More than 2000 Australian nurses served in the Australian Army Nursing Service during the First World War.
They may have been motivated by adventure or by loyalty to Australia and the British Empire – or held hopes that enlisting would take them closer to loved ones serving overseas.
Nurses worked in hospitals, on ships near battlefields inaccessible by land, on trains and in casualty clearing stations (makeshift wards close to the frontline). Nurses had to be aged between 25 and 40, and unmarried.
Twenty-five Australian nurses died during the war and eight were awarded the Military Medal for bravery.
Curriculum areas
- Year 9 History
- Year 11 History
- Year 12 History
Questions
- What was the experience of nurses who served in the First World War?
- Where did nurses serve?
- What challenges did nurses face during their service?
