tamiwell Posted 21 February , 2023 Share Posted 21 February , 2023 Hello, I recently discovered that my Great Grandmother served as a 'Sister' with the AANS during the war, however I can't find anything on her which is frustrating. I even have a service number which was recorded on her gravesite plaque (438151). Is anyone familiar with Aussie records for nurses? Her name was Marion GATOR/GATER, although if she pretended she was unmarried to serve she may have used MATTHEWS or GREGORY (her previous surnames). I wouldn't put it past her, she was a bit of a fibber! : ) I've checked the National Archives of Australia and the Australian War Memorial with no luck....not sure where else to try. Any advice would be much appreciated, Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeZe Posted 21 February , 2023 Share Posted 21 February , 2023 Hi tamiwell, Cannot see a way of just using the service number to search with, but you could try this: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx Type in keywords Marion Nurse, maybe pick a date range 1914 to 1919 and you should have 38 nurses names – not all digitised . Unfortunately none match your alternatives but if she kept to Marion she should be included. I have also tried Marion Sister which somewhat confuses the issue as it also includes next-of-kin results. Regards ZeZe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 22 February , 2023 Share Posted 22 February , 2023 Strange about the service number - Nurses serving in the AANS in WW1 didn't have service numbers! She is not in my WW1 database of AANS nurses who served overseas - nor any of the other databases available online: https://kjhh.net.au/australiannursesatwar/world-war-one-australian-nurses/ http://ausww1nurses.weebly.com/ https://client-ww1aero.littleman.com.au/fmi/webd/AANS NursesA?acct=guest&homeurl=https://fffaif.org.au You'll see on Kirsty's website - the first link above - that she also has a list of 'known' AANS nurses who served on Home Service only - unfortunately Kirsty hasn't found her yet if she is one of the many hundreds who have no service record... On the off chance, (despite her age) owing to the fact that the service no. had to come from somewhere, I also looked for her in K's WW2 DB - and double checked on the WW2 Nominal Roll - but no luck there either. I noticed that her husband Ted enlisted in 1917 and gave her as his NOK with an address in Adelaide, and as he was discharged MU the same year - it seems more than likely if she served in WW1, it was in Australia. Someone in the family would have had to apply to the Department of Veteran Affairs / Office of Australian War Graves to use the rising sun on the plaque that is on her grave, and to do that they would have had to have had some proof of her service that they could verify - so best of luck... Cheers, Frev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 22 February , 2023 Share Posted 22 February , 2023 tamiwell, As Frev says, it is likely Marion served only in Australia. It might be worthwhile searching the local Australian newspapers on Trove. It may also help if you can find an obituary for her, since it may mention her AANS service. Search - Trove (nla.gov.au) Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamiwell Posted 27 February , 2023 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2023 Thanks everyone, I'm awaiting a reply from the DVA office, hopefully they can help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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