Places | |
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Accession Number | REL/13736.001 |
Collection type | Heraldry |
Object type | Uniform |
Physical description | Cotton cesarine; Wool; Metal |
Maker |
Unknown |
Date made | c 1941-1942 |
Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Grey tropical working dress : Sister D S Gardam, 2/4 Casualty Clearing Station
Grey cotton cesarine, open-necked, short sleeved tropical pattern working dress with plain brown wool crepe shoulder straps secured with press studs. The dress buttons down the front from neck to hem and is secured by eight silver Australian Military Forces buttons, the bottom three of which are missing. The buttonholes have been hand finished in buttonhole stitch using thick cotton twist. The bodice has a pointed back yoke. An inverted pleat extends from the point to the centre back waist for ease of wear. Each side of the front bodice is shaped by two darts in the shoulder seams. The skirt has four gores with a broad inverted pleat, open from half way down the centre back skirt to the hem, and two patch pockets over each hip below the front waist. There are two self fabric belt keepers on each side seam but the belt itself is missing. The waist also fastens at the centre front with a press stud. A red machine embroidered name tape sewn inside the back neck reads 'D.S. Gardam'. The dress has original wartime repairs to the left armpit and to the three lower button anchors where the buttons have pulled away from the fabric.
Order a copyWorn by Sister Dora Shirley (Shirley) Gardam, a Tasmanian serving with 2/4 Casualty Clearing Station, while she was a prisoner of war of the Japanese on Sumatra. She was captured after the sinking of SS Vyner Brooke, in February 1942. Shirley Gardam died in captivity at Muntok, on 4 April 1945. The group of nurses who became prisoners of war carefully preserved their uniform dresses for wear on special occasions such as Anzac Day, Christmas and the King's birthday, and in anticipation of the need to wear a uniform on their eventual release from captivity.