Blue working dress : Commandant M Hopper, 305 Mornington Voluntary Aid Detachment

Place Oceania: Australia, Victoria
Accession Number REL37864
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Uniform
Physical description Cotton cesarine, Cotton duck, Plastic
Maker Sister Susie
Place made Australia: Victoria, Melbourne
Date made Unknown
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Description

Light blue cotton cesarine working dress with open neck, short sleeves with turn back cuffs, shoulder straps and self fabric belt. The broad fold down collar has a detachable white inner collar. The loose-fitting dress is constructed from two front panels and a single back panel. It opens from neck to waist and is fastened with a hook and eyelet beneath the collar and two white plastic buttons. A white cotton duck watch pocket, embroidered with a red cross, is sewn to the left breast. There are two patch pockets over each front hip. The front of the dress is shaped by a series of six finely spaced darts at each shoulder. The shoulder straps once had metal VAD titles but these are no longer present. A blue machine embroidered manufacturer's label inside the back neck reads 'Sister Susie FINKS BUILDING MELB'.

History / Summary

Mary Hopper joined the Mornington, Victoria branch of the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs), affiliated with the Red Cross, in 1930. The branch had been formed in 1928 with the aim of training women in first aid and home nursing so that they could offer assistance in a civil emergency. The VADs provided assistance in private homes, infant welfare centres and at Red Cross blood banks. During the Second World War Mary was appointed commandant at Mornington, known during the war as the 305 Mornington Detachment. Its members served at the Balcombe Military Hospital and at other smaller army hospitals in the area. Mary Hopper remained with the VADs post-war, working at the orthopaedic section of the Melbourne Children's Hospital, and offering help during the polio epidemic in the early 1950s.