Historical information

The news story is about the recollections of Miss Jean Hardham, as she attended the a reunion of war nurses at ANZAC House, Melbourne.
Former Williamstown Hospital matron and Army nurse, Jean said that although the hardships and horrors of the battlefields in the Middle East are almost as vivid today as when they actually happened forty-four years ago, she would go through the experience again if she lived her life over. Jean had never wanted to do anything other than nurse, so she left Australia in 1940 as a member of the Ambulance Sea Transport Unit of a ship carrying 15,000 soldiers to the battlefields of Palestine and Egypt. 1941 saw her headed to Asia, fleeing the Japanese during the fall of Singapore. After the war, Jean worked at various Victoria hospitals and tutured at the Darley Army training camp. Her nursing career ended at the Williamstown Hospital, where she was matron until her retirement in 1971.

Physical description

A newspaper clipping with a large title along the top, a large column of text on the left hand side and a large black and white photo of a seated older woman with a photo album.

Inscriptions & markings

'Western Independent _ Sunshine - 24th April 1989' [blue ink, along top of paper]