Download Australia in the First World War The Uren family For countless

Memorial Box 1: Australia in the First World War
The Uren family
For countless Australian nurses, the First
World War would prove to be a true test of their
skills, daring and bravery. More than 2,000 women
served overseas as members of the Australian Army
Nursing Service (AANS) during the war, and others
worked with organisations like the Queen
Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and
the Red Cross.
In mid-1917, South Australian nurse, Ethelda
Uren, embarked aboard the RMS Mooltan bound for
the Mediterranean. A German-led force had
Ethelda Uren, c. 1915-1917
captured Serbia two years earlier and the Allies were
desperately trying to prevent them from advancing
any further south. Some 600,000 Allied servicemen were stationed in the Greek port of
Salonika and nurses, like Ethelda, were urgently needed to treat those who were sick or
wounded.
45-year-old Ethelda was highly trained in her profession. She had completed her
three year minimum training at Adelaide Hospital and was working as the Acting Principal
Matron for the entire South Australian state when she was posted overseas. All AANS
nurses were granted the status of officers yet their pay was only equal to half what their
male counterparts received.
Ethelda was appointed as Matron of the 60th General Hospital in Salonika. She was
responsible for a 90-strong nursing staff and the overall care of more than 1,560 patients.
Conditions in the Mediterranean were harsh. In the hot summer months, malaria was a
constant problem and the disease struck down nurses and patient alike. Winter was terribly
cold and the nurses wore several layers of clothing to keep warm whilst working in the
canvas tent hospitals.
Fresh water was in short supply and food was often scarce as Allied supply boats
came under constant attack from German submarines. Ethelda would regularly walk over
This document is available on the Australian War Memorial’s website at https://www.awm.gov.au/education/memorialboxes/1.
You may download, display, print and reproduce this worksheet only for your personal, educational, non-commercial use or
for use within your organisation, provided that you attribute the Australian War Memorial.
five kilometres to a nearby Greek village just to buy a few eggs. But most worryingly of all
were the enemy planes that flew over the hospitals. Salonika was bombed two or three times
a week at first but this grew more infrequent as time
passed.
Ethelda’s younger sisters, twins Catherine and
Amelia, were also nurses. Known as Kate and Mill, the
twins were initially posted to the No 1 Australian
Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield Park in London caring
for troops who had been wounded on the Western
Front. Kate and Mill remained together throughout the
war, later working on a hospital ship transporting
patients from England to Australia.
In spite of the hardships she faced in Salonika,
Ethelda devoted herself to her staff and her patients. She
Catherine and Amelia Uren, c. 1915-1919
was later awarded the Royal Red Cross (1st Class) for
her valuable service. Ethelda returned home two weeks prior to the declaration of Armistice
in November 1918, and she was soon joined by Kate and Mill.
Years later, during the Second World War, their niece, Elizabeth, followed in their
footsteps. Betty, as she was known, served as a Captain with the AANS, tending to the sick
and wounded in the Middle East and New Guinea.
This document is available on the Australian War Memorial’s website at https://www.awm.gov.au/education/memorialboxes/1.
You may download, display, print and reproduce this worksheet only for your personal, educational, non-commercial use or
for use within your organisation, provided that you attribute the Australian War Memorial.
Activities for research and classroom discussion
A group portrait en route to Salonika in mid-1917
1. For many of these nurses, this may have been the first time they had ever travelled
outside Australia. Imagine you are a nurse on board this ship or a soldier traveling to
the battlefields. Write a letter home to your family in Australia. How do you think
you would be feeling?
Part of the 60th General Hospital in Salonika, c. 1918
2. The hospital was composed of a series of canvas tents. What challenges might the
nurses have experienced working in this kind of environment?
This document is available on the Australian War Memorial’s website at https://www.awm.gov.au/education/memorialboxes/1.
You may download, display, print and reproduce this worksheet only for your personal, educational, non-commercial use or
for use within your organisation, provided that you attribute the Australian War Memorial.
Washing day at the 60th General Hospital, c. 1917
3. More than 2,000 Australian nurses served in the First World War. Why might they
have wanted to enlist?
An Australian nurse at No.1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield Park in London with their pet kangaroo, Jimony
4. Many Australian units brought native animals like Jimony overseas with them. What
did these animals symbolise for these soldiers and nurses? If you were traveling a
long way from home, what would you take with you?
5. Investigate how other animals like dogs, pigeons and horses played an important
role in the First World War.
This document is available on the Australian War Memorial’s website at https://www.awm.gov.au/education/memorialboxes/1.
You may download, display, print and reproduce this worksheet only for your personal, educational, non-commercial use or
for use within your organisation, provided that you attribute the Australian War Memorial.