Our other Anzacs: Tasmanian nurses in World War 1

On 4 August 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany. As a member of the British Empire, Australia joined the war, without the necessity of issuing any declaration. For the next four years, the opposing armies fought for supremacy, with the Allied forces eventually winning the war, but at a great cost. Amongst those heading off to war were members of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS), amongst whom were nurses from Tasmania. Whilst nurses from Tasmania had gone to South Africa to tend soldiers during the Boer War, the experiences gained during the conflict would not have been of use in preparing for the events which took place in World War I. Even though they came from the smallest state in the country, these women proved, not only to themselves but to other people, that they were capable of working effectively amid the conditions of this first mechanised war.