Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

PRAISE FOR RED CROSS.
Good Cheer at Lemnos.

Nurse Bett, who was trained in the Austin Hospital, at Heidelberg, writes to the Rev. Alexander and Mrs. Hardie, Heidelberg, from No. 3 Australian General Hospital,Lemnos, as follows:

"The work here is rather heavy, for everything has to be made. There are no roads, only tracks from our tents to the wards.The ground is very stony, and full of thistles, and on wet days we sink to our ankles. The earth is rather loose, and on windy days with rain all the pegs of our tents loosen, and down comes the tent, sometimes in the middle of the night. At present I have three marquees with enteric patients. They are all convalescent, but when they first came in they would try to get out of bed as soon as my back was turned. I have two orderlies to help, fine fellows, but they cannot be everywhere at once. There is a lot of outdoor work for them, such as carrying water, and every time we want hot water the poor orderlies have to go to the kitchen about 400 yards away, and our hot water is only warm when it reaches the ward. They say the winter is very severe here. I do not like the cold, yet I am glad we were sent here. There were two Australian hospitals here before us with only orderlies to look after our brave, sick lads. I think it requires a woman to look after sick folk. At any rate, without praising ourselves, I can say it is better for them that we are here. We have English bakers to bake our bread. They have never been accustomed to hot climates; therefore, we have our bread most of the time, which is very bad for the patients. The Red Cross Society has proved a great blessing here, for they sent us tins of biscuits, which really took the place of bread, for most of the patients. What a beautiful selection of everything the Red Cross has sent. All the articles are so suitable and so well made ,the choice of eatables being always just what we require. We get no vegetables here, except dried and compressed beans, so you can imagine tins of peeled tomatoes, gooseberries, and peaches coming into the ward. The clothing also was so suitable for the climate the thinnest of pyjamas for the summer, and now they are made of flannel. Then we have thick blue suits lined with swanskin for the convalescents. They also send cards, games, tobacco, cigarettes, matches, and chocolates packed in the corners. Really, the Red Cross keeps us happy and cheerful."

The Argus Tuesday 11 January 1916 page 5

THE LITTLE BUSH NURSE.
THEIR BEST "PAL."

A correspondent to the "Argus" writing from Oodnadatta sent the following:

"Well, Jack, we are losing one o fthe best 'pals' we ever had." "Yes, Charley, you're right." There was more underlying these words than words themselves can express. Theywere uttered by two bushmen just prior to a ceremony which has never before had a parallel in Central Australia. The occasion was the night before Deaconess-Nurse Bett's departure from Oonadatta, where for the past four years she has been carrying on the work, which combines the duties of deaconess, minister, nurse and at times doctor, carried on by the Presbyterian Church of Australia. About 40 bushmen, gathered from an area of country almost as great as the whole of Victoria, quietly assembled at the hosnital of which Deaconess-Nurse Betthas - had charge, and in true bushfashion said "Good-bye." Among the 40 were many men to whom Nurse Bett had ministered in minor accidents and illnesses. They with theirfellow bushmen had subscribed to a purse of 32 sovereigns, and in a few words they made known their deep regard. But there was a stillness charged with great meaning when a tall,; the busman stepped forward to make the presentation. He of all men knew, the worth of the: nurse to whom they were saying goodbye. For four days and nights he had lain with crushed ribs where his horse had fallen on him, while his black boy with characteristic slowness, rode off to Oodnadatta for assistance. He arrived after sun down, of a hot, still night. But though a thunderstorm was brewing, and the night was intensely dark, the "Little Nurse" had secured a buggy and a pair of horses and set off with a driver to render assistance. Before they left, the township one of the horses had kicked "the swingle-bar to pieces. Repairs were effected, and a fresh start made, and after seven hours' driving on a track that few townsmen could follow in broad daylight, they, reached the wounded man. Late on the fifth day after the accident he was made as comfortable as might be in the bright little ward of the hospital. For six weeks a hard battle was fought.-: not only tor that man's restoration to health, but for his very life. And the "Little. Nurse"had to battle alone, there being no doctor in Oodnadatta all that time. Those who heard the tremor in that man's voice as he spoke a few words of appreciation and farewell knew what these two had been through together, and as a result the silence wa smore eloquent.

These men knew that, their "Little Nurse" had worn out all her strength in her work, and so they added as they, made their, presentation remarks, "We .want you to take a real good holiday." Nurse Bett used few words in expressing her gratitude; but her concluding remarks were characteristic of her attitude to all the men, women and children with whom she has been working: "Whether, you are sixteen or sixty, I love you all."

Kyneton Guardian Thursday 14 May 1914 page 4

Although a nursing service commenced in Oodnadatta in 1907, a hospital wasn't opened there until 1911. It came under the gamet of Australian Inland Mission activities and was the organisation's first bush hospital. The first nursing sisters to serve there were also both Deaconesses trained at the Presbyterian training institute in Melbourne.

Only five foot tall and seven stone (45 kg) ringing wet, 'Little Sister' Mary Ann 'Latto' Bett arrived in Oodnadatta in March of 1910. Her arrival was keenly awaited by the local doctor, who had a number of sick men in outback communities to attend to. Known as 'The little angel of the north', she worked there for four years, as a nurse, preacher, teacher, Sunday School mistress. Perhaps her greatest attribute was her ability to relate with ease to the rough and ready people she encountered in the outback.

She left Oodnadatta to serve as an Army nurse in the Great War. She was discharged from the service in 1918 upon marriage.