Kirsty Harris - More Than Bombs and Bandages: Australian Army nurses at work in World War I

Australian Army nurses at work in World War I

Australian Army nurses at work in World War I

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THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY HISTORY COLLECTION

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Bowler of Gallipoli
Frank Glen

Vets at War
Ian M. Parsonson

Only One River to Cross
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The Fragile Forts
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Hassett: Australian Leader
John Essex-Clark

Persian Expedition
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The Chiefs of the Australian Army
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Never Late
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To Villers-Bretonneux
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Madness and the Military
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The Battle of Anzac Ridge 25 April 1915
Peter D. Williams

Doves Over the Pacific
Reuben R.E. Bowd

The Lionheart
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Battlefield Korea
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Chemical Warfare in Australia
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Between Victor and Vanquished
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Country Victorias Own
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Surgeon and General
Ian Howie-Willis

Willingly into the Fray
Catherine McCullagh

Beyond Adversity
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Crumps and Camouflets
Damien Finlayson

The Last Knight
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To Bessie, Jean, Anne and Mel my family of nurses

Copyright Kirsty Harris 2011

First published 2011

Copyright remains the property of the author and apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

All inquiries should be made to the publishers.

Big Sky Publishing Pty Ltd
PO Box 303, Newport, NSW 2106, Australia

Cover design and typesetting: Think Productions

Edited: Cathy McCullagh

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Harris, Kirsty.
Title: More than bombs and bandages : Australian army nurses at work
in world war I / Kirsty Harris.
ISBN: 9780980814057 (hbk.)
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subjects: Australia. Army--Nurses.
Australia. Army. Australian Army Nursing Service.
Military nursing--Australia--History.
Nurses--Australia--History.
World War, 1914-1918--Medical care--Australia.
Dewey Number: 940.47594

TABLE OF CONTENTS

C: Army Nursing Services, Australian Imperial Force,
Extracts from Regulations and Orders, issued with M.O. 471/1917.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AAH Australian Auxiliary Hospital

AANS Australian Army Nursing Service

ACCS Australian Casualty Clearing Station

ADMS Assistant Director Medical Services (for Australia)

AGH Australian General Hospital

AIF Australian Imperial Force

AAMC Australian Army Medical Corps

ARRC Associate Royal Red Cross

ASH Australian Stationary Hospital

AWM Australian War Memorial, Canberra

BEF British Expeditionary Force

BGH British General Hospital

Bn Battalion

BSH British Stationary Hospital

CCS Casualty Clearing Station

CO Commanding Officer

Col Colonel

DGMS Director General of Medical Services

DI Dangerously Ill

DMS Director of Medical Services

EEF Egyptian Expeditionary Force

GOC General Officer Commanding

HS Hospital Ship

MO Medical Officer

NAA National Archives of Australia

NLA National Library of Australia

OC Officer in Command (usually the person in command)

PB Permanent Base: soldiers designated as fit or suitable only to work in rear areas

PMO Principal Medical Officer

POW Prisoner of War

QAIMNS Queen Alexandras Imperial Military Nursing Service (British)

RAMC Royal Army Medical Corps (British)

RFC Royal Flying Corps

RRC Royal Red Cross

SLV State Library of Victoria

TFNS Territorial Force Nursing Service (a British nursing service)

VAD Voluntary Aid Detachment worker

WWI World War I

WGH Welsh General Hospital

WH War Hospital

PREFACE

My interest in this topic began with my paternal grandmother, Bessie Proudfoot, who was a nurse in the Australian Army Nursing Service in World War I. My general research into Bessies military postings, while uncovering some detail of her nursing career, did not satisfy my younger sister, also a registered nurse, who asked out of professional interest, But what did she actually do? While I knew where Bessie had served, and something of her social life and adventures (she met my grandfather in Cairo), it was difficult to find information on the roles and skills that she might have developed as a war nurse. Bessie did not leave us a diary and I found no reference to her in other nurses writings. This book is the result of trying to answer the question, What did she do? not just for Gran, but for all members of the Australian Army Nursing Service.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Army History Unit has made possible the publication of this book and I am grateful to the staff of the unit for their support and my editor Cathy McCullagh for her enthusiasm and professionalism.

I would like to convey my sincere thanks to Kate Darian-Smith, Sioban Nelson and Richard Trembath for their guidance and encouragement. I am also grateful to staff at the Brownless and Baillieu libraries of the University of Melbourne, the Australian War Memorial Research Centre (particularly Merv Collins), Central Army Records Office, Melbourne, the state libraries around Australia whose staff willingly provided assistance and advice, and my local Richmond library. Without the staff at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra and access to the personal files of those nurses who served, this book would be diminished considerably. Likewise, my gratitude extends to all the relatives of members of the Australian Army Nursing Service who so kindly granted me access to family papers.