Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

DEVOTION TO HER DIGGERS
By Cpl Graham McBean

At an age when most people contemplate retirement, Staff Nurse Esther Barnett, 57 went to war. Enlisting as a masseuse on August 18, 1915, the lady whose ballroom functions were the talk of the Brisbane Social set headed for England. While the diminutive 'Ettie' could hardly influence the outcome of the war, to the troops she wold car for, she would always be Mother Anzac.
The situation masseuses encountered in Australian hospitals was desperate. Contemporary medicine's attitude to massage - the predecessor of physiotherapy- was cynical at best. Consequently, the provision for massage in the AIF had been disregarded before the war. By 1917, however, the inclusion of massage as therapy for soldiers would be demanded by the Australian people.
Ettie's grandson, retired Colonel Mark Barnett, said the Army wanted her expertise.
"At that stage people were seeing casualties coming back here, and let's face it, in 1915 our casualties were pretty high. She had the expertise, the willingness and the patriotism to want to do it." Col Barnett said.
As the list of war damaged veterans grew, the lack of early, adequate rehabilitation became unacceptable. IN 1915 she was approached to enlist for the first Army Massage Service overseas contingent.
"Even before she joined the AIF, in nuerous cases she had saved many patients' limbs. They knew what she could do- what she did do," Col Barnett said.
Of course, they were of pretty tough stock back then. Born in 1857, the Victorian goldfields instilled more than a fair share of the larrikin in her. Years later in Brisbane, after her family struck gold in commerce rather than mining claims, Ettie's tenacity and appetite for life would become almost legendary.
"My own mother said she enjoyed a scotch. When people tried to put water in it, Ettie would say scotch was for drinking - not washing in." Col Barnett said.
Brisbane's Courier Mail reported her courage during the great flood of 1893. As the flood waters rose and quickly surrounded outlying homes, Ettie, in a row boat, rescued stranded families from their deluged homes.
Widowed in 1891, Ettie was left to work the farm alone and fend for her three children. Col Banrett said she sold parts of the farm and used the money to raise and educate her family - but money was running out. "That's when she decided to do something about it and became trained as a masseuse," Col Barnett said. But he couldn't say for certain where and when she was trained. "From what I have gleaned from the family, we do know that before WW1 she worked at a London hospital.
When she opened practice as a masseuse in Brisbane, business was instantly successful. Col Barnett said patients were sent to her by doctors, including Dr. Alfred Sutton, the Permanent Medical Officer 1MD during WW1. With the outbreak of war, the necessity for someone trained in massage became inevitable. In Brisbane, Ettie was an obvious choice, but there was a small problem with her age. Ettie falsified her date of birth by 10 years and stated her age as 47. Col Barnett believes that the authorities must have known the truth.
She was on the same social plane as them. They mixed socially - they went to the same functions. Dr Sutton was the person who explained to her the seriousness of the wartime situation and lack of rehabilitation facilities in England. Three days after her enlistment, Ettie, six masseurs and 11 other masseuses embarked for service in Egypt and England. According to early records, the situation on arrival at Army hospitals was depressing. A report from one masseuse, Vida Kirkaldie, state "The majority of cases were so longstanding, it was practically impossible to see any result from our labours."
The initial contingents reported working on 30 to 40 cases each day. A memorandum state" "Most satisfactory results were obtained in partial paralysis from shell-shock. Many of these (patients) were practically without movement in any part of the body: after a short period of treatment, they were able to get up and walk about." Of course, a woman who would take to swollen rivers in a row boat and toss down straight scotch is bound to leave her mark. "Doctors who had served with her recalled she was one of the best poker players in the AIF. They said she could toss a mean penny as well," Col Barnett said. Yet it was her devotion to patients that earned their greatest respect. Col Barnett recalled one doctor who served with her saying she would work so long they didn't know when she slept. In response, the troops christened Ettie 'Mother Anzac' and built her a kit-trunk with that title etched into it. Col Barnett also recalled the doctors telling him how she became know as Mother Anzac. "These doctors said she gave so much of herself that patients felt she belonged to them - she never gave up on a patient. "Apparently, she put so much effort into her work that by the end of her shift she was covered in perspiration," Col Barnett said.
Col Barnett's son Joel, curator of 9 Bn Museum at Kelvin Grove, also received a first hand account of an old soldier's respect for his great grand mother. During a visit to the museum in 1977, Col Neville Hatten, a WW1 veteran saw Ettie's commission on display. Col Hatten stood for a while and looked at the certificate......"Well, well - Mother Anzac." Joel asked Col Hatten if he knew Ettie and he replied "We all knew her and liked her. In many ways she was a mother figure to many of the young soldiers."
On July 24, 1917 Ettie embarked for Australia on duty aboard a troop ship. On her return to Brisbane, mail from patients started arriving at her parent's home addressed to Mother Anzac. Many soldiers returning from overseas found her address and called for a visit.
During home service she worked with the matron in chief of the 6th Australian General Hospital in organising treatments. It wasn't long, though, before she embarked on another tour of duty. Ettie left Sydney in June 5, 1918, again bound for England. However, this time she didn't make it. At a stopover in Wellington she disembarked because of illness. At first there was little information available as to the nature of her illness. But a memo dated July 10, 1918 identified her sickness as diabetes. The Barnetts believe the loss of salt through perspiration during massages and her advanced aged caused Ettie's diabetes. Official correspondence concerning her entitlement to rehabilitation seems to substantiate this debate. In any case, Ettie didn't wait long to find out.
During the war, Ettie had received mail from her daughter who had emigrated to New Zealand. In her letters, she told Ettie of the conditions in which the Maoris lived. In New Zelanad, her daughter visited her in hospital and again spoke of the Maoris' plight. "When she was discharged, Ettie decided she would work among the Maoris," Col Barnett said.
During the 1919 Spanish influenza epidemic, in which more people died than in WW1, Ettie's expertise in massage provided much needed support for the Maoris. Like the soldiers she cared for during the war, her presence among the Maoris fostered a bond stronger than the impact of her deeds. When she died in 1921 from diabetes, the Maoris demonstrated their respect for Ettie.
Col Barnett said she was so respected by the Maoris they insisted that Ettie be buried with tribal honours. "The family in New Zealand attended the church service, then the Maoris took the body." Despite requests from her daughter's family, the Barnetts haven't yet visited Ettie's grave. However, in Col Barnett's view it just adds to Ettie's mystique. As he talked of his grandmother it wasn't hard to recognise the pride in his voice.
"As I say, she was a lady of mystery in some respects, but she was respected. So it gives you an idea. She could move with the highest and lowest in the land - and be accepted by them all."

Courtesy of Australia Army Magazine No 5