The sinking of the transport ship Marquette in the Aegean Sea in late 1915 added to the grief of a nation still reeling from the heavy losses at Gallipoli.
Nurses
Events In History
10 January 1902
Ellen Dougherty was one of the world’s first state-registered nurses. Grace Neill, Assistant Inspector in the Department of Asylums and Hospitals, advocated state registration of trained nurses, which was introduced by the Nurses’ Registration Act 1901.
Articles
The 1918 influenza pandemic
The lethal influenza pandemic that struck New Zealand between October and December 1918 killed about 9000 people in two months. No other event has claimed so many New Zealand lives in such a short time. Read the full article
Passchendaele: fighting for Belgium
Ever since 1917 Passchendaele has been a byword for the horror of the First World War. The assault on this tiny Belgian village cost the lives of thousands of New Zealand soldiers. But its impact reached far beyond the battlefield, leaving deep scars on many New Zealand communities and families. Read the full article
Page 6 - Helping the wounded
More than 14,000 New Zealanders were wounded between June and December 1917 in Belgium, and medical staff, orderlies, chaplains and stretcher-bearers worked round the clock to
The Salonika campaign
23 October is the anniversary of the 1915 sinking of the Marquette with the loss of 32 New Zealanders, including 10 nurses. They were en route from Egypt to the Greek port of Salonika as New Zealand’s contribution to the little-known Allied campaign in the Balkans Read the full article
Page 5 - NZEF involvement
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) provided no combat units for the campaign in Salonika. The official contribution of New Zealanders was brief but marked by tragedy.
Hospital ships
The Maheno and Marama were the poster ships of New Zealand's First World War effort. Until 1915 these steamers had carried passengers on the Tasman route. But as casualties mounted at Gallipoli, the government - helped by a massive public fundraising campaign - converted them into state-of-the-art floating hospitals. Read the full article
Page 5 - Life on board
What was life like aboard a hospital ship? That largely depended on your job, your rank and your
New Zealand Army Nursing Service
The 550 or so New Zealand nurses who served overseas during the First World War enlisted for the same reasons as the soldiers – duty, patriotism and adventure. Read the full article
Page 1 - New Zealand Army Nursing Service in the First World War
The 550 or so New Zealand nurses who served overseas during the First World War enlisted for the same reasons as the soldiers – duty, patriotism and
Medical Units
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force was supported by a broad network of medical services in the First World War Read the full article
Page 1 - Medical Units of the NZEF
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force was supported by a broad network of medical services in the First World
Page 3 - New Zealand Army Nursing Service
The New Zealand Army Nursing Service was created in January 1915 to provide nurses for NZEF
Biographies
René Shadbolt led the only New Zealand contingent to the Spanish Civil War. She and fellow nurse, Isobel Dodds, cared for wounded soldiers, particularly those from the International Brigades, from July 1937 to November 1938.
Suzanne Aubert – later Mary Joseph Aubert – was a Catholic nun, nurse, teacher and pioneering social worker, who sometimes had to battle church and government authorities in order to help those in need.
Main image: Ella Cooke
Ella Kate Cooke served with Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve during the First World War. She died in an accident, 8 September 1917
