Description
Object description
Australian nurse with Voluntary Aid Detachment, Australian Red Cross attached to 9th Australian Infantry Div, Second Australian Imperial Force in Egypt, Palestine and French Syria, 11/1941-2/1943; served as nurse with Australian Army Medical Women's Service in Papua New Guinea, 9/1943-5/1944; served as field officer with Australian Red Cross aboard HMS Formidable in Pacific and Indian Ocean, 9/1945-12/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Cottesloe, Australia, 1918-1941: family and childhood; military service of family members during First World War; attitude to First World War; opinion of Germans; attitude to GB; memories of Munich Crisis, 9/1938; employment; interest in ballet; reaction to outbreak of war, 9/1939; role of women in war effort; reason for volunteering for Voluntary Aid Detachments of Australian Red Cross; attitude towards Germans; morale; training as Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse, including gas chamber.
REEL 2 Continues: duties as Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse; attitude to overseas service; reaction of parents; memories of brother Frank Richardson; description of uniform; preparations for overseas service; period of training at Northam Camp. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Queen Mary from Australia to Egypt, 11/1941: accommodation; opinion of food; role organising dancing concerts.
REEL 3 Continues: daily routine and duties aboard ship; social life; safety and lifeboat drills; disembarkation at Port Tewfik, Egypt, 22/11/1941. Recollections of operations as nurse with Voluntary Aid Detachment, Australian Red Cross attached to 9th Australian Infantry Div, Second Australian Imperial Force in Egypt, Palestine and French Syria, 11/1941-2/1943: first impressions of Middle East; posting to camp in Gaza, Palestine; duties in hospital; further training received; description of hospital; recreational activities; memories of Damascus, French Syria and Jerusalem, Palestine.
REEL 4 Continues: treatment of battle casualties from Siege of Tobruk, Libya; daily routine and duties; communication with family; censorship; opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill; reaction to Japan's entry into Second World War, 12/1941; attitude towards Germans; opinion of General Erwin Rommel; attitude to entry of United States of America into Second World War; social life; blackouts and Axis air raids; question of rank.
REEL 5 Continues: treatment of casualties from Battle of El Alamein, Egypt, 10/1942-11/1942; morale in hospital; nursing duties; importance of friendships; transportation of wounded; relations with patients, including writing letters; problem of injured foot; quota of female to male staff; pay and allowance; reaction to victory during Battle of El Alamein, Egypt; religious beliefs; church services.
REEL 6 Continues: diary extracts; working hours and rest periods; leave in Alexandria, Egypt; opinion of Americans; attitude to marriage; further diary extracts; brother's service with Royal Air Force.
REEL 7 Continues: types of illnesses treated; reads poem; climate; description of tented wards; attitude to Italian prisoners of war; discipline and regulations; memories of Christmas, 25/12/1942; voyage aboard HMT Nieuw Amsterdam from Egypt to Australia, 2/1943. Aspects of training as nurse with Australian Army Medical Women's Service in Perth, Australia, 3/1943-8/1943: attending parade in Perth; effects of war on daily life; rationing; air raid shelters.
REEL 8 Continues: opinion of Americans; death of brother Pilot Officer Frank Richardson serving with 11 Sqdn, RAF in Burma, 14/3/1943; attitude towards Japanese; further comments on death of brother in Burma; description of training as nurse; preparations for overseas service in Papua New Guinea. Aspects of voyage from Australia to Papua New Guinea. 9/1943: relations with male colleagues.
REEL 9 Continues: opinion of accommodation and treatment aboard ship; disembarking Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 6/9/1943. Aspects of operations as nurse with Australian Army Medical Women's Service in Papua New Guinea, 9/1943-8/1945: morale among nurses; tented accommodation; description of hospital; problem of heat; concert parties; discipline and security; duties as nurse in wards; treatment of typhus patients; working hours; types of illnesses and wounds treated; morale among patients; living conditions; trips into countryside; reads letter to parents dated, 6/12/1943; attitude to serving in Papua New Guinea; story of leave in Perth, Australia, 5/1944.
REEL 10 Continues: Aspects of period as nurse with Australian Army Medical Women's Service in Australia, 5/1944-8/1945: holding rank of corporal; duties as clerk in X-ray department in hospital in Perth; reason for joining Australian Red Cross Field Force; VE Day celebrations, 8/5/1945; training as Australian Red Cross field officer. Aspects of period as field officer with Australian Red Cross aboard HMS Formidable in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 9/1945-12/1945: story of collecting former Australian prisoners of war from Singapore, Malaya, Philippines and India; duties caring for former prisoners of war; state of health of former prisoners of war; memories of British Indian Army troops cooking food; ashore in Bombay, India.
REEL 11 Continues: reads diary extracts, 11/1945-12/1945; reflections on period of wartime service. Post-war life and employment in Australia: adjustment to civilian life; question of recognition for work of Australian Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachments; civilian employment; reflections on Second World War; work with Australian Red Cross and ex-servicemen; reunions; story of being awarded Member of Order of the British Empire, 1980 and Medal of Australia, 1996.