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DAME Alice Chisholm’s role in the First World War will be highlighted in a talk at the Australian War Memorial on Monday.
The Goulburn district-born woman is noted in history as “the diggers’ friend” for her nursing work and establishment of canteens, providing critical supplies for troops in the Middle East during the campaign.
She was awarded an OBE in recognition of her work in 1918 and, in 1920, was appointed a Dame of the British Empire.
AWM writer and researcher Emma Campbell described Dame Alice as an “extraordinary woman”.
Ms Campbell will speak about Dame Alice’s life in a floor talk titled ‘Women’s work: Dame Alice Chisholm and the women who supported the First World War’.
“She was an extraordinary figure,” Ms Campbell said. “The fact she set up and ran six successful [canteens] without any formal qualifications is remarkable.” Alice Chisholm was 59 when she embarked on her mission.
Widowed from husband William Alexander Chisholm of ‘Merilla,’ just west of Goulburn, she was living in Sydney when war broke out.
Concerned for her son, Bertram, a Lighthorsemen who was injured at Gallipoli, she travelled to Egypt in mid-1915 with her youngest daughter, Dorothy.
Bertram later returned to his regiment and, during her time there, Alice gained insight into the soldiers’ plight.
Though not a trained nurse, she did as much as possible for the troops in the hospital at Cairo: feeding them, mending clothes, writing letters and accessing supplies.
It was during this time she recognised the need for canteens to service the troops. Alice opened the first one at Heliopolis, then at Port Said and another with two like-minded women at the Suez Crossing at Kantara. It expanded to dormitories and dining rooms and looked after thousands of men.
Moreover, much of her own money went into each initiative and any profits were largely channelled back into supporting troops. Even after the war, Alice devoted much of her time to establishing Returned Services Leagues.
She died in May 1954, aged 98, and is buried at the Chisholm family cemetery at ‘Kippilaw’. Ms Campbell has previously completed an AWM research project on Alice and has embarked on a biography.
She will also speak about one of Dame Alice’s offsiders, Verania McPhillamy, who worked with her in the canteens, and the Australian Comfort Fund. This was a large network of organisations providing home comforts such as food, knitted clothing and much more. The organisations throughout Australia worked tirelessly to raise money for troops’ needs.
The talk will be held at the BAE Systems Theatre at the AWM at 12.30pm on Monday.
