BAMOS
June 2017
23
Sister Frances Hines (Boer War, top image)
Sister Hines was the first woman who died in active service in
the Australian Army Nursing Service. She died in South Africa
from pneumonia and overwork. How much did the weather and
climate lead to her coming down with pneumonia, or through
the numbers of men hospitalized by disease and illness that
resulted in her being overworked? She was looking after 26 men
completely by herself.
Private E. P. Davis (Gallipoli, middle image)
Emanuel Percival Davis (‘Manny’) was my great uncle. He enlisted
with the 11th Battalion (WA) and may have been one of the first
men ashore at Gallipoli. He survived the landing only to die in
July after being hit by a Turkish shell. He died on a hospital ship
and was buried at sea. So how did the weather affect his death?
July in Gallipoli is hot. His unit was on a break and they went for
a swim when a Turkish shell landed in the water near them.
Privates Charles and William Konza (Western
Front)
These two brothers were born in New Zealand but the family
moved to Wellington, NSW. They were both big strapping lads;
William (26) being 6ft 2in and Charles (21) 6ft 3in. This was at
a time when the average height of a 21-year-old in Britain was
just under 5ft 6in (170 cm) (BBC, 2013) and anyone over 6ft was
considered tall. The AIF minimum enlistment height in August
1914 was 5ft 6in, which was progressively lowered to 5 ft by April
1917 (Australian War Memorial).
The boys enlisted in the 3rd Battalion and had consecutive
numbers. They departed Australia on 25 November 1916 and
arrived in England on the 9th January 1917, right in the midst of
the coldest winter for 22 years. They were both admitted straight
into hospital from the ship with pneumonia. William died on 22
January whilst Charles died on 9 February without even leaving
hospital. How much did a combination of the cold weather and
crowded accommodation lead to their deaths?
Top: Sister Francis Hines
is the first on the left in the
front row.
Middle: Private E.P. Davis is
on the left.
Bottom: HMAS Nizam.
Sister Hilda Knox (Western Front)
Sister Hilda Know was 33 years old. After serving in Egypt she
was transferred to the Western Front. She was on her way to the
hospital in France when she developed Meningitis and died in
France on 17th February 1917. How much did the weather play
in her catching this disease?
HMAS Nizam (WWII, bottom image)
The HMAS Nizam was one of the 5 ‘N’ class destroyers provided
to the Royal Australian Navy from the Royal Navy in WWII. It
travelled over 270,000 miles during the war serving in the
Mediterranean Sea, where it did 14 trips into Tobruk went to
Malta and was involved in the evacuations of Greece and Crete. It
also did patrols in the Atlantic, the Indian and the Pacific Oceans