Information sheets

Researching Australian military service: First World War nurses

Nominal rolls
Personal service records
Those who died while serving
Medals and awards
Where they served
Where to find photographs

Australian nurses served in Egypt, Lemnos, England, France, Belgium, Greece, Salonika, Palestine, Mesopotamia and India. In all, 2,139 served with the Australian Army Nursing Service, and 130 with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service. A further 423 nurses served in hospitals in Australia.

To establish in which service nurses served, use the Research Centre sources. Books listed may also be held in State or public libraries.

Nominal rolls

Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS)

Those who served in the AANS should be listed in

Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS)

Roll of Australian nurses who served abroad with QAIMNS, Official records AWM27 373/12. Lists surnames and initials, dates of embarkation for overseas and return name of troopship and country from which they returned.

Other sources

If you are not successful in finding a name in the sources listed above, you could try the following:

Personal service records

Those who died while serving

The Roll of Honour records the names of service men and women who died during or as a result of service with Australian military forces. The Roll of Honour introduction provides detailed information about Roll of Honour eligibility.

The Commemorative Roll commemorates Australians who died during or as a result of wars or warlike operations in which Australians have been on active service but who were not eligible for inclusion on the Roll of Honour. The Commemorative Roll introduction provides detailed information about Commemorative Roll eligibility.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Debt of Honour Register lists all British Commonwealth service personnel who died in the First World War. The Register provides details about where the individual is buried or commemorated, includes plans of cemeteries and photographs of the cemetery or memorial.

Where they served

The Research Centre holds personal accounts given by 129 First World War nurses. Known as the "nurses' narratives", they are included in AWM41, the papers of A.G. Butler. These accounts cover topics such as the trip overseas, where the nurses worked, their working and living conditions, and the types of cases they dealt with.

The references to these narratives can be found on RecordSearch. To find the account of a specific nurse, type in the surname, e.g., Wray, in the keywords search box, and AWM41 in the Reference Numbers search box. To find all accounts, type nurses narratives (as a phrase) in the keywords search box.

Please refer to our information sheet Researching the history of a unit for further information.

Medals and awards

Refer to our information sheets:

Honours and Awards (Gazetted) gives names of AANS nurses who were awarded the Military Medal and the Royal Red Cross, and dates of the London and Commonwealth Gazettes in which the awards appeared. The recommendations for many of these awards are available in the Research Centre. Check with Research Centre staff to find out if a recommendation for a specific award is held. Other useful sources include:

Where to look for photographs

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