Norfolk jacket : Staff Nurse E Rowan, Australian Army Nursing Service

Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) (India) nurses dark grey woollen Norfolk jacket. The jacket has an open collar and is fastened along the single-breasted front with five oxidised brass 'AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES' buttons. The shoulder straps are brown wool twill and are secured by a small AMF button. There is a second lieutenant's (staff nurse's) rank star and curved 'AUSTRALIA' shoulder title. Sewn onto both sleeve shoulders is a hand-made silk diamond shaped brown colour patch of the AANS (India). It has a narrow yellow silk ribbon sewn vertically in the centre. 'E. Rowan' is embroidered in red on a white cotton name tape that is sewn inside the back of the collar. The jacket and belt tongues are fully lined with grey cotton sateen.

Associated with the First World War service of Staff Nurse Eliza Rowan. Rowan was born in Nagambie, Victoria and was a practicing nurse on enlistment in the Australian Army Nursing Service on 18 June 1917. She embarked for India aboard RMS Somali on 30 June, arriving in Bombay on 30 July.

Posted to Freeman Thomas Hospital, Rowan nursed there until 10 February 1918 when she was transferred to the 44th British General Hospital at Deolali. On 17 August Rowan was transferred to the 34th Welsh General Hospital also at Deolali where she nursed until the end of the war.

Embarking from Bombay aboard SS City of Cairo on 28 February 1919, Rowan arrived back in Australia on 23 March. She was formally discharged from the AIF on 8 October.

For many of the nurses, the posting to India was disliked and a poor substitute for the perceived excitement of France. The nurses wanted to be in France where they felt they were needed the most. Some were worried about being called 'cold-footers' after the war, as working in India was often not considered as active service.