Claire Trestrail: First World War
Nurse Claire Trestrail (seated) with patients and a ward assistant at Antwerp, 1914.
R Guilleminot, P08673.002
Caring for wounded Belgian troops in October 1914, Australian nurse Claire Trestrail was one of the first Australians to face the horrors of the First World War.
After surviving the harrowing shelling of Antwerp by hiding in a basement with her colleagues and patients, Trestrail narrowly avoided capture by escaping over the last bridge out of Antwerp before it was destroyed to stop the advancing German Army.
Nurse Trestrail’s campaign medals. REL40943.001-.003