Helen Heggie of Hastings, Victoria, shares her WWI story – the story of her great Aunt, Ethel Sarah Davidson, one of the first nurses to leave Australia and serve in the Great War.

Ethel was orphaned at the age of five when her Father, Capt. William Davidson, her mother, 2 brothers and a sister drowned near Kangaroo Island in the wreck of the Brigantine “Emily Smith”, of which her father was master and owner. After the completion of her nursing training at the Adelaide Hospital she worked as a district and private nurse, and joined the reserve of the AANS in 1904. She enlisted soon after WWI broke out and served in the AANS from September 1914 to 1 August 1919. One of the first 3 nurses from South Australia she embarked from Australia on the troopship Shropshire, arriving in Egypt in December 1914 where she served until July 1916. She was promoted to the rank of Head Sister in June 1916. Other postings included 2 AAH Southall [London] and 2 AACS Trois Arbres [France]. She was promoted to Temporary Matron in July 1917. In January 1918 she was appointed Matron, 38th British Stationary Hospital Genoa [Italy]. In 1916, for services in Egypt, Ethel was Mentioned in Dispatches, and awarded the Associate of the Royal Red Cross, and in 1918, for services in Italy, awarded Royal Red Cross first class in recognition of her valuable services with the Armies in the Field.

In June 1919, she was again Mentioned in Dispatches, and on 3rd June 1919 was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire [Military] for meritorious services to Army Nursing, and was highly praised by the Matron-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force.

Matron Ethel Davidson sadly died before I was born. I do know she was admired and remembered fondly by my mother and other members of the family. On 5 Dec 1914 she sent a postcard to my mother. She wrote – “You will see by this we have landed at Egypt and are to work at the Military Hospital, Abassa. Left Alexandria at 12 o’clock today and came to Cairo by train. We are staying at the Heliopolis Hotel – don’t expect we will stay here long – only while our troops are here. We are very lucky to be first here. Will write when I have time. Love to you all. E.S.D.” Matron Davidson died on 2 April 1939 and was buried in the A.I.F. cemetery, West Terrace, Adelaide. Army nurses marched before the hearse and returned soldiers from Semaphore and Port Adelaide acted as Pallbearers. Remembrance Poppies were thrown into the open grave by ex-servicemen and women.

The Adelaide News reported: ‘Her death, almost on the eve of Anzac Day, has cast a gloom over Keswick Hospital. She will be mourned by large numbers of patients and hundreds of returned soldiers with whom she came in contact when on active service and in South Australia’. The Rising Sun described her as ‘a woman of outstanding character’ and ‘an exceptionally able leader and organiser’.