Nurses Narratives Sister Mabel Isabel Brown (part 1)

AWM 4 1
5161 
AUSTRALIAN ARCHIVE 
ACCESS STATUS 
OPEN   
M/SISTER M. BROWN.
[947]

Hosp Ship S.M. Brown 105/42
Loved working with British
So well treated, and the
routine was perfect. The
Indian Med. Service
everything that could be
desired.

The Official War Historian of the Commonwealth 
Government (Dr. C. E. W. Bean), after his study of the 
collection of private war records preserved in the Australian 
War Memorial Library, wrote:- 
"The private diaries in this collection furnish some of its most 
valuable historical records, but, like all private memoirs which were 
not compiled with any historical purpose, they should not be 
regarded as first-hand evidence except where it is certain that they 
are so. The diarist is almost always sincere in his desire to record 
accurately, but he is subject to no obligation or inducement to 
indicate whether he is recording his own observations or incidents 
told him by friends or heard at third or fourth hand at the mess-table. 
Thus, in some of the diaries in this collection, scenes described with 
vivid detail, and without any warning that they are told at second 
or third hand, have been found to be completely inaccurate in 
important details. A certain number also have been written up 
or revised long after the events, though doubtless usually from notes 
made at the time. In most cases the student must rely on his 
experience and on internal evidence to guide him in judging what is 
and what is not likely to be historically accurate."

105/42
[*See Hospl Ships
7 & 8.
105*]]
1  VI.
To Capt. A. L. McLean 
Ass. Col. Med. History 
Aus. War Records Sec.
Sir 
I am not clear at putting on paper my
experiences, which have been very varied,
& during my four years abroad I have
met most of the important men 
of affairs. If there is anything in the
following pages I shall be glad to have
contributed my bite to history. 
We left Aus. in the Kyarra 1914, & it was
with light hearts we landed in Egypt
nearly a month later, All sorts of rumours
met us, that No I was to return as to many 
Sisters had been sent, but eventually we 
arrived at Heliopolis Palace cross & hungry 
& it was a wild scramble to get settled 
& in our rooms, but we got nothing to 
eat until after 8. pm, as the 1^st comers 
had also been hungry, & we thought greedy 
within a couple of weeks we had a few 
patients long before we were ready for 
them, My ward under Col Summers, then Major 
was filled with pneumonias, & terrible it was 
The only cases I can compare with them

2 
are the Spanish pneumonic influenzas  I 
have seen such a lot of since, indeed 
many times lately I have wondered if 
it was the same disease. Sister Cameron 
of the Melbourne hospital was my invaluable 
assistant in that ward. 
We were always being inspected, by 
some Authority or other,Surg Gen. Ford, Surg Gen 
Baptie (I met him again later in Messopot.) 
etc to see if we knew how to run 
a Military hospital, little they knew themselves 
then that all or most of these 
regulations would have to be upset by 
the big rush, & that anyhow Australian 
Sisters of that year were _^to be more anxious 
about the patient in the bed than the bed 
& bedding. I was greatly honoured when 
one day Gen Birdwood came round 
& stopped to speak for a few minutes.
3 years later I met him at Abbeville 
& found he had not forgotten me. 
Gen. Baptie’s inspection was the most 
thorough, beds, blankets, cupboards etc 
he then & always appeared to have 
his heart in his work. Another day 
we had the Sultan & his suite, of

2a. 
course cameras had been forbidden,
but needless to remark, 
there was one at every corner, 
yet we had very poor results. 
Early in March Sister Sausing (Sawsing HS.) & myself 
were sent to open & take charge 
of the Red Cross department, & most 
interesting work it was, & the 
experience was most useful to 
me in after years, altho at the 
time I was indignant at being 
put to work that lay people could 
& did do in after years. We 
received and unpacked & sorted all 
goods coming from Australia 
then repacked & ticketed them. 
There was a lot of humour 
& pathos in all the packages. My 
best helper I met again in France 
with the rank of sergeant, altho 
he was an imported Australian he 
was a most enthusiastic digger. 
We had

3 
had 10 men to assist us & found 
not one too many, & Major Barrett 
at the head of affairs, Sister Sausing 
did the books & general office 
work & I had charge of the 
packing store, Many thousands 
of pounds worth of goods went 
thro our hands, & the tears came 
to my eyes many times on reading 
the loving home messages 
tacked on to many things, when 
we thought of the brave boys 
they were meant for, & who would 
never probably see them, there 
was much humour too, A very large 
flannel needle book containing one 
surgeon's needle, & the label sent 
in the hope that it would be of 
use in saving life on the battle 
field, I could picture the way 
back station it had come from 
also the 2 ounce pkt of cotton wool, 
"it may be of use in stopping haemorrhage 
on the battlefield, and the 
nightshirt "all tapes" ticketed. 
"A helpless nightshirt" indeed it

4 
was "Helpless" We laughed till we 
cried, but we guessed the loving 
sypathic hands that had made 
it, About a week before the 26^th 
April we got our first large order 
750 shirts & sock for a regment 
then on it way to Gallipoli - 
After about the first week of fighting 
hardly a day passed but we 
got an order for hundreds of 
articles & when I tell you we 
supplied every hospital ship or hosp. 
on land, that asked us from 
the whole of Egypt right to 
Gallipoli you may know we 
worked some. After the wounded 
first came in we found we had 
not sufficient nurses for the wards 
so I asked permission to go back 
to the wards, but was refused, 
so after coming off duty in the 
R. x rooms, I used to go to the 
wards & work with the others 
both early & late, it was tiring, 
but such a happiness to be able 
to do it, & those "Boys" I shall

5 
never forget them, never a complaint 
but, "when shall I be able 
to go back again Sister" Altho I 
have been everywhere except 
Salonika, I have never met any 
one like the first wounded men, 
All nationalities, & all filled with the 
same brave devotion to duty, Early 
in May I felt it was a terrible waste 
to have two trained nurses doing 
Red x work that civilians could & 
should do, & approached Major 
Barrett to that end, but he would 
not hear of it so I took my own 
way out, & went straight in the 
face or orders, & eventually accomplished 
my aim, the Red x work 
was interesting but I did not 
enlist to do that - In the 1^st week 
of July 1915 the O'C asked me if 
I would care to go on a hospital 
ship, as this was a very great favor 
at the time I fully appreciated 
it at the time & said Yes thank you
So on the morning of the 7^th Six of us 
set forth, Sisters Womarski, May King, 
Kirk Myself Sorrenson & Lyons & at

6 
At Cairo Station were met by S/n Miss 
Collins 2.A.I.M.N.S. a tiny edition 
of a nurse. But very bright & tactful 
& as she held the rank of S/n & some 
of us were sisters, it might have been 
uncomfortable, Of course she was 
made Matron & a very good Manager 
she was, & a hard worker. We were 
put on the "Grantully Castle" it 
was just being converted into an 
H.S. We had to wait in Alexandria 
a few days & then were hurried 
away, not nearly ready - the beds 
up but no bolts attached to the 
tables attached to the bunks, oh 
it was a terrible scramble, The 
wards given to me contained 175 
beds, & ten orderlies, good boys 
but had never been inside a 
hospital, but they worked, I have 
never had better or more eager helpers 
R.A.M.C. We were short of linen 
& could only have one sheet per 
bed, I did not hesitate & had every 
one torn in half, & thus had two 
sheets per man, I shall keep silent

7 
on what the Matron said when I proudly 
showed her what I had done, Anyhow
she flew round to warn the others, 
& found that like good Australians 
they had also used their brains, 
poor little Matron she had a holy 
fear of the 2.M. but after a few 
trips with us, she also would 
tear sheets or anything else that 
was handy if necessary. We had 
hard work on board. 
We had six Medical men on board 
one being the O'C, A Matron and six Sisters 
& about 30 orderlies, & a 2.M.O/C - 
On this our 1^st trip we did not have 
any regular hrs as the 4 days 
going up every spare minute was 
taken up in preparing the wards 
& making dressings, filling pillow 
slips & getting them sterilised, etc 
& then when we arrived, we were 
anchored off Cape Helles & almost 
immediately began taking on patients 
we stayed there about 10 days 
acting as a C.C.S, we keeping 
the serious cases & the others