This guide focuses on Australians serving in World War 1. It also includes some information relevant to Great Britain, other Commonwealth nations and other combatant nations. There is a section on nurses and women's war occupations.
When war broke out, some Australian women travelled overseas at their own expense to help the wounded, while others already overseas enlisted as nurses in British hospitals or in the British army’s nursing service. The British War Office requested that Australia raise medical units for overseas service. As Australia had few male nurses, more women were trained as nurses to fill the need for military nursing orderlies, increasing the number of female nurses. Hospitals were set up in
Nursing provided a major opportunity for Australian women to participate actively in the war. Around 3000 Australian nurses served as part of the Australian Army Nursing Service in places as diverse as
Australian nurses proved to be energetic, hardworking and resilient in very difficult circumstances. Challenges they faced included poor facilities, lack of staff, disease, harsh climate and of course, large numbers of wounded and traumatised patients. Language difficulties with some patients were another problem they had to overcome.
See the Library catalogue for more resources.
Service records of Australian nurses are held by the National Archives of Australia. Go to Explore the Collection and click on RecordSearch. From there, click on NameSearch. Type in the family name of the nurse and select World War I from the category of records.
For Australian nurses with the British forces, see the Discovery National Archives UK website.
See the website Australian nurses in World War I for biographical information and photos of Australian nurses who served in World War I. The biographies are arranged in alphabetical order. Books about nurses in World War I are listed, with book covers and information.
To find photos of nurses search the State Library catalogue on the Search & Discover page. Type the words World War I nurses in the catalogue search box at the top of the page. Select Pictures & photographs in the drop-down menu and click search.
The National Archives UK website contains vast British historical government and public records including service records for World War 1. Many Australians served with the British forces in various areas including nursing. State Library Victoria no longer subscribes to their Discovery database, so you may have to pay to view some records.
Books on Australian nurses in World War I are listed on the library catalogue. The official catalogue subject heading for World War I is World War 1914-1918, so you can combine this term with a topic to make your search more precise:
Examples:
World War 1914-1918 nurses
World War 1914-1918 medical care
For Australian material, just add the word Australia.
Librarians at the Information Desk or on the phone at 8664 7002 can assist with searches.
Three nurses, Egypt, H2011.36/63
This image is from an Album of photographs relating to World War I, compiled by Kathleen Gawler, an Australian nurse who served with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service.
Nurses carrying a 17 stone (108 kilograms or 238 pounds) wounded soldier.
Navy and army illustrated, Feb. 13, 1915 page 118.
