Australian War Nurses

THE NURSES THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR PLAYED A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE DURING WAR THERE WAS AN ESTIMATED 90,000 WOMEN WHO VOLUNTEERED AS NURSES FROM THE BRITISH EMPIRE. OUT OF THE 90,000 WOMEN WHO VOLUNTEERED, MORE THAN 3,000 WERE AUSTRALIAN, AND ABOUT 550 WERE FROM NEW ZEALAND. THESE NURSES SERVED IN MANY PLACES SUCH AS, INDIA, EGYPT, GALLIPOLI, FRANCE, AND BELGIUM. THEY HAD 3 MAIN ROLES WHICH WAS TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE TO THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS, PROVIDED COMFORT AND SUPPORT TO THE SOLDIERS, AND TO TRY AND CHEER UP THE SOLDIERS, EVEN IN TOUGH TIMES THEY WOULD WORK IN HOSPITALS, ON SHIPS OR TRAINS, AND IN CASUALTY CLEARING STATIONS WHICH WAS CLOSE TO THE FRONT LINE IN WAR. THE NURSES WERE LATER NICKNAMED BY DYING SOLDIERS AS ‘WHITE ANGELS’, THIS WAS BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE SURROUNDED BY ANGELS AFTER ARRIVING IN THE HOSPITAL.