User:Eacott13/sandbox

Personal Information
Born on the 13 June 1872 in Wallsend, NSW. She was the daughter of Elijah Abell and Margaret nee Brown. Lydia Abell was an Australian nurse who was awarded the medal of bravery. She is perhaps the best known World War 1 (WW1) nurse of the Newcastle Region. She was presented the the Royal Red Cross by George V at Buckingham Palace in May of 1919. The medal was awarded for bravery during the evacuation of a field hospital that was under enemy bombardment. Lydia never married.

Awards
Lydia Abell trained as a nurse at Newcastle Hospital and later she became a charge nurse at that institution. She is one of the founding members of the Australasian Trained Nurses Association and later had a desire to serve in war as a nurse. She left for France and London at her own will during September of 1915. Abell volunteered her services to the military authorities and was later assigned to Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve. She was designated to a military hospital at Talence, in the south west of France near Bordeaux, then she was transferred to the 32nd Stationary Hospital in the north of France at Boulogne. She was then appointed for hospital work on one of the canals and was frequently under fire, and as a result she was moved to the 14th General Stationary Hospital at Boulogne, and then she was moved again to serve duty at a casualty clearing station in the danger zone.

During her time spent on the casualty clearing stations her group had a hasty removal of the casualty clearing station which was immediately behind the lines on the Western Front, owing to the allied army being pressed back by the Germans. Less than half an hours warning was given to the staff on the casualty clearing station to pack up as much of the equipment as possible and leave with the wounded patients.

Nursing Career
Lydia Abell trained and graduated at Newcastle Hospital in 1898 and hence worked worked there. Before the war she worked as a private nurse for Thomas Cook of Turanville, a famous cattle breeder. She then travelled to England with nurse Ellen Lowe, age 43 to to join the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserved (QAIMNSR).

Service
Lydia made her own way to Europe. Embarking September 18 of 1915 and arriving in Tilbury on the 1st of November 1915. She was enlisted late in 1915 when she was 43 years old. She was enlisted on the 1st of July, 1916. She served in two countries England and France - her first stop was at Talence, a town in the southwest of France near Bordeaux, her second stop was 32nd Stationary Hosp at Boulogne - casualty clearing stations, including No. 2 CCS in 1918 when she won her RRC. She received her Royal Red Cross (RRC) on May 15 of 1919 by George V at the Buckingham Palace. The RRC is awarded for exceptional service in military nursing. She later returned to Australia leaving on the 7th of August 1919 and arriving in Sydney on September 25 1919.

Lydia Abell was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald on July 17, 1918. She said, "Much as I would like to come home, I do not wish to leave the boys or my work. I went with other nurses to one of the camps this morning, and the boys were delighted to see us, and made us very welcome. Most of them are from New South Wales, and I am going again tomorrow, because they will not be here long. They are dear brave boys and I am proud of them. Those who could have come and didn't will be sorry someday." She was discharged in April 1919.