Australian nurses in a World War 1 Australian military hospital in the UK

Introduction: Today Harefield Hospital is a renowned cardio-thoracic hospital in the UK. In 1914 Harefield Park was a large manor house owned by Australian Charles Billyard-Leake. Charles donated his house and land to the Australian Government to be used as a hospital for wounded Australian soldiers. Apart from the matron and five Australian nurses sent to establish the hospital in 1915, little is known about the Australian nurses who worked at No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital (1AAH) during the Great War. Aims and focus of the research: To identify the Australian nurses who worked at 1AAH during World War 1 and to recognise their contribution to the nursing and rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. Methods and/or sources: Multiple research methods using both published and unpublished digitised records of primary sources, newspaper reports, local historical records and photographic images of nursing were used for this study. Key areas for discussion: The frequent transfer of nurses between hospitals and casualty clearing stations in Australia, Europe, India and Egypt during WW1 hinders the identification of nurses working in one location. Registers of nurses allocated to individual sites are not available, necessitating that all records of nurses who volunteered or enlisted for duty be examined. Conclusion: Over 140 individual Australian nurses worked at 1AAH from 1915-1919. From an initial five nurses and 50 patients, the hospital rapidly expanded to 20 nurses for 550 patients and later 70 nurses for 1000 patients. A major tribute to the nurses' care is that from over 50,000 patients passing through 1AAH, only 98 died.