Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sister Sally Kellaway

Nurses trained at the Longreach Hospital have achieved distinction in wider spheres. A notable case is that of Sister Sally Kellaway, who went to Egypt as a nurse during the last war. From there she went to England for a year before returning to spend a period at the Rosemount Repatriation Hospital in Brisbane. In 1928 she went to England again, then to Gibraltar and on to Spain. Sister Kellaway's next move was to join Lady Minto's India Nursing Association (the members of which staff Indian hospitals and Assam bungalows, attending the sick), and she spent several years in India. A writer in the "Women's Mirror" describes Sister Kellaway as one of the most popular nurses trained at the Longreach Hospital. In the early days of the Longreach Hospital being established as a training centre Sister Kellaway was on the staff, and she was the second fully certificated nurse to complete her training at the hospital. She then accepted an appointment at the Alsford Hospital as a staff nurse, and from there went to the Emerald Hospital as Matron. It was from Emerald that she was accepted for service with the A.I.F. abroad.

The Longreach Leader Wednesday 09 December 1942 page 5

WIDE EXPERIENCES
OF SISTER SALLY KELLAWAY.

"Patients who come under the care of Sister Sally Kellaway, now in Brisbane on furlough after more than 5 years in India, will have the benefits of the skill which wide experience brings. Formerly a Longreach (Q.) girl, she went to Egypt to nurse during the war. From there she went to England for a year before returning to spend a period a Rosemount Repat. Hospital. Brisbane.

"Eight years ago she went again to England, then to Gibraltar and onto Spain, continuing her nursing work. Sister's next move was to join Lady Minto's India Nursing Association, members of which staff, Indian hospitals and Assam bungalows, attending the sick. She spent 18 months at Simla, then eight months at Delhi and the next four years in Assam."

"J.C." writing in the Women's Mirror, has the foregoing to say of one of the most popular nurses trained at the Longreach Hospital. It was in the early days of the Longreach Hospital being established as a training centre that Sister Kellaway was on the staff, and she was the second fully certificated nurse to complete her training at the Hospital. She then accepted an appointment at Isisford Hospital as a Staff Nurse and from there went to the Emerald Hospital as Matron. It was from Emerald that she was accepted for service with the A.I.F. abroad.

Longreach Leader Saturday 27 June 1936 page 11

FIVE YEARS IN INDIA
Thermometers and Taj Mahal
QUEENSLAND NURSE'S VARIETY

Queensland nurses with wanderlust in their veins willenvy the experience of Miss Sallie Kellaway, a former Longreach girl, who recently completed 5 years' nursing in India and next month will leave Brisbane once more to return to England. According to Miss Kellaway, most Australian nurses who go to India get on well and have no difficulty in finding positions, but she says that it is wise to have one's return fare to Australia before leaving home.

MISS KELLAWAY'S travels began during the war, when she completed her training in Longreach and went out to Egypt to nurse. From there she continued to England, and spent 12 months touring Great Britain before she returned to Brisbane. Eight years ago, having given up her position on the staff of the Rosemount Hospital, she set off overseas again, going first to England to visit relatives. She also spent a holiday in Gibraltar and went from there to Spain, where she was nursing for six months.

Left for India.
The Queenslander's next move was further afield, for she joined Lady Mlnto's India Nursing Association. This association was formed by Lady Minto some time ago, when she realised how hard pressed tea planters were for nurses and its members now staff various hospitals in India and are stationed In bungalows in Assam, ready to attend any cases of sickness on the plantations in the surrounding country. Miss Kellaway was first stationed at a nursing home in Simla, where she spent 18 months. Simla she described as a 'seething mass of gaiety' in its season and the nurses participated in the balls and other festivities. The attractions also included riding and winter sports. Her next move was to India's capital, Delhi, where she remained for eight months. 'It's a glorious place,' she said, 'and 'Old Delhi' is full of mystery and fascination'.

Taj Mahal by Moonlight
Miss Kellaway visited Agra and saw the Taj Mahal four times. One of these occasions was at sunrise but she considered it most inspiring in the moonlight. Numbers of tourists sat In the dark waiting for the moon to rise and as the silver light flowed over the marble mausoleum, the beauty of the scene was breath-taking— but there always seemed to be an American in the throng who provided an anti-climax with his 'O Boy, O Boy, O Boy, will you Just look at that?' The next four years were spent by Miss Kellaway In Assam, which she considered most interesting of all and not unlike Queensland with its wide open spaces, Jacaranda, frangipani and poinsettia grew luxuriantly, but the heat proved more exhausting than Queensland's. Miss Kellaway was stationed successively at Silchar, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, and Shillong, living in bungalows with three or four other nurses.

Ample Diversion
As long as they were not 'first on call' for the next case, the nurses' time was practically their own and there was ample diversion.For instance, in Shillong, a delightful place 6000 ft high and clothed with pine woods, gardening was popular with everybody and as soon as the monsoon season was over the residents went what Miss Kellaway described as 'garden-mad.' 'We were all so eager for early flowers that often we did our planting too early and another downpour would come and bang would go our seeds!' Picnics were a favourite recreation and the clear hill streams with their lovely waterfalls provided ideal bathing pools. Every plantation had it own golf course and there were tennis and bridge every day. One of the most memorable sights that Miss Kellaway saw in Assam was sunrise on Darjecling, with Mt. Everest like two little points in the far background. She saw the spectacle from Tiger Hill, rising at 2.30 a.m. to make the journey, which was particularly eerie as the accompanying natives sang and yelled all the way. 'I thought they must have been roaring drunk, but I discovered that the noise was just their way of shooing devils and tigers". said the nurse. Accompanied by four friends, she also did a five day trek from the foot of Mt Darjeeling during one of her leaves.

Opening for Australians
Speaking of her cases, Miss Kellaway said that malaria and dysentery were the most usual Illnesses. She spoke highly of the way in which nurses were treated In India and said that Australians seemed particularly adaptable to the conditions there, while apart from the positions available in India Itself, there were frequently chances of other work,such as accompanying a tea planter's wife and young family on a voyage home to England. Miss Kellaway, who is staying at New Farm with her sister (Miss A. Kellaway), is planning to leave for England on June 14, and in London she will probably sign a contract with the Nursing Association for another five years in India.

Miss Kellaway (right) and another nurse from Brisbane, Miss Grace Homewood, photographed at Jalpaiguri.

Sunday Mail Brisbane Sunday 17 May 1936 page 24