About this record

This inventory details the contents of Sister Hilda Mary Knox’s cabin trunk at the time of her death in 1917. Knox, a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, is believed to have died from cerebrospinal meningitis while serving in France. The list (part of her First Australian Imperial Force personnel dossier) includes surgical instruments, mosquito netting and clothing, as well as personal items such as hairbrushes, books and photo albums. The contents were eventually sent to her father, James B Knox, in Benalla, Victoria.

Educational value

• This list of Hilda Mary Knox’s final possessions is a sad reminder of the tragic news that would greet many families in Australia during the First World War. While all four children in the Knox family enlisted in the army, only two survived the war.
• Knox joined the No. 14 Australian General Hospital Corps as a trained nurse on 21 November 1914 and left Melbourne for Egypt a fortnight later. She spent most of the next two years treating Australian soldiers who were wounded while fighting against Turkish and German forces.
• Knox spent much of her time nursing on hospital ships, which were fitted out to treat hundreds of wounded or sick soldiers. These included the SS Kyarra—one of several large coastal liners requisitioned by the Australian government for use as hospital ships during World War I—and the SS Argyllshire, which was used to transport soldiers to Gallipoli.
• When Knox arrived in Egypt, Australian troops were being trained for the Gallipoli campaign, which lasted from April to December 1915. It resulted in 26,700 Australian casualties, including 8,700 deaths. For a time, Knox served at the 14th Australian General Hospital in Cairo, where the conditions were extremely harsh. Hospital wards were overcrowded, and nursing staff and medical supplies limited. Medicines such as penicillin had not yet been invented.
• The list gives an insight into the range of practical and personal items Australian nurses needed to take when they left to serve in the First World War. These included vests, nightdresses, ‘knickers’, gloves, chiffon scarves and muslin collars. Cold-weather clothing included a woollen jacket and bed socks. Equipment included a flask, a clothes brush and water bottles. The trunk also contained 48 handkerchiefs, a popular item of the era.