Our nurse holds the rank of sister in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS), c. 1918. She is wearing two pairs of officer’s stars or “pips” on her cape, an insignia adopted in 1916. She is dressed for ward duty and is rolling bandages in her lap.
Over 2,000 Australian women served in the AANS during the Great War around the Mediterranean, in India and Britain, and on the Western Front. Hundreds of other Australian women served in various British nursing services or joined the International Red Cross.
On this day
1942 — Battle of MIDWAY began. This decisive victory by the US Navy over the Japanese Navy shifted the balance of sea power in the Pacific and forced Japan to abandon plans to attack New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa. Japanese losses were 4 aircraft carriers, 1 cruiser, 248 aircraft, and over 3,000 sailors. American losses were 1 aircraft carrier, 1 destroyer, 150 aircraft, and 307 men
1944 — 78 Squadron, RAAF, carried out the last major air combat by the RAAF in WW2, off BIAK Island, New Guinea. 10 enemy planes were shot down for the loss of one Australian plane and pilot
1969 — HMAS MELBOURNE collided with USS FRANK E EVANS in the South China Sea. EVANS was cut in half and 74 of her crew were killed