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Emmeline Wellard

Wellard group
Emmeline Wellard (back left) with Australian Army Nursing Staff (AANS) members who served at Bushire, Persia. Identified back row, left to right; Sister Emmeline Wellard RRC; Sister Mary Theresa Parnell and Sister Ellen Purcell. Seated, left to right; Sister Lily Stewart and Sister Margaret Brodie Waterstrom ARRC. The hospital, on the Persian Gulf, was the only one near the Mesopotamian front staffed by Australian nurses. It had about thirty beds for officers and 100 for other ranks. Most of the troops in the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force nearby were doing outpost duty on the railway line which ran from Bushire about 100 miles into Persia. October 1918 - May 1919. Australian War Memorial H12565
Emmeline Wellard in Persia
Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and four officers of the British Army. Identified back row, left to right; Sister Emmeline Wellard; unidentified; Sister Ellen Purcell; Sister Lily Stewart (in wide brimmed hat); unidentified and Sister Mary Theresa Parnell. The two men crouching at the front are also unidentified. It is believed that the only other AANS nurse serving at Bushire, Sister Margaret Brodie Waterstrom may have taken the photograph. The hospital, at Bushire on the Persian Gulf, was the only one near the Mesopotamia front staffed by Australian nurses. It had about thirty beds for officers and 100 for other ranks. Most of the troops in the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force nearby were doing outpost duty on the railway line which ran from Bushire about 100 miles into Persia. Sister Wellard (far left) is the only one positively identified. They may have been visiting Arg-E Bam, the largest adobe building in the world, located at Bam. October 1918 - May 1919. Persia H12554

Emmeline Wellard was born in North-West Tasmania in 1877.   In 1916, Emmeline enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service and set sail for India. She was posted to British hospitals in Bombay and Deolali, caring for wounded soldiers from the campaigns in the Middle East.

In 1918, Emmeline was one of five Australian nurses posted to the British hospital at Bushire, Persia.

On her way home, in May 1919, Emmeline volunteered to serve in the North-West Frontier region of India, just as the Afghan tribes began a revolt against British rule. Only seven Australian nurses served in what became known as the Third Afghan War.

Emmeline was commended for her “gallant and distinguished services in the field” and was awarded the Royal Red Cross, an imperial decoration received by only a few Tasmanian nurses. She also received the British War Medal, Victory Medal, British General Service Medal and the India General Service Medal. Emmeline was one of the most highly awarded Tasmanian nurses to serve in the Great War.