Embedded Files
Historical Research
Historical Research
– Looking for the Evidence By Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )
– Looking for the Evidence By Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )
Australian Women who gave their lives in WW1
Australian Women who gave their lives in WW1
Research Disclaimer : Please note that This Research was done many years ago now :
so the information contained may now be out of date , photos gone missing or web links broken
My apologises : But It has become an impossible task to try and keep it up to date - Jenny
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service - 6 Deaths
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service - 6 Deaths
Myrtle Elizabeth Wilson
Myrtle Elizabeth Wilson
Photo source: Lives of the First World War
Died 23 December 1915
Cause of Death Died of pneumonia
Age at Death 38
Cemetery or Memorial Details FRANCE Wimereux Communal Cemetery
Rank Sister
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Service British Army
Headstone - Sister Myrtle Wilson
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Died on 23rd December 1915 aged 38
Daughter of Andrew Wilson and Catherine Wilson, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Left Queensland for Nursing Service, April 1915
Grave: III M 1
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll entry
Service Number
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Conflict 1914-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry
WILSON, MYRTLE ELIZABETH
Rank: Sister
Date of Death: 23/12/1915
Age: 38
Regiment/Service: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Grave Reference III. M. 1.
Cemetery WIMEREUX COMMUNAL CEMETERY
Additional Information:
Daughter of Andrew Stevens Wilson and Catherine Wilson, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Left Queensland for Nursing Service, April, 1915.
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/85406/WILSON,%20MYRTLE%20ELIZABETH
Charlotte Berrie
Charlotte Berrie
Died 8 January 1919
Age at Death 32
Cemetery or Memorial Details PALESTINE 3. Jerusalem War Cemetery. Q. 107
Rank Nursing Sister
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Service British Army
Sister of Mrs. Gladys M. Macgrega of 12 Brightmore St. Neutral Bay Sydney New South Wales.
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll entry
Name Berrie, Charlotte
Service Number
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Conflict 1914-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry
BERRIE, CHARLOTTE
Rank: Nursing Sister
Date of Death: 08/01/1919
Age: 32
Regiment/Service: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Grave Reference Q. 107.
Cemetery JERUSALEM WAR CEMETERY
Additional Information:
Sister of Mrs. Gladys M. Macgrega, of 12, Brightmore St., Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales.
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/646252/BERRIE,%20CHARLOTTE
Florence Narrelle Jessie Hobbes
Florence Narrelle Jessie Hobbes
Photo source from : Lives of the First World War
Date of Death 10 May 1918
Cause of Death Died at sea
Age at Death 37
Cemetery or Memorial Details BASRA MEMORIAL Iraq . Panel 43
Rank Sister
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Service British Army
Buried at sea 10/05/18 Aged 37 Panel 43. Daughter of the late J.F. and Margaret Hobbes.
Basra Memorial was originally erected in the city of Basra but was dismantled and re-erected in the Desert by Saddam Hussein's regime. The panels were poorly fitted and in some cases have now been destroyed. Many names are obscured by cement or damaged.
http://www.womenshistory.com.au/image.asp?iID=287
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll entry
Name Hobbes, Florence Narrelle Jessie
Service Number
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Conflict 1914-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry
HOBBES, NARRELLE
Rank: Sister
Date of Death: 10/05/1918
Age: 37
Regiment/Service: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Panel Reference Panel 43.
Memorial BASRA MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Daughter of the late J.F. and Margaret Hobbes.
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/866030/HOBBES,%20NARRELLE
Florence Narrelle Jessie Hobbes was born at Tilba Tilba, New South Wales on 21 August 1878. Hobbes started her training as a nurse in 1903, at the age of 24. After passing her exams in 1910, she began nursing in Cobar before moving to the Brewarrina District Hospital, New South Wales, where she was working when war broke out.
Determined to serve in an active capacity during the war, Hobbes embarked at Sydney for London on 20 February 1915. On arrival in London in April, her preference was to enlist with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNSR). After being accepted by the QAIMNSR, Hobbes arrived in Malta by the end of May and began nursing casualties from the Gallipoli campaign in Valletta Military Hospital.
In August 1915, Hobbes was promoted to be in charge of St David’s Tent hospital on Malta. At the end of November, she was transferred to Sicily and nursed at the Excelsior Palace Hotel Hospital. After the hospital closed in March 1916, Hobbes returned to Malta briefly before being posted to No. 22 British Stationary Hospital, which was to be stationed in Mesopotamia (Iraq). Leaving Malta on 15 May 1916, Hobbes’ journey took her via India.
Hobbes arrived in Bombay (Mumbai), India, at the beginning of June 1916 but adverse weather conditions in Mesopotamia delayed her forward journey. She worked in the Victoria War Hospital whilst waiting to move on to Mesopotamia, eventually arriving in Basra, in late August or early September 1916. In October, Hobbes moved north from Basra on the Tigris River to Amara, where she was allocated to No. 32 British General Hospital.
Having been on active service without leave for two years, Hobbes fell sick in June 1917, and was moved to the Colaba War Hospital on the outskirts of Bombay. After recovering sufficiently, she was granted sick leave, and chose to recover at the small hill station Binsar, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. Still not fully recovered or diagnosed, she was moved to Almora in November 1917.
By the end of January 1918, Hobbes was moved to Meerut to be examined by a surgeon, who sent her on to Bombay for specialist treatment, even though she had still not been diagnosed. Hobbes arrived back at Colaba War Hospital in mid-February. At this time Hobbes’ sister, Elise, was sent by her family to ascertain her wellbeing. Arriving in India in March 1918, Elise was told that Hobbes was dying from advanced liver cancer. By April 1918, Hobbes and her sister were on a ship bound for Australia and on 10 May, four days out from Fremantle, Hobbes died. She was buried at sea after a simple funeral service. Florence Narrelle Jessie Hobbes is commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq.
May Dickson
May Dickson
Portrait of Sister May Dickson, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNS(R)), the first Australian woman to be buried in Australia with full military honours.
Died 4 October 1917
Cause of Death Illness
Age at Death 37
Place of Death Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Cemetery or Memorial Details Coburg Cemetery, Vic, Australia
Rank Sister
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Service British Army
Sister May Dickson, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS), the first Australian woman to be buried in Australia with full military honours. Sister Dickson was a native of Australia and her education as a nurse began here. Not long after the war broke out she went to England and joined the QAIMNS. When her health broke down under strain, it was thought that the climate of her homeland might restore it. She was on her way home to Sydney, but when the vessel reached Melbourne she was so ill that it was necessary to take her ashore. Sister Dickson died of illness in Melbourne 4 October 1917
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll entry
Name Dickson, May
Service Number
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Conflict 1914-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry - no entry found
Agnes Beryl Corfield
Agnes Beryl Corfield
Photo source from : Lives of the First World War
Died 2 February 1916,
Cause of Death Illness typhoid
Age at Death -
Place of Death Alexandria
Cemetery or Memorial Details - Chatby Military cemetery, Alexandria
Rank Staff Nurse ,
Unit QAIMNS,
of Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia,
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll entry
Service Number
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Conflict 1914-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry
CORFIELD, AGNES BERYL
Rank: Sister
Date of Death: 02/02/1916
Regiment/Service: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
15th Gen. Hosp.
Grave Reference Q. 561.
Cemetery ALEXANDRIA (CHATBY) MILITARY AND WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/108015/CORFIELD,%20AGNES%20BERYL
Nellie M Saw
Nellie M Saw
Service number: R40618
Rank: Staff Nurse
Unit: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Service: British Army
Conflict: 1914-1918
Date of death: 31 March 1919
Place of death: Albany Hospital, Western Australia
Cause of death: Illness (Tuberculosis)
Cemetery or memorial details: Albany Public Cemetery (Old), Western Australia
Source: AWM file
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll entry
Name Saw, Nellie M
Service Number R40618
Unit Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Conflict 1914-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry
SAW, NELLIE
Rank: Staff Nurse
Service No: R40618
Date of Death: 31/03/1919
Age: 29
Regiment/Service: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Grave Reference Meth Section. Row A. Grave 1
Cemetery ALBANY PUBLIC CEMETERY (OLD)
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/75200138/SAW,%20NELLIE
(Alice) Blanche Atikinson
(Alice) Blanche Atikinson
Photo sourced from Find A Grave
Rank: Staff Nurse
Unit: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve
Service: British Army
Conflict: 1914-1918
Date of death: 9/12/1916
Place of death : Crafers, Sth Australia
Cause of death: Illness
Cemetery or memorial details: Stirling East Cemetery, SA (Now Stirling General Cemetery )
Source: Great War Forum
Newspaper -
Staff nurse Blanche Atkinson; eldest daughter of Mrs M. A. Atkinson and the late Mr F. J. Atkinson of Crafers; born at Crafers; served at the Adelaide Hospital and in Western Australia; went to England at the outbreak of war and joined the Royal British Nursing Association; on staff at the Brockenhurst Military Hospital when due to overwork became ill and was hospitalised. While in her hosptial bed the King decorated her with the Royal Red Cross for her "devotion to service"; once well enough to travel she was invalided back to Adelaide. From the effects of TB and physical and mental exhaustion she died 9 December 1916, Crafers; aged 38.
Australian War Memorial search - no entry found
Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry
ATKINSON, BLANCHE
Rank: Staff Nurse
Date of Death: 09/12/1916
Age: 38
Regiment/Service: Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Grave Reference General Section Grave 177/178
Cemetery STIRLING DISTRICT CEMETERY
Additional Information:
N.B.
Recent research has shown that Staff Nurse Atkinson is buried here.
Staff Nurse Atkinson was awarded the ARRC.
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/75230039/ATKINSON,%20BLANCHE
Info from Find A Grave
She was the holder of the A R R C = Associate Royal Red Cross
The Royal Red Cross medal (or more accurately decoration) was introduced to Military Nursing by Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria on 27 April in 1883 [which was St George's Day.] The decoration is awarded to army nurses for exceptional services, devotion to duty and professional competence in British military nursing. [Queen Victoria wanted a special award for the distinguished service by women nursing sisters in South Africa.]
The Royal Warrant said that it be given “upon any ladies, whether subjects or foreign persons, who may be recommended by Our Secretary of State for War for special exertions in providing for the nursing of sick and wounded soldiers and sailors of Our Army and Navy."
The QAIMNS started some 12 years before the outbreak of the Great War during a time of relative peace in the British Empire. The Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service replaced the Army Nursing Service (ANS) and the Indian Nursing Service (INS) by royal warrant on the 27 March 1902. They were named in honour of Queen Alexandra
References:
References:
Just to put this list together it took 9 months of going thru the
British Nursing Journals archive - http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk
Commonwealth War Graves - http://www.cwgc.org/
Australian War memorial - www.awm.gov.au/
1st Published : 21 Oct 2011 Page Updated: 22 Sept 2020 © Looking for the Evidence : Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )
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