SIMPSON, Amy Alice
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 February 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Staff Nurse |
| Last Unit: | Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1) |
| Born: | Preston, Victoria, Australia, 1886 |
| Home Town: | Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | South Preston State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Nurse |
| Died: | War related, Camperdown, Victoria, Australia, 22 October 1922 |
| Cemetery: |
Geelong Eastern Cemetery, Victoria EAS-METH-05-807-077 |
| Memorials: | Geelong Hospital Members of Staff Honor Roll, Geelong Shenton Methodist Church Honor Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Feb 1917: | Enlisted Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Staff Nurse, Australian Army Medical Corps WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Mar 1917: | Involvement Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Kanowna embarkation_ship_number: A61 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Mar 1917: | Embarked Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), HMAT Kanowna, Sydney | |
| 25 Jul 1919: | Discharged Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Staff Nurse, Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Medically unfit |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Born in Preston, Victoria in 1886, Amy Alice Simpson was the middle child of three children of Robert James Simpson and Mary Lily Sutton. The Simpson family lived in Garnet Street, Preston for many years, Robert Simpson being a wheelwright in Plenty Road and a prominent worker in the local temperance movement.
Her early history in the military nursing services is a little clouded. Having previously worked at Geelong Hospital, from August 1915 she was employed at No 5 Australian General Hospital in St. Kilda Road until April 1916, and then at Caulfield Military Hospital (No 11 Australian General Hospital) from December 1916.
She enlisted on 21 February 1917 to serve outside of Australia, probably influenced by the death of her eldest brother Lieutenant Colonel James William Albert Simpson, commanding officer of the 36th Battalion A.I.F., who was killed in action at Armentieres, France on 21 January 1917.
The youngest sibling of the family, 2893 Private Edgar Robert Simpson embarked on 10 September 1915 with the 5th Infantry Battalion and returned in March 1918 due to ill health.
Her military career was a little different than that of other nurses in that she appears to have served much of her time on the hospital ship Kanowna from March 1917.
On her return voyage to Australia in November 1918, Staff Nurse Simpson was disembarked at Gibraltar with influenza and pneumonia. She was repatriated back to England and after spending six weeks in hospital, she was considered fit to travel, embarking January 1919 for her final return to Australia. She was confined to hospital in Melbourne until late in 1919, her condition described as “breathless on exertion, easily tired, unlikely to improve “.
In 1920 she married Richard George Cordingley who had briefly served as a Driver with the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade in 1915.
Her condition continued to deteriorate; Amy Alice Cordingley died in a private hospital in Camperdown, Victoria on 22 October 1922 at 33 years. Although it was acknowledged through the presentation of a Memorial Plaque to her husband in 1923 that her demise was because of war service, her death was not recorded on the AWM Roll of Honour.
Richard Cordingley re-married in 1926 and died in Geelong West in 1955.
Credit: Brian Membrey - Darabin Historian
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