Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Daughter of Louise Henry Lobeck GILES and Alice Margaret nee ANDREWS

Did not marry

Well-Known Army Sister As Hostel Matron

The appointment of a matron at the SPF Hostel was a wise move on the part of the hostel committee, and the choice of sister Margaret Giles for that position was a most happy one. Sister Giles Is as much at home in administrative duties as she if in working for soldiers, and three and a half years active service in France and at Cologne with the Army of Occupation has given her
a lively appreciation of their qualities and excellent experience in handling them. She said yesterday that when the opportunity came to help in a hundred ways the lads who go to the hostel, she felt that she was really doing a, tangible job of war work. Sister Giles is the ideal person for the job as she is brisk and efficient when information is sought in a hurry, but always has sufficient leisure for a chat with a lonely soldier—or, as she has been doing through the holidays—the administration of a little sunburn treatment for blistered backs. She is adept, too in recognising the varied types of men who visit the hostel, so that when an interstate soldier come along with a weekend to spend and nowhere to spend it she knows almost at once whether to suggest a sightseeing trip to to Victor Harbor or a more companionable one in the city. The only day on which Sister Giles is off duty is Monday, when Mrs. Colin Duncan supervises the hostel. Before coming to the hostel, Sister Giles was relieving matron at Kapara Red Cross Hospital tending the boys in blue to get my hand in for work here, she said. She is a very active member of the Returned Sisters sub-branch of the RSL and for varying periods has been matron in charge of Woodlands Girton and Queens College.

The Advertiser Wednesday 07 January 1942 page 10