In this book we follow the lives and careers of nurses from Australia
and New Zealand who cared for sick and wounded soldiers during the First
World War (1914-1918). The nurses were members of Australian Army
Nursing Service (AANS), while the soldiers came from Australia and New
Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).
Peter Rees - the author of the book -
has been a reporter for many years, writing for publications such as
the Melbourne Sun, the West Australian, and the Sunday Telegraph. He is
the author of several books, including
Desert Boys: Australians at War from Beersheba to Tobruk and El Alamein (2012) and
Bearing Witness: The Remarkable Life of Charles Bean, Australia's Greatest War Correspondent (2015).
The first edition of his book (published in 2008) is called
The Other Anzacs. It is based on a wide range of primary sources, including diaries and
letters written by the nurses during the First World War. It is
fortunate that the nurses wrote so many letters and made so many entries
in their diaries. It is even more fortunate that this unique evidence
has been preserved until today so Peter Rees was able to use it to write
his account about the nurses.
The book inspired the television series
Anzac Girls which was shown on Australian television (ABC1) in 2014. A second
edition of his book was published in that year in order to coincide with
the drama that was being broadcast on television. The second edition of
his book has the same title as the tv series, "Anzac Girls." A
statement on the front cover explains that this is "The book that
inspired the ABC1 tv series."
The main text is divided into three
parts and 32 chapters, which follow a more or less chronological line
from the beginning of the war in 1914 to the end of the war in 1918.
Here is a brief overview:
*** Part one
GALLIPOLI - from April to December 1915
Chapters 1-13
*** Part two
THE MARQUETTE - October 1915
Chapters 14-17
*** Part three
THE WESTERN FRONT - from 1916 to 1918 and beyond
Chapters 18-32
At the end of the book we find the following short sections:
** Australian World War I nurses honour roll
** New Zealand World War I nurses honour roll
** Notes
** Bibliography
** Acknowledgements
** Index
The
index, which covers 15 pages, is useful, but incomplete. Several
persons and places mentioned in the main text are not listed here.
Examples of persons not listed in the index are Norval "Pat" Dooley and
Gordon Carter. Examples of places not listed in the index are Fromelles
and Trois Arbres. It is a shame the index is incomplete.
What
about illustrations? There many illustrations in this book, but they are
not numbered (I counted 98) and they are all placed in one block in the
middle of the book (between chapters 19 and 20). This method is used
because the illustrations are printed on 48 pages of glossy paper. All
pictures are in black-and-white, because they were taken during the
First World War. The pictures are well-chosen and support the text very
well. The author has found many pictures in private collections.
Unfortunately, they are never mentioned in the text. There are no
cross-references from the text to the illustrations or the other way
around.
The story of Anzac has been told before in books and
documentary films. But most of them focus on the politicians, the
generals and the soldiers who are all men. Peter Rees has a different
approach. In this book the focus is on the nurses who were until
recently virtually forgotten.
Nurses from Australia and New
Zealand played an important role during the First World War, working in
military hospitals in Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, on the Greek island
of Lemnos (only 60 km from Gallipoli), on hospital ships in the
Mediterranean Sea, and in various field hospitals along the western
front in France. While they did not serve at the front, they were not
far from it (casualty clearing stations were very close to the front),
and they saw the consequences of war when sick and wounded soldiers
arrived at a hospital to be treated.
In this book we follow them
from one location to the next. Their assignments were hard and heavy and
in many cases they had to carry them out under horrible conditions.
Being a nurse was demanding and distressing. Danger was never far away.
Not all nurses survived the war.
GALLIPOLI
The first part of
the book is about Gallipoli. The Anzac troops landed on the Gallipoli
Peninsula on 25 April 1915. It was the beginning of a long and
devastating campaign which finally ended eight months later, in December
1915. The date 25 April is known as Anzac Day in Australia and New
Zealand.
The level of casualties was high, much higher than the
high command had expected. The resources available for hospital
equipment and staff were hopelessly inadequate. Doctors and nurses had
to cope with whatever they had while they tried to help and save as many
soldiers as possible.
Three of the six episodes of the Australian television series are connected with the Gallipoli campaign.
THE MARQUETTE
The
second part of the book is about the sinking of the
Marquette. In
October 1915, no. 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital and its staff were
being transported across the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Greece on
the Marquette. Since the ship was also carrying ammunition and troops,
it was a legitimate target for the enemy. On 23 October 1915 the
Marquette was hit by a torpedo from the German submarine U-35 and sank
in about ten minutes. More than one hundred persons lost their lives,
including ten nurses from New Zealand.
Following this disaster,
the government of New Zealand insisted that hospital equipment and staff
from New Zealand should be transported on hospital ships marked with a
red cross. At the time the German government had promised to respect the
red cross.
The sinking of the Marquette is mentioned in the
Australian television series, but it is very brief. In fact, less than three
minutes are devoted to the disaster. In the book there are four chapters
about the episode, so Peter Rees can provide more details and more
discussion about the case.
THE WESTERN FRONT
The third part of
the book is about the war on the western front in France. This part of
the book covers the time from 1916 to the end of the war in 1918 and
beyond. The war in France was a war of attrition. The frontline between
the two enemies remained in almost the same place for several years.
Sometimes
the German army would push a bit forward, but both sides would pay a
terrible price, i.e. heavy casualties. Later the allied forces would
push back, and again both sides would pay a heavy price. Many soldiers
were killed or wounded on the battlefield. There were several cases of
gas attacks which had devastating effects.
Airplanes were used to
bomb the enemy behind the frontline. Even field hospitals located well
behind the frontline were attacked in this way. No one was safe as long
as the war continued.
Three of the six episodes of the Australian television series are connected with the war on the western front.
THE HARSH REALITY OF WAR
When
we read about the high level of casualties, we can see that the high
command of the allied powers did not care much for the lives of the
ordinary soldiers. Whenever a thousand soldiers were killed in action
and another thousand were wounded, their response was simple: they must
be replaced. And then they carried on in the same way as before. It did
not occur to them that they should change the way they conducted the war
or perhaps stop the war altogether.
The soldiers who fought for
Anzac had volunteered. Later, when the number of volunteers began to
drop, some politicians wanted to introduce conscription, but they never
succeeded. Chapter 28 is devoted to this topic.
Many soldiers
suffered from what what we call post-traumatic stress disorder. In
chapter 19 Peter Rees explains:
"People did not yet understand the
causes of what is now termed post-traumatic stress disorder, or how
caring for these cases of so-called shell shock affected the nurses
themselves."
In chapter 23 he returns to this topic:
"In addition
to the physical effects of shell fire there was the psychological
damage. Men who had to endure a prolonged bombardment would often suffer
debilitating shell shock, a condition that was not well understood at
the time... The sisters soon discovered that they too, were were
considered at risk."
Sometimes it was difficult for the nurses to carry on. In chapter 25 Peter Rees quotes from the diary of nurse Alice Ross-King:
"The
battle to save the wounded often seemed futile. 'The last post is being
played nearly all day at the cemetery next door to the hospital. So
many deaths', Alice lamented. With so much carnage from the Ypres
Offensive, her faith began to falter. The padre was always praying that
'Right will prevail', but Alice was beginning to wonder. 'I can't
believe there is a God. It is too awful for words'."
During the
war the nurses had to face some unexpected problems. Some male officers
did not respect them and did not think that they were needed. After a
while most of them were forced to change their minds. Nurses from
Australia and New Zealand also found that some British nurses looked
down on them as colonials. On page 212, Peter Rees quotes Australian
Matron Grace Wilson:
"It seemed at times to the Australian Sister that
the Q. A. [Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service] Sister
laid more stress on the care of equipment - the orderliness of her ward -
and the filling in of Military Forms than the actual nursing of her
patients."
After the war the nurses also had to face some
unexpected problems. While the governments of Australia and New Zealand
were prepared to offer economic assistance to veterans from the war,
nurses who had been in the war did not receive any such assistance. The
Anzac myth that grew up after the war was mostly about the soldiers,
while the nurses were virtually forgotten.
ROMANCE, LOVE AND MARRIAGE
Matters
of the heart is a topic that pops up many times in the book. In spite
of the war - or perhaps because of it - some nurses thought about
romance, love and marriage. Here are a few examples:
*** Elsie
Sheppard and Sydney "Syd" Cook met and married in Australia in 1914.
Both of them went to war. Elsie as a nurse and "Syd" as a soldier. Since
a nurse was not allowed to be married, Elsie signed up under her maiden
name. Later when her marital status was discovered, the matron wanted
to send her home, but she refused to go and they realised that they
needed every nurse they could get, so they allowed her to stay on for a
while. Once she returned to Australia, she had to resign. But she wanted
to be close to her husband, so she signed up with the French Red Cross.
Since the uniform of this organisation included a blue cape, these
nurses were known as Bluebirds. Elsie and "Syd" survived the war and
returned to Australia. They both died in 1972. Elsie and "Syd" Cook are
two of the main characters in the Australian television series.
***
Katherine "Kath" King and Gordon Carter met during and because of the
war. He proposed to her and they were married. When she married him, she
had to resign. "Kath" and Gordon survived the war and returned to
Australia. Gordon died in 1963, while "Kath" died in 1972. They do no
appear in the Australian television series.
*** Olive Haynes and Norval
"Pat" Dooley met during and because of the war. He proposed to her and
they were married. When she married him, she had to resign. Both
survived the war. Both died in 1978. Olive and "Pat" are two of the main
characters in the Australian television series.
*** Alice Ross-King and
Harry Moffitt met during and because of the war. Judging from his
letters and several entries in her diary they were soul mates, but fate
was cruel to them: Harry was killed in action at Fromelles in 1916. It
is heart-breaking to read about this couple whose chance of happiness
was destroyed by war. Alice survived the war. After the war she married a
man who had been a military doctor during the war (he understood what
she had been through). She died in 1968. Alice Ross-King and Harry
Moffitt are two of the main characters in the Australian television series.
On the last page of the last chapter Peter Rees writes:
"Alice
lived a full and accomplished life, both professionally and personally
in a loving relationship. However, there was a part of her that stored a
private grief for Harry Moffitt. Each year on the anniversary of his
death, she would spend the day quietly, retiring to her bedroom for a
time. After her death her children discovered a shoebox under the bed in
which she kept her most personal possessions. Inside was Harry's last
letter."
CONCLUSION
Two things stand out when you read this
book. The first thing is the futility of war, in particular the madness
of the First World War. The other thing is the commitment, devotion and
loyalty of the Anzac Girls, the nurses from Australia and New Zealand.
In
the midst of war, surrounded by death and destruction, they tried to
keep up their spirits, help their patients and preserve some kind of
humanity.
It is obvious to compare the book and the television series.
Having read the book, and having watched the television series, I wish to
recommend both. The book can provide details, documentation and
background information which you will not find in the television series.
The
television series, on the other hand, can offer a visual aspect which you
cannot find in the book. I think the book and the television series complement
each other very well.
The book is well-written and
well-documented. The First World War seen from the perspective of a
nurse is a horrible story, but one that is worth knowing and worth
telling. Peter Rees has done a great job with this book, making the
story available to the public and reminding us about the significant
contribution which the nurses made during the First World War.
Therefore it is highly recommended.
* * *
Peter Rees,
Anzac Girls:
The Extraordinary Story of Our World War I Nurses,
Allen & Unwin, 2014, 363 pages
* * *
