PEARL ELIZABETH CORKHILL

Pearl Elizabeth Corkhill

W W 1P E A R L C O R K H I L LK A C E Y N O R T HM C K E N Z I E

Contents: WW1 & the Causes..........................................2 Locations Fought During WW1.....................5 Nurses.................................................................6 In Action..............................................................7 Pearl Elizabeth Corkhill: Timeline & Map.8 Experiences & Effects.....................................9 Bibliography....................................................10 1

WW1 & the Causes:

WW1: World War 1 (WW1) took place throughout the years of 1914 – 1919 and it was thought to be ‘The War to End All Wars.’

The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated on the 28th of June, 1914 causing the start of the war. Soldiers landed at Gallipoli on the 25th of April, 1915. November 11th, 1918, the gunfire on the Western Front was silent and millions of lives that were lost during the battle are now mourned on this day; Remembrance Day. From the 15th to the 20th of December the Australian forces escaped to Egypt undetected and away from the Turkish borders.

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FourofthemaincausesofWW1canbesummarisedas militarism,alliances,imperialismandnationalism,oftenreferred towiththeuseoftheacronym,MAIN.

Militarismisthebeliefthatcountriesshouldbeable tousetheircapablemilitaryforcestodefendtheir country.CountriessuchasGermanyandFrancehad greatmilitarybuild-upandthiswasevidentthrough thepublicinfluence.

Alliancesarewhencountrieswouldagreetodefendoneanotherduringbattle. Twomainalliancesthathadformedwerethetripleallianceandthetriple entente.TheGermanempire,Austro-Hungarianempire,andItalywereapartof thetriplealliancewiththeOttomanempireandBulgariaasallies.Thetriple ententewastheothermajorallianceformedbytheRussianempire,France, UnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandIrelandwhowerealsoalliedwithRomania, Serbia,Belgium,PortugalandGreece.Allianceswerecreatedsothatifoneofthe countriesthatwerealliedwithotherswenttowarthentherewouldbean agreementforotherstogotowarinthesupportofthecountrythatwasunder attack.

Clicktoaccessamapofthedifferent alliancesthatwereformedovertime

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Imperialismiswhencountrieswould expandpasttheirbordersandtake controlofothercountries.Britain andFranceweresomeexamplesof countriesthatexpandedcausingthe fightsoverlandgrabs.

Nationalismisthebeliefinandtotalloyaltytowardsonescountry.GreaterSerbia wasestablishedoutofthedriveoftheAstro-HungariansfromtheBalkans.

During the year of 1914: 416, 800 soldiers enlisted in the war which was 13.4% of the adult male population at the time. These men enlisted for a variety of purposes that included: money, food, water and other supplies that were promised to be given to their families.

Thewanttoserveandprotectthecountryortheguiltthattheywereposedwith whenbombardedwithanassortmentofpropagandasuchas:politicalcartoons, posters,flyers,radiomessagesorwhitefeathers(asignofcowardness).

61,720soldiersdiedoverseasandoverdoublethatwerewounded (155,000)alloutofthemenwhoservedoverseas(331,000).

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Locations Fought During WW1:

SoldiersfoughtinseverallocationsacrosstheglobetoaidtheBritishinthegreat warsomeoftheseplaceinclude:

SideNote

Didyouknowthatsoldiersduringthewar hadtosurviveonlonglastingrationsthat includedthingssuchasANZACbiscuitsor othertinnedfood.Clickhereforadelicious recipe.

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Belgium Gallipolibeach TheWesternFront;Fromelles;Somme France Egypt Switzerlandborders

Nurses:

Women,specificallynursesduringWW1playedvitalrolesastheywouldtendto thewoundsoftheinjuredsoldiersthathadfoughtinbattleforourcountry.There weredifferentcamps,tentsandminihospitalssetuponland,inthewaterandin theskyacrossEurope,Asia,AfricaandAustralia.

Nursesweresetupallaroundthe worldinplacessuchas:Great Britain,France,Turkey,Greece, Lemnos,Afghanistan,Egypt, SouthAfrica,Korea,Japan, Vietnam,Malesia,Singapore, Philippines,Indonesia,New Guinea,andAustraliaalltohelp aidthewoundedarmymen.

Nurseswouldoftenhavetoperform immediatesurgeriesastheirpatients couldonlyarrivehoursaftertheyneeded help.Exactly2861nursesservedourcountry overseasonshipsandinmakeshifthospitalsforthe AustralianArmyNursingServices(AANS).Theywere consistentlyworkingindirty,sickenvironmentsas targetsforoverheadattacks.

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In Action:

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Pearl Elizabeth Corkhill:

PearlElizabethCorkhillwasbornonthe11thofMarch1887,livingalonglifethen topassawayatage98onthe11thofDecember1985.SheenlistedfortheAANS onthe12thofJune,1915aftergraduatingasanursepriortothisin1914.

PearlembarkedforEgyptonly2dayslater.Roughly3yearslatershefoundherself attachedtothe38thBritishCasualtyClearingStationinFrancewithonlyamonth lateroneofherbiggestachievementsweremade.Therewasanairmissileattack onenightinJulyandindis-regardtoherownlifeshedecidedtocontinuetotend tothewoundedsoldiersratherthantakingcover.Forhercouragethatnight,on the6thofJune,1924shewasawardedamilitarymedaltowhichonly7or8other Australiannurseshadsuchanachievement.Afterservingthecountryasanurse foryears,Corkhill’sAANSappointmentwasterminatedonthe22ndofJune,1919.

Duringtheyear1951,Pearlhadanothergreataccomplishmentandthatwas thatshewaspromotedtosisterforhercourage whileserving.Shewon4medalsduetothesuccess thatshehadatwartheseincludedthemilitary medal,thevictorymedal,1914-15star,andthe BritishWarMedal1914-20.

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ClickhereforamoreindepthtimelinebasedonPearlCorkhill'slifeandtheaccomplishmentsshe wentthrough ClickhereforamoreindepthtimelinebasedonPearlCorkhill'slifeandthe accomplishmentsshewentthrough

Experiences & Affects:

Nurseshadtospendlonghourstendingtothedisfigured,diseasedanddeceased soldiersallwhiletheirliveswereatstake.Theyweresetupnearthefront-lines andhadtodealwithheavygunfireandbombings.Thesemakeshifthospitalswere setupinallformswhetheritbeontransportships,infieldhospitalsoreven evacuationstations.

Soldierswouldenterthecampswithallkindsofproblemsthatwouldrangefrom thingslike,trenchfoot,shellshock,shrapnelwounds,infectionsandmustardgas burns.

Someoftheshorttermimpactsthatnurseshadtodealwithincludethe dangerousconditionsandthestreamofsicknessesthattheywereconstantly around.Theinjuriesthatthesewomenhadtoseedailyaswellaspeopledying aroundthemwould’vecausedsomeformoftraumaleadingtoPTSD.Mostofthe impactsbotthatnurseswhosurvivedthewarhadlearntnewmedicalskillsand hadmorelifeexperiences.

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Bibliography:

ABCNews2017,‘FindingWorldWarIrecordsattheNationalArchives’,18July,viewed 25May2023,<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/treasure-trove-sister-pearlcorkhill/8719826>.

June28,1914n.d.,NationalWWIMuseumandMemorial,viewed22May2023, <https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/june-28-1914>.

Reid,REn.d.,CulturalAdvice,AustralianDictionaryofBiography,NationalCentreof Biography,AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,viewed28May2023, <https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/corkhill-elizabeth-pearl-12358>.

Sessionexpired|RecordSearch|NationalArchivesofAustralian.d., recordsearch.naa.gov.au,viewed23May2023, <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail. aspx?Barcode=3421592&isAv=N>.

SisterPearlElizabethCorkhilln.d.,www.awm.gov.au,viewed28May2023, <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P11038153>.

StoriesofAustralia’swartimenurses2013,March,viewed28May2023, <https://www.awm.gov.au/sites/default/files/Devotion.pdf>.

WorldWarI2007,HistoryCrunch-HistoryArticles,Summaries,Biographies,Resources andMore,viewed17May2023,<https://www.historycrunch.com/world-war-i.html#/>.

NationalArchivesofAustralia2017,UnlockingWorldWarIservicerecords–Nurses, YouTube,viewed11June2023,<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR0rJzXTf30>.

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