The role of Australian women in World War I was focused mainly upon their involvement in the provision of
nursing services.[1] Australian women also played a significant role on the homefront, where they filled jobs made vacant by men joining the armed forces. Women also undertook fundraising and recruiting activities as well as organising comfort packages for soldiers serving overseas. Around the issue of
conscription, women were involved in campaigning on both sides of the debate,[2] while they were also equally involved in the
New South Wales strike in 1917. Nevertheless, despite this involvement, women have never occupied a central position in the Australian version of the
ANZAC myth, although since the 1970s their role has been examined in more detail as a result of the emergence of
feministhistoriography, and specialist histories such as the history of nursing.
Nursing
One of the primary roles for Australian women during the war was nursing. The
Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) comprised more than 3000 nurses during the war, over 2,200 of whom served outside Australia. 21 AANS nurses died during their war service and a number shortly thereafter. Nurses were present on the
Western Front, and in
Greece, England, India, Egypt, and Italy. The AANS comprised trained nurses, trained masseuses, 14 ward assistants and 1 bacteriologist. They served not just in Australian military hospitals but also in British hospitals and in ships at sea.[3]
Hundreds of other Australian trained nurses served overseas with organisations including: the British nursing services, Red Cross, St John Ambulance and the
Australian Voluntary Hospital. Australia also sent a number of female VADs to work in military hospitals. An example of these groups is the 20 nurses and a masseuse who were recruited to work in French hospitals by the Australian Red Cross Society, they were dubbed the "
Bluebirds" in reference to the colour of their uniforms.[4] The Australian nurses had their roles changed mid-way through World War I. As the war went on, the facilities became better throughout. They were able to clean and sterilize utensils used to clean up wounds. Offer mental support and treatment. And finally offer strong medication.[citation needed]
Other volunteer work
The following women's voluntary organisations were involved in support work:[5]
^"Alicia Mary Kelly (1874–1942)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
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Coates, Donna. "Myrmidons to Insubordinates: Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Women’s Fictional Responses to the Great War." in P. Quinn and S. Trout, eds. The Literature of the Great War Reconsidered (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2001. 113-142).
De Vries, Susanna. Heroic Australian women in war: astonishing tales of bravery from Gallipolli to Kokoda. (HarperCollins, 2004.
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Kretzenbacher, Heinz L. "The forgotten German-Australian stories of Australian history: Lesbia Harford’s The Invaluable Mystery and the predicament of German-Australians in the First World War." Australisches Jahrbuch für germanistische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft / Australian Yearbook of German Literary and Cultural Studies (2014) 7:45-77
online[dead link]
McKernan, Michael. The Australian People and the Great War (Nelson, Melbourne, 1980).
Oppenheimer, Melanie. "‘The best PM for the empire in war'?": Lady Helen Munro Ferguson and the Australian Red Cross Society, 1914–1920." Australian Historical Studies 33.119 (2002): 108-134.
Oppenheimer, Melanie. Australian Women and War (Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra, 2008).
Oppenheimer, Melanie. Oceans of Love. Narrelle - An Australian Nurse in World War I, ABC Books, Sydney, 2006
Reid, Richard. Just Wanted To Be There, (Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra, 1999).
Scates, Bruce. "The unknown sock knitter: voluntary work, emotional labour, bereavement and the Great War." Labour History (2001): 29-49.