Transcript of diary of Mary Ann 'Bessie' Pocock, 1914-1918 (Vol. 2)

Pocock, Mary Anne "Bessie" (Matron, b.1863 - d.1946)

- Series 1: Manuscripts

< Previous Record | Next Record >

Places	Africa: Egypt Africa: Egypt, Alexandria Africa: Egypt, Suez Canal, Ismailia Europe: France, Nord Pas de Calais, Pas de Calais, Wimereux Europe: France, Trois Arbres Europe: Greece, Aegean Islands, Lemnos, Mudros Europe: United Kingdom, England Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Anzac Area (Gallipoli), Anzac Beaches Area, Anzac Beach Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Cape Helles Area, Cape Helles
Accession Number	RCDIG0001390
Collection number	PR05050
Collection type	Digitised Collection
Record type	File
Item count	1
Object type	Diary
Physical description	108 Image/s captured
Maker	Pocock, Mary Anne 'Bessie' Various
Place made	At sea, Egypt, France, Western Front
Date made	1915-1916; 2006
Conflict	First World War, 1914-1918
Copying Provisions	Digital format and content protected by copyright.

Description

Transcript of the First World War diary of Matron Mary Ann (Bessie) Pocock, Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). The transcript was compiled by members of Pocock’s family and produced in 2006. The transcript covers the period from 6 May 1915 to 31 March 1916, detailing her nursing service at sea and later in France. Initially, the entries detail her time as matron of the hospital ship Assaye from July 1915 to January 1916, which carried wounded and ill soldiers from Gallipoli to England. She recalls her orders to leave Alexandria on the Assaye and her arrival at Cape Helles, describing what she can see of the peninsula from the ship. In April 1916, Pocock joined the 2nd Australian General Hospital at Wimereux in France and in July of that year joined the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station at Trois Arbres as matron. Throughout all she describes the daily routine and activities she and her fellow nurses were engaged in. She also describes her treatment of wounded and ill patients and records such details as their temperature, the specificity of their ailments, and the medical procedures that took place. Pocock also records significant occasions such an inspection of the nurses by Lord Kitchener. The entries are interspersed with a variety of photographs and photocopies, including maps of the Dardanelles and Egypt, wounded being stretchered on the beaches of Anzac Cove, the ships anchored in the harbour at Mudros, and the nurses during their time in Egypt.