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Sage, Annie Moriah (1895 - 1969)

CBE, RRC

Born
17 August 1895
Somerville, Victoria, Australia
Died
6 April 1969
Occupation
Nurse

Summary

During Annie Sage's distinguished military nursing career in World War II she introduced the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service Training Scheme and was closely involved in the planning and establishment of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps as an integral part of the Australian Regular Army and the Citizen Military Forces.

After the war she took an active and leading role in the establishment of the War Nurses Memorial Centre and the Centaur War Nurses Fund. Through her work with the (Royal) College of Nursing she made a very important contribution to postgraduate nursing education. She was also active in the negotiations that brought about the 1958 Nurses’ Act which gave wider power to the registering authority, the Victorian Nursing Council. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross for her war work with the Australian Army Nursing Service in the Middle East in 1942 (for 'exceptional tact and administrative ability') and she was awarded the CBE (Military Division) in 1951.

Details

Events

17 August 1895
Born: daughter of Edward Arthur and Mary Anne (née Murray) Sage
September 1924
Registered as a midwife
November 1926
Granted her nursing certificate
1936 - 1939
Matron of the Victorian Baby Health Centres Association Training School
19 December 1939 - 23 January 1947
Member of the Australian Army Nursing Service
April 1940
Sailed for the Middle East and served at Gaza Ridge, Palestine, and at Kantara, Egypt
1941
Matron-in-Chief of the Australian Imperial Forces
1942
Appointed a member of the Royal Red Cross
4 February 1943 - 1952
Mation-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces
23 March 1943
Promoted to colonel
September 1945
Flew to Sumatra to assist with the repatriation of the 24 Australian nurses imprisoned by the Japanese
June 1946
Accompanied the Australian Military Forces to London for the Victory March
1947
Awarded Florence Nightingale medal
1947 - 1951
Lady Superintendent of the Women's Hospital, Carlton, Victoria
1949 - 1950
Founding president of the College of Nursing, Melbourne
1950 - 1952
Treasurer of the College of Nursing, Melbourne
1956
Became a partner in a grocery shop at Somerville, Victoria
1957 - 1962
Honorary colonel of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps
1967
Honorary fellow of the College of Nursing, Melbourne
1969
College of Nursing established the Annie M Sage scholarship
4 April 1969
Died and was cremated with Anglican rites with full military honours

Sources used to compile this entry: McCarthy, Janice, 'Sage, Annie Moriah (1895-1969)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160194b.htm.

Related entries

Related Organisations

Archival resources

Australian War Memorial Research Centre

  • [Campaign in Malaya and Singapore - Escape before and after capitulation and evacuation of civilians:], 1942 - 1945, AWM54; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • End of War Awards - submissions by [Quartermaster-General and Director-General of Medical Services], 1945, AWM119; 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
  • Honours and Awards - Recommendations for New Year Honours List 1946, 1945 - 1946, AWM119; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Report on tour of Duty to Sumatra by Col Ann N Sage Matron-in-Chief, AANS, 1942 - 1945, AWM54 553/6/2; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Sage, Annie Moriah (Matron b: 1895 d: 1969), 1940, PR00636; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details

National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office

  • Sage, Annie Moriah - Pay ledger, history cards, allotment cards, tax deduction cards, 1940 - 1947, MT415/1 VX361; National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office. Details
  • Sage, Annie Moriah, Colonel RRC CBE, 1939 - 1987, B883 VFX361; National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office. Details

National Archives of Australia, National Office

  • Miss A. M. Sage - Honour (awarded CBE), 1950, A463 1959/3672; National Archives of Australia, National Office. Details

National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room

  • Biographical cuttings on Annie M. Sage, Matron-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps, 1942-1952; National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room. Details

Nurses Memorial Centre

  • Annie Moriah Sage, Portrait; Nurses Memorial Centre. Details

Royal College of Nursing, Australia, Archives

  • Annie Moriah Sage, Records, 1948 - 1987, Series 252/13 Box 234; Royal College of Nursing, Australia, Archives. Details

Published resources

The Australian Women's Register Exhibitions

Books

  • Jeffrey, Agnes Betty, Matron A.M. Sage ‘Sammie’: A Tribute by Betty Jeffrey, Herald Gravure Printers, Sydney, 1970?, 55 pp. Details
  • Minchin, Maureen Kathryn, Revolutions and Rosewater: The Evolution of Nurse Registration in Victoria, 1923-1973, Victorian Nursing Council, Melbourne, 1977. Details
  • Schultz, Bart, Founders of the College, 2nd edn, College of Nursing, Australia, Melbourne, 1989. Details
  • Smith, Russel G., In Pursuit of Nursing Excellence: A History of the Royal College of Nursing, Australia 1949-1999, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1999, 390 pp. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Adam-Smith, Patsy, Australian women at war, Nelson, Melbourne, 1984, 386 pp. Details
  • Alexander, Joseph A (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1962, 17 edn, Colorgravure Publications, Melbourne, 1962, 960 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
  • Bassett, J., Guns and Brooches: Australian Army Nursing from the Boer War to the Gulf War, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992, 261 pp. Details
  • Gregory, Alan, The Ever open door : a history of the Royal Melbourne Hospital 1848-1998, Hyland House, South Melbourne, 1998, 500 pp. Details
  • Jeffrey, Betty, White Coolies, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1954, 204 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
  • Williams, Jennifer A., Victoria’s Living Memorial: History of the Nurses Memorial Centre, 1948-1990, Nurses Memorial Centre, Melbourne, 1991. Details

Digital resources

Title
Matron Annie Sage
Type
Image
Date
1941
Creator
Heysen, Nora (1911 - 2003)
Control
ART22203
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

See also

Title
Douglas, Irving and Sage
Type
Image
Date
23 December 1944
Control
100671
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Title
Group portrait of Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) nurses, who were former prisoners of war (POWs
Type
Image
Date
18 October 1945
Control
P01701.003
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Austehc

Created: 16 November 2001, Last modified: 5 June 2009

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

National Foundation for Australian Women The University of Melbourne, eScholarship Research Centre

http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0114b.htm