Hilda Betsy DART

DART, Hilda Betsy

Service Numbers: Not yet discovered
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Not yet discovered
Last Unit: Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1)
Born: Yacka, South Australia, 28 May 1892
Home Town: Port Pirie, Port Pirie City and Dists, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Nurse
Died: New South Wales, 8 March 1988, aged 95 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Not yet discovered
Memorials: Keswick South Australian Army Nurses Roll of Honor, Mundoora War Memorial, Port Broughton War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

9 Nov 1918: Involvement Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: ''
9 Nov 1918: Embarked Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), HMAT Wiltshire, Sydney

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Biography contributed by tony griffin

Hilda Betsy Dart was the daughter of Henry John and Evelyn Dart of Mundoora.  Henry Dart was the head teacher at the Mundoora Public School. Hilda was born at Yacka in 1892. A qualified nurse, Hilda had undertaken her three years training at the Port Pirie Hospital. She was 25 years old when she was appointed to the Australian Army Nursing Service, AMF on 17 December 1917.

Hilda reported for duty at 7th Australian General Hospita , Keswick where she served for twelve months before, on 2 November 1918 she transferred to the Australian Army Nursing Service, AIF.  Hilda embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT A18 Wiltshire on 9 November 1918. She disembarked in Bombay, India, on 3 December and was posted to the Colaba War Hospital in Bombay. On 1 July 1919 Hilda was transferred to the 18th British General Hospital in Gharial and only 3 days later was transferred again, this time to 19th British General Hospital at Rawalpindi, Lahore.  For a period of 9 days in August she was transferred to an Ambulance Train.

On 25 October Hilda transferred to Bombay and embarked for Australia aboard SS Kashgar. Hilda’s appointment was terminated on 11 February 1920.

Shortly after Hilda continued her nursing career in South Africa. Upon her return to Australia she applied for her war medals. Imagine her disappointment when she received correspondence from the War Office in London informing her that despite embarking from Sydney on 9/11/1918 the ship had not left Australian Waters by the armistice on 11/11/1918 and she was therefore ineligible for war medals. She then applied for the India General Service Medal 1908 with clasp “Afghanistan NW Frontier 1919” but was again informed that service at Gharial and Rawalpindi did not qualify her to receive it.

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