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    "Blue Horizon" company on stage, 1945, courtesy of Australian War Memorial.
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Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) (1902 - 1948)

From
1 July 1902
To
November 1948
Occupations
Armed services organisation

Summary

The Australian Army Nursing Service, which was actually a reserve, was established on 1 July 1902. The Service was staffed by volunteer civilian nurses who would be available for duty during times of national emergency. Members of the Service served in both the World Wars, staffing medical facilities in Australia and overseas. In 1949 the Service became part of the Australian Regular Army and is now known as the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC).

Details

Prior to Australia's Federation in 1901, each colony controlled its own defence force, of which the nursing services formed a part. In July 1902 the nursing services of each colony joined together to form the Australian Army Nursing Service. The Service which was part of the Australian Army Medical Corps was made up of volunteer trained nurses who were willing to serve in times of a national emergency.

At the outbreak of World War I staff were recruited from both the nursing service and the civilian workforce. They served at field and base hospitals in Australia as well as in Egypt, England, France, Belgium, Greece, Salonika, Palestine, Mesopotamia and India. After the war the Australian Army Nursing Service returned to a reserve status.

The Australian Army Nursing Service was one of only two women's services (the other being Voluntary Aid Detachments) that were active at the outbreak of war in 1939. Initially the enlisted nurses were the only females to serve outside Australia. Members served in England, Egypt, Palestine, Libya, Greece, Syria, Ceylon, Malaya, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island as well as throughout Australia. They served on hospital ships, troop transports, base and camp hospitals and some spent time in Prisoner of War camps.

After the war members served as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan. In July 1947 members of the Australian Army Nursing Service were transferred to the Interim Army, and in November 1948 the Service was designated a 'Royal' one. In July 1949 the Royal Australian Army Nursing Service became part of the Australian Regular Army. In February 1951 the Service became a Corps and is known as the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC). The Pledge of Service was introduced during World War Two.

AANS Pledge of Service

I pledge myself loyally
to serve my King and Country
and to maintain the honour and efficiency
of the Australian Army Nursing Service.
I will do all in my power
to alleviate the suffering of
the sick and wounded, sparing no
effort to bring them comfort of body
and peace of mind.
I will work in unity and
comradeship with my fellow nurses.
I will be ready to give assistance
to those in need of my help,
and will abstain from any action
which may bring sorrow
and suffering to others.
At all times I will endeavour
to uphold the highest traditions of
Womanhood and of the Profession
of which I am Part.

Sources used to compile this entry: Bassett, Jan, Guns and brooches : Australian Army Nursing from the Boer War to the Gulf War, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992, 261 pp; Burchill, Elizabeth, Australian nurses since Nightingale 1860-1990, Spectrum Publications Pty Ltd, Richmond (Vic.), 1992, 258 pp; Palazzo, Albert, The Australian Army: A History of its Organisation 1901-2001, Oxford University Press, 2001, 456 pp.

Related entries

Timeline

 1899 - 1903 New South Wales Army Nursing Service Reserve (NSWANSR)
       1902 - 1948 Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS)
             1948 - Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC)

Related Women

Archival resources

Australian War Memorial Research Centre

  • Archbishop Daniel Mannix, Catholic Chaplain General of the Australian Army, c. 1945, P03081.001; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Army Women's Services, 1939 - 1945, MSS0780; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Australian Army Nursing Service nurses at the 52nd British General Hospital at Kalamaria, c. 1918, H15761; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Balcony of troopers' ward, 14th Australian General Hospital, Abbassia, ART02815; Lambert, George; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Brief History of the Australian Army Nursing Service, 1939 - 1944, AWM54; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Colour patch : Australian Army Nursing Service, AIF, c. 1918, RELAWM13307.152; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Group portrait of Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) nurses, who were former prisoners of war (POWs), 18 October 1945, P01701.003; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Hospital tent of 3rd Australian General Hospital, 1915, J01386; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Operation clean up DPR/TV/566, February 1967, F03844; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • [Recommendation file for honours and awards, AIF, 1914-18 War], 1918, AWM28; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • [Recommendation file for honours and awards, AIF, 1914-18 War] Australian Army Nursing Service 11.9.1918 to 24.9.1918, 1918, AWM28; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • [Recruiting - Arrangements:] Australian Military Forces - Instructions for the Medical Examination of Recruits. A) For Mobilization B) AIF C) For Garrison Battalions D) AANS [Australian Army Nursing Service] 1940, 1940, AWM54; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Thesis "Between the lines: the letters and diaries of First World War Australian Nurses"., 1912 - 1984, MSS1025; Holmes , Katie Ms; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details

Published resources

Books

  • A brief record of the Australian Army Nursing Service, 1939-1945, [V.F.X. 47777], [Melbourne], [1985?]., 52 pp. Details
  • Standing orders for the Australian Army Nursing Service, Horticultural Press, Melbourne, 1944, 12 pp. Details
  • The Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps : an outline of the foundation and development of the Australian Army Nursing Service, Australian Army Headquarters, [s.l.], 1953?, 39 pp. Details
  • Army Nursing Services, Australian Imperial Force, Extracts from regulations and orders; seniority list, Goverment Printer, Melbourne, 1917, 24 pp. Details
  • Australian Army Nursing Service, Seniority list (provisional), Wightman & Co., London, 1918, 16 pp. Details
  • Australian Imperial Force, Seniority nursing services, Albert J. Mullett, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1915, 7 pp. Details
  • Australian Imperial Force (1914-1921), Army nursing services: Australian Imperial Force and Australian Military Forces., Albert J. Mullett, Goverment Printer, Melbourne, 1916, 19 pp. Details
  • Australian Imperial Force, 2nd (1939-1946), Australian Imperial Force: order for nursing service, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1914, 5 pp. Details
  • Barker, Marianne, Nightingales in the mud : the digger sisters of the Great War 1914 - 1918, Allen & Unwin, North Sydney, 1989, 205 pp. Details
  • Eadie, Edith D. K.; Australia Remembers 1945-1995 S.A. Committee, With the AANS: 1939-1945, Australia Remembers Committee, [Adelaide?], 1995, [ca. 100 p.] pp. Details
  • Jeffrey, Betty, White Coolies, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1954, 204 pp. Details
  • Kenny, Catherine, 1962-, Captives: Australian army nurses in Japanese prison camps, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Qld, 1986, 173 pp. Details
  • Murphy, Frances, Desert, bamboo and barbed wire: the 1939-45 story of a special detachment of Australian Army nursing sisters, fondly known as the "Angels in Grey" and their fate in war and captivity, Ollif, Hornsby, N.S.W., 1983, 271 pp. Details
  • Reid, Richard, Just wanted to be there : Australian Service Nurses 1899-1999, Commonwealth Department of Veterans' Affairs, Canberra, 1999, 121 pp. Details
  • Smith, Neil C, The Australian Army Nursing Service: a short history with World War One nominal roll and award citations, Mostly Unsung Military History Research and Publications, Gardenvale, Vic., 1996, 49 pp. Details
  • Tilton, May, The grey battalion, Angus & Robertson, (Sydney :Halstead Printing), Sydney, 1933, 310 pp. Details
  • Wellesley-Smith, Annette.;Shaw, E. L.;Australia. Army. Australian Army Nursing Service., Lest we forget, The Service, (Melbourne :Premier Printing), Melbourne, 1944, 28 pp. Details

See also

  • The Khiva nursery, [At sea]: "S.S. Khiva", 1917. Details
  • Adam-Smith, Patsy, Australian women at war, Nelson, Melbourne, 1984, 386 pp. Details
  • Angell, Barbara, A Woman's war : the exceptional life of Wilma Oram Young, AM, New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney, 2003, 328 pp. Details
  • Australian War Memorial, 'Nurses : "The roses of no man's land"', in 1918 Australians in France, http://www.awm.gov.au/1918/medical/nurses.htm. Details
  • Australian War Memorial, 'Unsung heroes : Australia's military medical personnel', in 1918 Australians in France, http://www.awm.gov.au/1918/medical/. Details
  • Bassett, Jan, Guns and brooches : Australian Army Nursing from the Boer War to the Gulf War, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992, 261 pp. Details
  • Burchill, Elizabeth, Australian nurses since Nightingale 1860-1990, Spectrum Publications Pty Ltd, Richmond (Vic.), 1992, 258 pp. Details
  • Burchill, Elizabeth, 1908-2003, Thursday Island nurse, Rigby, Adelaide, 1972, 139 pp. Details
  • Ollif, Lorna, Colonel Best and her soldiers: The Story of the 33 years of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps, Ollif Publishing Company, Hornsby, NSW, 1985, 249 pp. Details
  • Palazzo, Albert, The Australian Army: A History of its Organisation 1901-2001, Oxford University Press, 2001, 456 pp. Details
  • Rae, Ruth, 'Jessie Tomlins: an Australian nurse, World War One', Thesis, 2001, 245 pp. Also available at http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/~thesis/adt-NU/public/adt-NU20020222.160609/. Details
  • Southwell-Keely, Michael, 'Australian Servicewomen's Memorial', in War Memorials in Australia, July 2000, http://www.skp.com.au/memorials/pages/00018.htm. Details
  • Underwood, Polly, The reflections of an old grey mare: a salute to those who served, P. Underwood, [Kenmore, Qld.], 1987, 76 pp. Details

Digital resources

Title
Sister Ellen Savage
Type
Image
Date
May 1943
Control
044428
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Title
Choir in St George's Chapel Adelaide River, NT.
Type
Image
Date
October 1944
Control
P02698.002
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Title
"Blue Horizon" company on stage
Type
Image
Date
1945
Control
P02698.003
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Anne Heywood

Created: 9 December 2002, Last modified: 26 May 2011

Comments

I am researching names on our War Memorial. The name S.L.Cairncross appears on the memorial under the banner of Nurses. Unfortunately I have been unable to find any trace of military records for her. Can you please help?

Daun Clapperton - 12 August 2010, 2:46 PM EST

Daun, we are not a repository ourselves, so can't provide you with that information. You will need to contact the Australian War Memorial Research Centre or National Archives of Australia directly. They should be able to help you with that sort of trace.

AWAP Administrator - 13 August 2010, 9:07 AM EST

Can you tell me when the AANS Pledge of Service was first written and if it was said by the nurses who served in WWI?

Kathryn Graham - 9 September 2010, 9:30 AM EST

Can anyone help Kathryn?

AWAP Administrator - 27 September 2010, 5:01 PM EST

I am about to commence a journey to find about my paternal grandmother Kathleen May Turvey. I have an army bracelet (assumed) which has KM Turvey AANS Salonica on the back.
I have a great desire to find a story about her, even a photograph. If you could direct me to posibilities thank you Virginia

Virginia Addison - 2 January 2011, 5:16 PM EST

As per above comments Virginia, you will need to make contact with the Australian War Memorial for further information. Good Luck!

AWAP Administrator - 4 January 2011, 9:35 AM EST

We have a lovely suitcase in our collection, donated by the relative of a former AANS Nurse. It seems to have come from the AANS but I am not sure if it came empty and was to be used for personal items or if it would have contained nursing items. It is rigid, brown leather, about 40x50cm. Kind regards,
RPAH Museum, Sydney

Kathi Hillier - 15 March 2011, 12:11 PM EST

Thank you for that information, Kathi. It is great to know the location of such an item.

AWAP Administrator - 24 March 2011, 11:27 AM EST

hello. im a Regisred nurse here in Philippines. and i worked already in a Hospital. is there a chance that i can apply in AANS?.. coz i really want to work as a Army Nurse..

Rogelio B. Castro Jr. - 29 March 2011, 3:26 AM EST

Rogelio, you need to apply to the Australian Army.

AWAP Administrator - 31 March 2011, 3:37 PM EST

Hello I am looking to find out more about a Violet Irene Clarke, a nurse during World War One with AANS. Wondering if you can help? Thanks

David Perrin - 15 April 2011, 1:42 AM EST

David, You need to contact the Australian War Memorial or the National Archives. Good luck.

AWAP Administrator - 20 April 2011, 3:10 PM EST

I can provide information to anyone requiring historical details of a nursing relative who served in the Australian Army Nursing Service in World War I. I can possibly also help with Australian nurses who served with other services, eg. QAIMNSR.

Kirsty Harris - 24 May 2011, 12:15 PM EST

I am now able to do my History homework because of this

ALAL - 27 June 2011, 9:51 AM EST

I am researching Sister Janet Kerr, AANS nurse, died on Radji Beach, Bangka Island 1942. She died alongside her friend and colleague and only survivor, Vivian Bullwinkel. I have Janet/Jenny's service records, but they do not provide an account of what Jenny did in AANS before mobilization. Would be grateful for any information.

Cheryl Ianson - 31 January 2012, 2:53 PM EST

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