ROSS - KING, Alice (Alys)
| Service Number: | Nurse |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 November 1914, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Sister |
| Last Unit: | 1st Australian General Hospital |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia , 5 August 1887 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Academy of Mary Immaculate (Convent of Mercy) Fitzroy, Presbyterian Ladies' College |
| Occupation: | Nurse |
| Died: | Natural causes, Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia, 17 August 1968, aged 81 years |
| Cemetery: |
Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery, Victoria Presbyterian Section (4501) |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Nov 1914: | Enlisted Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Staff Nurse, Nurse, Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Melbourne, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Dec 1914: | Involvement Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Sister, 1st Australian General Hospital, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Dec 1914: | Embarked Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Sister, 1st Australian General Hospital, HMAT Kyarra, Melbourne |
First four nurses awarded MM
On This Day - Australian Military History
#OTD: First Australian nurses awarded Military Medal for bravery under fire
On the 22nd of July 1917, four Australian nurses were awarded the Military Medal for rescuing patients trapped in a burning casualty clearing station at Trois Arbes, France. These were the first bravery awards won by nurses in action.
Sisters Clare Deacon, Dorothy Cawood, and Alice Ross-King and Staff Nurse Mary Jane Derrer, had joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) when war broke out. They had initially worked in Egypt, nursing Australian soldiers wounded during the Gallipoli campaign, before being transferred to France in 1916.
Although posted to different hospitals during 1916, by mid-1917 they had all been sent to 2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station (2ACCS).
2ACCS had been moved close to the front line in order to cope with the expected influx of wounded from the third battle of Ypres, which was to begin on 31 August. On the 22nd of July, the casualty station was bombed, setting it alight.
Accounts by others who saw them say that the nurses ran to the shattered tents to rescue patients, either carrying them to safety or giving those who could not be moved basins to put over their heads, and placing tables over their beds. They all ignored their patients’ cries to seek shelter in dug-outs.
A month after the attack, the commander of 1 ANZAC Corps, General Sir William Birdwood, wrote to inform the four women that they would be awarded the Military Medal for 'coolness and devotion to duty'. They were the first Australian nurses to be given this decoration, which had only been extended in June 1916 to include women “showing bravery and devotion under fire”.
Submitted 22 July 2020 by Evan Evans
WW1, WW2, & 1945 to1968
Born Alys Ross in 1891. Her father and brother were killed in an accident soon after her birth. She grew up in Melbourne. She subsequently changed her name to Alice Ross-King, studied and qualified at Nursing. She enlisted in the Nursing Corps and a great deal of information is published in the book "Just Soldiers" written by WO1 Darryl Kelly, published 2004, refer to Chapter 28, pages 181 to 188.
When WW2 was declared she again volunteered and trained the VAD's who served within Australia. During the war she was given the rank of Major, supervisor of all AAMWS personnel in Victoria which included the 106 AGH at Bonegilla which provided the medical care to POW's and people in the nearby internment camp.
After the war, she maintained her contact with the AAMWS until it disbanded in 1951. She was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal for her efforts in support of the Red Cross and other service charities. Her memory survives with the presentation of the Alice Appleford Memorial Award annually to an outstanding member of the RAANC.
Submitted 26 February 2020 by Maxwell HILL
Major Alice Appleford ARRC, MM (née Ross-King)
From In Memory Of
In Memory Of Major Alice Appleford ARRC, MM (née Ross-King; 5 August 1887 – 17 August 1968), born in Ballarat, Victoria.
She was an Australian civilian and military nurse who took part in both World Wars and is Australia's most decorated woman.
During WW1 she served in hospitals in Egypt and France and was awarded the Military Medal (MM), for gallantry, one of only seven AANS nurses to receive the MM during the WW1.
She married a doctor, Sydney Theodore Appleford, whom she met on the return journey in 1919, and they settled in South Gippsland and had four children.
In the WW2 she held a senior post within the Australian Army Medical Women's Service. In 1949 she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest award made by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Alice Appleford died on the 17th of August 1968 at Cronulla, Sydney. An annual award is presented to a serving member of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps by the Ex-AAWMS Association to perpetuate her memory.
Lest We Forget.
Submitted 30 August 2019 by Evan Evans
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
Alys Ross was born in the Victorian town of Ballarat, on 5 August 1891. She was of hardy
Scottish stock and while she was still a toddler, her father had moved the family to Perth in search of a better life. With the onset of war, Sister Ross enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in November 1914, Alice was allocated to the 1st Australian General Hospital (AGH) and sailed for Egypt on 21 November 1914 aboard the hospital ship Kyarra. The 1st Australian General Hospital was based in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis and the nursing staff was kept busy with a constant stream of patients emanating from the AIF desert training camps at Mena. During her AIF service she used the surname Ross-King and changed the spelling of her Christian name to Alice. Her mother was extremely upset with her daughter’s decision to go to war. Alice was all the family she had left and the thought that her only child might be killed or injured weighed heavily on Mrs Ross’s mind.
In November 1917, Alice returned to Rouen, France, where she was promoted to Head Sister, 1AGH. Accompanied by a number of other sisters and nurses, Alice moved to an advanced dressing station just behind the front lines.
One night, only five days after her arrival, Alice was making her way back to her tent at the end of her shift. As she followed a young orderly along the duckboards, she heard the high-pitched sound of approaching aircraft. Staring skyward, she could see the grey outline of the planes and as they came closer she could distinguish the bold crosses on the wings. She knew that the hospital was clearly marked with large red crosses but, despite this, the German pilots seemed hell-bent on attacking. She heard the whistle of falling bombs just before one of the missiles exploded directly in front of her, knocking her to the ground. Regaining her senses, Alice looked around for the orderly but could not see him. Realising the enormity of the situation, she rushed back to her patients. The deadly projectiles were now bursting amid the buildings and tents. As she ran to the wards, she found what was left of the pneumonia ward tent.
As she made her way back to her tent, she heard the feeble, anguished moans of wounded men. She searched until she found the source—53 badly wounded German prisoners who had been all but forgotten for the past three days. ‘Doctor! Doctor! Come quickly!’ she called frantically.
Alice was twice Mentioned in Despatches and she was awarded the Military Medal 28th November 1917 and the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class, in the King’s Birthday Honours of 1918.
Alice Appleford (Ross) died on 17 August 1968 in Cronulla, NSW & is buried in The Fawkner Cemetery, Victoria.
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