Grace Wilson was born June 25, 1879, in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. She attended Brisbane Grammar School and began her training to become a nurse at Brisbane Hospital, in 1905. She finished her training in 1908. During her time at Brisbane Hospital, Grace became the 1st winner of the prestigious Gold Medal for nursing excellence. Afterwards, she went to London to study midwifery, at Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital. Grace went on to work at the National Hospital for the Paralyzed & Epileptic, in London. She returned to Australia in July 1914, becoming the matron of Brisbane Hospital.
Following the outbreak of WW1, Grace joined the Army Nursing Service Reserve, in October 1914 and became the head matron of the 1st military district. She inlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on April 15, 1915 & was appointed head matron of the 3rd Australian General Hospital, in Sydney. Grace & the other 3rd AGH staff departed from Sydney on May 15, 1915.
They arrived in England at the end of June, though they had been originally deployed to France. Instead it was decided to send the hospital to the island of Lemnos, Greece, to treat casualties from the Gallipoli Campaign. The 3rd AGH left England in early July & arrived on Lemnos on August 8. The ship transporting the nurses stopped in Alexandria during the voyage & this is where Grace learned that one of her brothers had been killed at Quinn's Post, in Gallipoli. Conditions on Lemnos were inhospitable to say the least, at first there were few facilities to care for the numerous soldiers, who were being evacuated there from Gallipoli. Grace fought to improve the situation, earning the praise & respect of both her subordinates & superiors.
In January 1916, the 3rd AGH, moved to Abbassia, Egypt. Grace's heroic actions were noted by her superiors and recorded in official documents (despatches), on 3 different occasions that year, which earned her the Royal Red Cross, in May. In either late 1915 or early 1916, Grace was offered the post of Head Matron at AIF headquarters but turned it down because she wanted to stay with the 3rd AGH. In October 1916, the hospital was sent to Brighton, in England, where they stayed until April 1917, when they were deployed to Abbeville, in France.
Grace was temporarily promoted to AIF headquarters, in September 1917, while Evelyn Connors, was on leave in Australia. She kept the position until April of the following year, rejoining the 3rd AGH. After the end of the war, Grace was mentioned in more despatches in December 1918. Grace was appointed to the rank of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) & received the medal of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, on January 1, 1919. The 3rd AGH was disbanded in May that year & Grace was posted at the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital, in England. She returned to Australia in January 1920, formally ceasing to be a member of the AIF, in April.
Between 1920-22, Grace was matron of the Children's Hospital, in Melbourne. During this period, she sought to improve the working conditions for nurses & secured a minimum wage for trainees. She resigned from the Children's Hospital in 1922, founding her own hospital in East Melbourne. She received the Florence Nightingale Medal, in 1929. In January 1933, Grace became the matron of the Alfred Hospital, in this role she oversaw the first program in the British Commonwealth, for training nurse tutors.
Upon the breakout of WW2, in September 1939, Grace was called up to a full-time position in the army & resigned from her position at the Alfred Hospital. She served as a member of staff under the Director-General of Medical Services, Major General, Rupert Downes, in army headquarters & as the army's matron-in-chief. Grace became a member of the 2nd AIF in September 1940, serving in the Middle East, as the matron-in-chief of the nursing service. She retained the position until May 1941, when she had to return to Australia, due to health issues. Grace arrived back on Australian soil in August & resigned from the AIF a month later. She later became affiliated with the expansion of the Australian Red Cross Society. On September 15, 1943, Grace was appointed as executive officer of the Department of Manpower Directorate, in the state of Victoria; where she had control of the management of every hospital in the state & had a personal staff of four nurses and eleven office personnel.
Grace Wilson retired following the end of WW2 but continued to volunteer with various organizations. These included, the Royal Victorian Trained Nurses' Association, Australian Red Cross Society & the Girl Guide's Association. In 1953, Wilson became the first female life member of the "Returned & Services League". Several nursing organisations also awarded her their highest honours. She married Robert W.B Campell in London, on January 12, 1954. Grace Wilson passed away 3 years later on January 12, 1957, at the Repatriation General Hospital, in Heidelberg, Victoria. She was given a military burial with full honors at Christ Church, in South Yarra. Grace's medals & uniform from WW1 were put on permanent display at the Australian War Memorial, in 2014. Grace Wilson's service during WW1 was portrayed in the 2014 tv miniseries, Anzac Girls, where she is played by actress, Caroline Craig.
Side notes:
Gallipoli Campaign- a long unsuccessful campaign during WW1, that occurred on the coast of what is now Turkey. The Allied Powers of Britain & France sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire but after 8 months of fighting & many casualties on both sides, the allied forces were forced to withdraw. The campaign was the only major Ottoman victory of the war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Wilson
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Non-FictionWomen who have contributed to the fields of science, medicine and math. They paved the way for future generations, made groundbreaking discoveries, many times while being outshone or downtrodden by their male counterparts.
