GREAT WAR STORIES 

Chapter 1

GREAT WAR STORIES 1914-1918 NURSES OF THE SOUTH WEST

During the course of the war more than three thousand Australian Nurses served with the AANS, QAIMNSR, British Nursing Services, Australian Voluntary Hospitals and a number of branches of the Red Cross Society. Australian Nurses worked in almost two hundred different locations and on more than forty Hospital Ships during the course of the war. Our South West Nurses were posted for war service in more than fifty different nursing facilities in eight separate nations; Belgium, Egypt, England, France, Greece, India, Italy and Serbia. The average age of our South West Nurses at enlistment for war service was thirty years.

A number of our nurses were posted for duty at Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS) which were established very near to the front line. It was also preferential that the CCS be established in close proximity to railway networks. Nurses often risked their lives by being in locations that were targeted by enemy aerial bombardments. The CCS units were regularly ordered to relocate to a more advanced area, rebuild the hospital and swiftly respond by treating new casualties. Some nurses were transferred to service aboard Ambulance Trains which provided a highly effective means of moving many thousands of wounded and injured to Base Hospitals and Hospital Ships for repatriation to Britain.

Military Nurses were dedicated to the daily battle of saving lives. Careful Military Nursing prevented the onset of secondary pneumonia or further infection which often proved fatal. Nurses also assisted in preventing dehydration, excessive blood loss and aided in reducing depression and increasing the patients will to live. A substantial number of soldiers believed that they survived their wounds or illness, solely due to the dedicated and devoted work of our nurses.

NURSE STANDARDS to be met to QUALIFY for ENLISTMENT with AANS

(1) Applicant to be between twenty one and forty years of age (later extended to a maximum age of forty five years),
(2) Applicant must have completed three years probationary nursing training and gained qualification,
(3) Applicant must be unmarried or widowed ( if a nurse married during her service, she was immediately issued with a mandatory discharge from the AANS),
(4) Applicant must pass a Medical Examination,
(5) Applicant must acknowledge the requirement to obey Military Regulations,
(6) Applicant should provide references recommending their suitability for Military Service (a Medical Officer had to certify that each nurse was in sound health, capable of doing hard work and undergoing fatigue).
(7) Nurses were initially reimbursed at half the rate paid to males of similar rank.
(8) It was also preferential that nurses were members of the Australasian Trained Nurses Association (ATNA).

Working Hours were stipulated to be as follows:-
Day Number One- 7.00a.m – 8.00p.m
Day Number Two- 7.00a.m -1.00p.m.

This roster was meant to remain in place on a continuous basis; the nurses were also expected to take turns in working within a night duty roster for at least forty eight hours.
After six months service a nurse was to be approved two consecutive weeks of leave.
It appears there were many instances where nurses did not benefit from the proposed working hours and leave arrangements.

MILITARY NURSING DUTIES and EXPECTATIONS

The most dominant theme of the Nursing Profession was to serve the sick and wounded. On the first outward voyage of the AANS aboard the H.S. “Mooltan” which embarked Fremantle in May 1915 there were two Senior Medical Officers on board who provided the nurses with hints on treating bullet and shell wounds. The medical and nursing staff were required to treat injuries which were not commonly encountered in Australia. The vast majority of soldiers wounds were caused by bullets, shrapnel, high explosive shells, trench mortars and hand grenades. Nurses were charged with providing formalized medical care to heal as many of the wounded as possible to enable their return to the battlefield. Nurses were expected to adapt professionally to encompass a full range of duties, including:-
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To work as an integral part of surgical teams, set up close to the front line and occasionally coming under enemy fire,
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Posted to duty on sea transport hospital ships carrying sick and wounded from battle zones to England for treatment or return to Australia for discharge,
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Managing hospital wards that were overrun with patient numbers,
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Coping with makeshift hospital locations and the associated lack of basic amenities and hospital necessities.
Skills and roles of Military Nurses differed significantly from the skills required for general nursing in Australia. The Florence NIGHTINGALE principles of Nursing were widely adopted in practical nursing whether in peacetime or military situations. Our Australian Nurses were also confronted with significant language and cultural barriers, particularly evident in Indian Hospitals where nurses often had to work with local orderlies who spoke little or no English.

LEST WE FORGET