specialty focus tasks that needed to be done and having relationships with the patients , much more so than the doctors .”
After the Western allies attempted to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula , over 10,000 wounded men would be transported to Edie ’ s hospital at Alexandria in Egypt .
As the casualties flooded in , the nurses treated the sick and dehydrated soldiers , many of whom had facial deformities , blown off body parts , and open trench wounds .
The nurses worked until exhaustion and often fell sick from bugs caught off their patients .
In the present world of COVID-19 , where health workers face a new form of widespread sickness and devastation , Edie ’ s experiences draw a noticeable parallel .
“ I feel like in a way we ’ ve got a little bit of an understanding of what it must have been like to be in a world at war ,” said Krista .
“ A lot of people have probably had a similar experience of not being at war as such , but where the world has just been flipped on its head and you just have to cope with it .”
Krista details how the staff nurses , who were often several years older than the boys , would offer empathy and emotional support .
“ Surrounded by human wreckage , the nurses knew that although their immediate duty was to minister to their patients ’ physical wounds , it was vital to keep up their spirits ,” Krista writes in the book .
“ To be washed clean , to have a sweet cup of tea – indeed , to be in a place where women existed marked a return to civilisation after the privations of the trenches and the shock of fighting .”
After 18 months in Egypt , Edie would transfer to Surrey , England , where she would care for wounded German prisoners of war .
Britain was under fire from weekly German aerial bombing raids .
Witnessing the bombers from her bedroom window every night , Edie would enter the ward the next morning and chat with her foreign patients and learnt a word or two in German . This struck Krista .
“ It ’ s interesting because it brings out the idea of who is your enemy ? Because when she ’ s dealing with them one to one , they ’ re just her patients in a bed ,” she said .
Kristina Vane-Tempest ’ s book is now available online . Photo : supplied
“ Edie loved nursing Australians , but she cared for all of her patients as human beings , regardless of where they came from .”
In November 1917 , Edie boarded the HMS Glenart Castle , a hospital ship bound for the Mediterranean .
Four months later , the ship was struck by a torpedo launched from a German Submarine in the early hours of the morning .
Most of the crew members and medical personnel , including 32-year-old Edie , drowned with the vessel . According to Krista , she was the only Australian war nurse to have died in action during the First World War .
While finishing the book , Krista travelled to England to attend a ceremony for the sinking of the ship .
She met the distant families of Edie ’ s past colleagues and a host of extended Blake relatives .
“ Unfortunately the experience for those families is pretty much the same as for ours , in that nobody really spoke about it ,” she said .
“ She cared for all of her patients as human beings , regardless of where they came from .
“ You know that they did that service , but no one ’ s alive that I know of , that actually had any kind of in-depth conversation with these people about those experiences , it was just something that happened to them in the past .”
Years before finding the letters , Krista , a volunteer at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra , searched for her great aunt on the roll of honour .
As Edie was allocated to the British Army , she was not recognised on the list of men and women who died serving Australia .
“ World War One is a great watershed . It ’ s a great social watershed as well because women did step up and serve their country ,” said Krista .
“ I would like people to see that the book not only tells a story of Edie , but of nurses , and of being a woman and an Australian at that time in history .” ■
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