse who served in the Sea Transport Service. The Australian National Maritime Museum provides the book, Sea Transport of the AIF by Greville Tregarthen online which has useful information.

The Looking for Evidence website includes a section on the Sea Transport Service listing the Australian women who served.

This website also has a section on AANS uniforms.

The Australian War Memorial website includes an information sheet on researching Australian First World War troop ships.

Desert Column website includes a section with information and images of Australian First World War troop ships.

There are also booklets online about the various hospitals where the nurse worked.

Three copies of No 5 AGH magazine (published 1918) are available on the National Library of Australia website. The first issue produced by staff and patients includes a history of the hospital.

No 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital Southall Middlesex is a booklet available on the National Library website. This hospital specialised in treating amputees.

No 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital Southall war diaries from August 1917 to April 1919 are available one on the Australian War Memorial website.

No 3 Australian War Memorial Hospital Dartford war diaries are also available online on the Australian War Memorial website. The diaries cover the period June 1917 to September 1919.
A description of the hospital at Dartford was provided in the war diary for February 1918.

Other websites relating to Dartford include:
Dartford Hospital Histories

Dartford Hospital - Kent history

The diary of Mary Ann Pocock who was matron at Dartford during 1917 is also available online on the National Library website.

There were also hospitals or convalescent homes specifically for Australian nurses.
One of these was Southwell Gardens

There is also material online specifically about Australian Nurses in World War Iincluding:
Great War Nurses - Australian War Memorial website
Researching Australian Military Nurses - Australian War Memorial information sheet 
Australian Nurses in World War I - website
Researching Australian Nurses - State Library of Victoria - guide

The roses of no man's land

One of the books that was frequently mentioned in the forum of the online course - World War I: a history in 100 stories - was the book by Lyn Macdonald, The roses of no man's land.  Lyn is a British author who has written a series of books on World War I based on first hand accounts of those who were involved. In The roses of no man's land she focuses on the stories of the medical personnel, particularly the VADs and nurses, as well as some of those injured providing another viewpoint of the events and effects of the war.

The book is divided into three sections - 1914-1915, 1915-1917 and 1918. Part of the first section tells the story of the unofficial teams of women, led by a woman of society, who took it upon themselves to establish hospitals and ambulance services for the injured. The book then looks at the development of the VADs - members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment - who initially assisted in hospitals in England but as the war wore on were used in medical units at the front, some undertaking nursing duties. The book looks at the development of the war through the experiences of these medical workers and their patients. One of the issues looked at is the reaction of trained nurses to the VADs. This experience parallels the accounts written of the experiences of Australian nurses working with British medical teams.

This book is another valuable contribution to the history of the First World War. Other books by Lyn Macdonald include They called it Passchendaele, Somme, 1914-the days of hope, 1914-1918-voices of the Great War, 1915 - death of innocence, To the last man: Spring 1918 and At the going down of the sun (co-author).

Daughters of Mars

Sally and Naomi Durance were sisters, the daughters of a New South Wales dairy farmer. They were both nurses but although Sally worked in the local hospital while continuing to live at home helping her father look after her sick mother, Naomi had escaped to work in a Sydney hospital. Then came World War I and both the girls enlisted to serve overseas. This novel by Thomas Keneally traces the relationships of the two sisters as they encounter the horrors wrought by war on the bodies of the young soldiers fighting at Gallipoli and then on the Western Front. The many aspects of the wrath of Mars are described through the experiences of the nurses first on a hospital ship, the Archimedes, on an evacuation station on the island of Lemnos and at clearing stations and at an Australian Voluntary Hospital in France. The story however is told through the lives of the two sisters and their friends as they struggle to survive and help those wounded in battle. Based on war diaries written by First World War nurses the book provides an insight into the effects of war both physically and mentally on those who become involved. Although euthanasia forms a sub-plot in the story a major theme is the development of the relationship and understanding between the two sisters forged largely by their war-time experiences.

During the next few years with the centenary of the First World War approaching this book is a valuable contribution to the material written about events occurring between 1914 and 1918.