Ipswich Hospital NursesPrint Page

The plaque commemorates Ipswich Hospital Nurses who served in World War One.

Ipswich Hospital nurses served in World War I. This Friday on November 10, the Ipswich Hospital Museum will unveil a plaque in their honour. They are calling for any descendants to get in touch with them and come along.

Ipswich Hospital Museum volunteer Mary Purser believes that while honouring the nurses is worth doing in its own right, the event will be much more meaningful as many of the nurses’ descendants will be present when the plaque is unveiled. “The nurses all worked or trained in Ipswich Hospital before joining the war effort to tend to the needs of sick and injured soldiers, in places such as Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, France, England and on board Commonwealth hospital ships,” Mary said.  “It is impossible for us to fully comprehend what the nurses would have experienced. Collectively, they tended to bomb wounds, gunshot injuries, trench foot, typhoid, influenza and many other sicknesses, all in a time with no antibiotics and limited anaesthesia.”

Dr Robyn Henderson, Executive Director Nursing and Midwifery believes the absolute compassion and ethos of caring, is something that still remains among nurses today. “We are very proud of the contribution that the 15 nurses from Ipswich Hospital made to the larger effort of nurses from Australia and its allies during World War I. This plaque will help to ensure we always remember their role in the war, the nursing profession and the history of Ipswich Hospital,” she said.

Two of the nurses were from the one family and a third was their cousin. Ruth Maughan Robson and her sister Jane Selina Robson were from Ma Ma Creek. They also had a brother Francis (Frank) William Robson who served in WWI and was killed in action on July 22, 1916, as his sister Ruth was about to depart for the front from Australia for the second time. Elsie Jane Pollock from Grantham was their cousin. 

Judy Pender from Biloela is Ruth Robson’s granddaughter. She remembers her Grandma as someone who was really good to her and her eight siblings. “She never spoke about her experiences during the war. She did talk a lot about the death of her son Leslie Edgar George, in WW2. He was a Prisoner of War in Japan when he died of Tuberculosis.”
Ipswich City Council, 6 November 2017.

Location

Address:	Court Street, Ipswich Hospital Museum, Jubilee House, Ipswich, 4305
State:	QLD
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -27.618621 Long: 152.758821 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Plaque
Monument Theme:	Conflict
Sub-Theme:	WW1
Actual Event Start Date:	04-August-1914
Actual Event End Date:	28-June-1919

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:	Friday 10th November, 2017

Source: MA