Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps

History

Foundation

The history of RAANC can be traced back to the formation of the Australian Army Nursing Service on 13 August 1898 in New South Wales. At the time it was made up of one Lady Superintendent and 24 nurses. The service saw its first action in the Boer war, when the New South Wales and Victorian governments arranged for a detachment of nurses to deploy with their troops to Africa. Groups and individual nurses from Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland also served in the Anglo-Boer War. Due to the performance of the nurses in that conflict, an order was given in 1902 for the formation of the Australian Army Nursing Service under the control of the federal government. It is this order's promulgation, 1 July 1903, which is celebrated as RAANC Corps day.{{cite web | access-date = 28 December 2015 }}

First World War

More than 2000 - and some say up to 2286 - AANS female nurses served overseas in the World War I with 423 serving in Australia, together with 130 Australians who had enlisted with the AANS but were transferred to work with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve. 21 AANS died on service together with 2 from the QAIMNSR and at least 388 were decorated. In addition, more than 400 nurses served solely in Australia as part of the AANS Home Service.

Second World War

In World War II, more than 3580 women joined the AANS with 71 members losing their lives (23 in battle and 18 as a result of accident or illness). Thirty-eight nurses became prisoners of war. A total of 137 decorations were awarded to members of the AANS, including two George Medals. In 1945, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, became the Honorary Colonel Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and in 1948 the service was renamed as the Royal Australian Army Nursing Service. It became part of the Australian Regular Army the following year, eventually becoming a corps in February 1951 - the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps.

Korean War

During the Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953), 153 Australian nurses served in Commonwealth hospital units, primarily in Japan but also in Korea. They were members of the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service and the Royal Australian Army Nursing Service. These nurses provided care for battle casualties, dealt with health problems (many emanating from the extreme cold), and assisted with the transportation of patients, including evacuating the wounded from Korea to Japan or Australia.

Alliances

• – Royal Army Medical Service

Order of precedence

Footnotes

References

1. Kirsty Harris, ‘‘Rubbery figures’: the puzzle of the number of AANS on active service in WWI’, Sabretache, Journal of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol XLIX, No. 1, March 2008, pp 5-10.
2. K. Harris, ‘Red Rag to a British Bull?: Australian Trained Nurses working with British Nurses in World War I’, in Kate Darian-Smith, Patricia Grimshaw, Kiera Lindsey and Stuart Macintyre (eds), Exploring the British World, RMIT Publishing, Melbourne, 2004, pp 126-141.
3. "Women in action - Australia's Culture Portal".
4. [https://kjhh.net.au/australiannursesatwar/world-war-one-australian-nurses/ Nurses on Home Service with AMF]
5. Kirsty Harris, ‘Two heads are better than one’: Melbourne as the hub of Australian Army nursing administration in World War 1, Victorian Historical Journal, 83, December 2012, pp 235-254.
6. [https://kjhh.net.au/australiannursesatwar/world-war-two-australian-nurses/ Australian nurses in World War II]
7. Melbourne, National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of. "Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) - Organisation - The Australian Women's Register".
8. Groen, Fran de. "Australian Dictionary of Biography". National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
9. "George Medal : Ensign N G A Wake, First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Special Operations Executive)".
10. "George Medal: Staff Nurse M I Anderson, Australian Army Nursing Service {{!}} Australian War Memorial".
11. (1995). "The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History". Oxford University Press.
12. "Out in the Cold: Australia's involvement in the Korean War - Medical Personnel {{!}} Australian War Memorial".