Studio portrait of Sister Edith Blake, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service ...

Accession Number P11193.005
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Print silver gelatin
Maker Unknown
Date made 1915-1918
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Studio portrait of Sister Edith Blake, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNS (R)). Sister Blake of San Souci, NSW, served with the QAIMNS (R) and was killed when the hospital ship she was on, the HMHS Glenart Castle, was sunk by a German U-boat on 26 February 1918. Her family placed a small memorial notice in the Sydney Morning Herald on the first anniversary of her death:

For her there were no flowers
To adorn the unmarked surface of the water;
The ocean alone decks her grave with gifts of pearls and shell,
And wreathes her brow with seaweeds rare.