Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Daughter of William Thomas TUCKER and Marion Sarah nee BUTTON
Of Northholme, Derby, Tasmania

Awarded Royal Red Cross 2nd Class
Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 4 October 1917
Location in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: Page 2627, position 47
Date of London Gazette: 4 June 1917
Location in London Gazette: Page 5488, position 4

Married David Patience MURRAY in 1920 in Tas.

SOME OF WAR'S VICTIMS
PLEASURE FOR LEGLESS BOYS.

Sister Ella Tucker writes from Southall:

May 6 (Sunday evening).-Just come off duty after a fairly quiet day. Had a flare up with the W.A.C.C. commandant over the eternal nation question. I do hope there won't be any food questions in heaven. The matron is away on leave, and I am taking her place, so fall in for all the troubles. The Australian N.A. gave sports here yesterday. The hair-dressing competition was very funny-- row of a dozen legless boys sitting in chairs dressing girls' hair. There are three Scottsdale boys here, named Kettle, Viney, and Hudson. On Friday Sister McNeill and I each got a taxi and took four of the double amputation eases for a drive into the country. We bought food and took it with us. You would have laughed to see the car drivers, sister, and I pick -a-backing the boys to our picnic spot. The poor boys had only stumps an inch or so long.' They did enjoy it. I should love to have plenty of money, so that we could take them out more often. One of the boys here-a double amputation case; he had been a parson before enlisting--was married to ta Southall girl. He went to church in his wheel chair, and the boys lifted him, chair and all, up the steps, and wheeled him down the aisle after the wedding he came back to the hospital, and she went home. One of our sisters went back to Australia recently. We have just heard she married in Melbourne--one of her old patients a double-leg amputation case.
May 20.--We are very busy now, working with two-thirds of our staff having sent every nurse that can possibly be spared to France. They are expecting big things there. Yesterday afternoon I took four of the double-leg amputation boys into London by taxi for the afternoon to one of Sister McNeil's friends. The driver carried them in and upstairs, but after music, etc., they had to get themselves down to tea, on their hands and seats. It is wonderful to see them spring up on to chairs. Their arms get so strong with all the exercise.

Examiner Tuesday 16 July 1918 page 2

THROUGH THE WAR AS NURSE
SISTER TUCKER'S RETURN.

A record of splendid service is that of Sister E. J. Tucker, who is now approaching the homeland on board the R.M.S Kenilworth Castle, carrying, in addition to a number of passengers, a large company of munition workers and soldiers' wives and children. Head Sister Tucker, who is a niece of Warden E. Tucker, of Erina-street, left Australia in November, 1914; disembarked in Egypt, and was nursing in the pneumonia and infectious wards till March, 1915, when she was one of the seven sisters chosen for the hospital ship Gascon, which went up the Dardanelles, and was with the Australian troops who landed at Anzac on the 25th April, 1915. She had 19 trips on that ship with wounded from the peninsula. Some of the trips were moststrenuous. The ship was equipped for 480 wounded, but she usually carried from 500 to 900 wounded and sick men. On most of the trips the promenade decks were strewn with mattresses with the less severe patients, but on many even the poop and boat decks were used for wounded. In February, 1916, Sister Tucker returned to her original unit, No.2 A.G.H., which was then at Gezeriah Palace, in Cairo, and was still with them when they transferred to Marseilles in April, 1916. She was working in the camp hospital there until the end of June, when she, with nine other sisters, proceeded for duty at St. Omer to No. 10 Stationary Hospital. They were there for a short time, then were transferred to Etaples, to assist at No. 23 General Hospital (an American unit from Chicago, sent across by the famous Dr. Murphy). Sister Tucker was there till July 30, 1916, when the hospital was taken over by the British again, and the 19 Australian sisters returned to their own unit, which was at Nimereux. Sister Tucker was then, as night superintendent, sister in charge of the acute surgical ward and sister in charge of the operating theatre till August 61917, when she was sent to England as charge sister of the orthopedic section at Thornton Heath of the Croydon War Hospital. While there she was decorated at Buckingham Palace by the King with the Royal Red Cross, which had been awarded to her while theatre sister in France. In February, 1918, she was sent as assistant matron to the Australian Limbless Hospital at Southall, and was there until Australian Headquarters decided to open a Hospital at Tettring for the Australian Flying Corps, the English Cottage Hospital then being inadequate to cope with the number of crashes they were having at the aerodromes. Sister Tucker was sent down there to open the hospital, and was there in charge until she embarked on the Kenilworth Castle on February 14 last, with four other sisters. T'here was so much sickness amongst the munition workers wives and children, that the sisters had a very busy time nursing them during the trip out.

Examiner Wednesday 16 April 1919 page 6