Australian Army Nursing Service sleeve badge - circa 1915

[slick_mick]

Australian Army Nursing Service sleeve badge - circa 1915.



Embroidered badge associated with the service of Staff Nurse Anne Laycock Hunter, born in Sydney in 1880 to William Walton and Anne Hunter. She trained at the Coast Hospital, Little Bay, Sydney (now Prince Henry Hospital) for three years. Hunter enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service in January 1915, joining the reinforcements for 1 and 2 General Hospitals in March. She embarked from Sydney on 13 April 1915 aboard HMAT Kyarra and served in Egypt until March 1916 when she was sent to the Western Front where she served in hospitals at Rouen. Hunter was invalided to Australia in October 1916 on the Hospital Ship Karoola. After a few months back in Australia she left to return to England on 24 January 1917. In 1917 and 1918 Hunter served in the following hospitals: 3 Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford, which treated patients with psycho neuroses and mental disorders, such as shell shock; 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Southall, which treated amputees; and 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, which became an ear, nose and throat centre and included specialist cases, such as blinded men, and men needing physiotherapy or specialist surgery. On 2 June 1919 Hunter embarked for return to Australia. Anne Laycock James (nee Hunter) died in 1962.

[Hendo]

Hi mick - did the crowns vary a great deal on the nursing service sleeve patches.? I picked up one recently that resembles a queens crown - Queen Vic crown
. Cheers Steve

[slick_mick]

To be honest I'm not sure.

If its QVC, could it be English instead of Australian?

Mick

[Donny B.]

Originally Posted by Hendo

........... I picked up one recently that resembles a queens crown - Queen Vic crown
. Cheers Steve

Why don't you post a picture of it?

Quite a number of Australian nurses went to Africa during the Boer War. Is it possible that they may have had some sort of ensignia? I have seen a picture of one of our Australian nurses holding her Queen Victoria 1900 Christmas gift tin.

Donny B.

[badgecollector]

Hi all

An item I have chased for many years. From memory have only seen one maybe 2 for sale in my collecting life.

I have admired the full nurses uniform with the patch from The Army Museum Bandiana along with the fantastic photo collage of the ww1 nurses in uniform with their patches.

I am now the proud owner of a pair of them. I know have 2 of what I believe are 3 varieties however each is unique as they were all hand made and show variations on each

bc

[kingsley]

Can anyone tell me anything about this arm band? It appears to be Australian WW1.
Thanks.

[badgecollector]

Hi Kingsley
Thanks for the post. I have one of these brassard also and have never been able definitively work out the whats wheres whys but i believe it is circa ww1 and worn by Aussie nurses. My best guess late war maybe even immediately post war worn in the UK. I've also seen one with a complete uniform where the nurse was in Salonica. Now she nursed pre and post Salonica and when she got this or wore this who knows.
Bc