CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
This short film is about Australian veteran Grace Wilson, who served with the Australian Army Nursing Service, Australian Imperial Force (AIF), during World War I.
Grace Margaret Wilson was born in South Brisbane, Queensland, in 1879. She qualified in nursing and midwifery and became matron of Brisbane Hospital in July 1914. In October 1914, at the start of World War I, she volunteered to join the Australian Army Nursing Service. Grace was the principal matron of the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Gallipoli, Egypt and France. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross for her wartime service. Grace was one of about 2,000 women who served Australia in World War I.
Transcript
In May 1915, a month before her 36th birthday, Grace Wilson embarked for overseas service as Matron of the 3rd Australian General Hospital. Matron Wilson and her fellow nursing sisters thought they were destined for duty on the Western Front but were instead sent to Lemnos to care for the Gallipoli casualties. When the nurses of the 3rd Australian General Hospital landed at Lemnos in August 1915 and marched into camp, accompanied by a piper, they quickly realised the challenges of the task ahead of them. The conditions on the ground were harsh. It was oppressively hot. Water was scarce. Their equipment had not yet arrived. And there were no beds for the patients. Sister [Emily] Beryl Henson described setting up the wards as getting order out of chaos. Writing in a diary on the 11th of August, Matron Wilson's frustration is palpable. 'Convoy arrived. About 400. No equipment whatever. Just laid the men on the ground and gave them a drink. Very many badly shattered. Nearly all stretcher-cases. Tents were erected over them as quickly as possible. It is awful to see the way they are shattered and to have nothing to give them. No comfort whatever. All we can do is feed them and dress their wounds. They beg to be washed, but we have no water. It is awful to just leave them in their dirty, blood-stained clothes. A good many died. They were beyond hope when they arrived. It is just too awful. One could never describe the scenes. Could only wish, all I know, to be killed outright.' A week earlier, Matron Wilson had learned that one of her brothers had in fact been killed by a sniper at Queen's Post. Despite the difficulties, the hospital was soon functioning efficiently. From September, No 3 Australian General Hospital held an average of 1,000 patients. Medical facilities at Lemnos included an X-ray department situated next to an operating theatre. In October, one report noted the Australian hospitals on Lemnos were in very good, lined hospital marquees. The patient's comfortable with good beds and bedding once they had established good order. Some of the nurses set about creating a welcoming atmosphere for their patients, decorating the outside of the tents with stones. One nurse recorded a competition between them to see who could create the nicest ward and tent. Though they worked hard, the nurses could occasionally take the opportunity to rest and explore Lemnos. Picnics with friends from the AIF or afternoon tea aboard naval ships moored in the harbour were among the favourite activities. The hot springs at Therma proved popular among nurses and soldiers alike. As autumn and winter approached, the nurses had to contend with the strong winds of Lemnos, which repeatedly blew down hospital tents, as well as their own quarters. As winter set in, rain and freezing conditions added further difficulties. The rate of illness increased both at Gallipoli and on Lemnos. A number of the sisters became ill with what Matron Wilson called 'this wretched Lemnositis'. Throughout her service, Grace showed great concern for the nurses in her charge, and they held her in high esteem. Sister Young wrote, 'Our matron is a sensible woman. She has been a dear to the nurses and such a fighter. My word, she has had to fight every bit of the way for any little comforts we enjoy.' Sister Selwyn-Smith echoed this phrase. 'At times I think we could not have carried on without her. She was not only a capable matron but what is more, a woman of understanding. She saw and understood many things without having to be told and she was very human too.' The 3rd Australian General Hospital completed its work on Lemnos in January 1916 and transferred to Abbassia in Egypt, where Matron Wilson was awarded the Royal Red Cross in May. She went on to serve in England and France. Grace returned to Queensland in January 1920. She continued her leadership in the nursing field in the interwar years and was appointed Matron in Chief of the Australian Army Nursing Service Reserve in 1925. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Grace Wilson again embarked for service overseas, this time in the Middle East. Illness forced her to return to Australia in 1941. In 1954, now in her 70s, Grace married Robert Wallace Bruce. Three years later, she passed away and was accorded a military funeral with full honours.
