COOPER, Alice (1864-1955)
MATRON ALICE COOPER
World War I nurse
The National Archives of Australia has retained the service records of Australian nurses who served in World War One (1914-18). According to Illawarra Remembers 1914-18 thirty-five nurses from the South Coast were among the 2470 Australian nurses who served overseas during the war.
One those nurses was Alice Mary Cooper who was born in Wollongong, one of twelve children, to Charles and Mary Cooper (née Scott) in 1864 [NSW Birth Record 16589/1864].
When she turned twenty-one, Alice started a two-year (1886-8) nurse training course at the (Royal) Prince Alfred Hospital in Missenden Rd, Camperdown. Alice lived in the Nurses’ Home during her training. A new and already highly reputable hospital, Prince Alfred provided valuable training and experience for her later career.
Once she had completed her training, Alice was appointed head nurse. Afterwards, she undertook private nursing for the next two years.
The Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association (ATNA) was formed in 1899 and Alice Cooper was one of the earliest registered nurses with her name entering the register on 8 September 1899 [ATNA Register, Alice Cooper, 1899]. Being registered later, proved to be
invaluable to the nurses who wanted to join the war effort. Initially, there were more nurse volunteers than required. To be ATNA registered became the prerequisite for the AIF to use as an entry qualification into the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) during the war.
However, over a decade before the First World War another war, the Boer War (now referred to as the South African War, 1899-1903), gave colonial nurses an opportunity to serve overseas. Record keeping was poor during the war but Alice’s ATNA record includes reference to her experience in the Kimberley Hospital, South Africa, as a Staff Nurse from August 1902 until February 1903. This suggests she was part of a military contingent. She undertook private nursing in South Africa when the war ended.
It appears she remained in South Africa to nurse soldiers who were not well enough to return to home. Alice returned to private nursing in NSW and in September 1906 she became Matron of the Hawkesbury Benevolent Society and Hospital at Windsor [ATNA record & NAA Service Record, Alice Cooper].
When the First World War was declared there was a rush of nurses wanting to serve overseas. At the age of fifty years, Matron Alice Cooper joined the AANS in July 1915 when the
Gallipoli Campaign had been underway for three months. Notifications of the deaths of thousands of once strong and healthy men were appearing in Australian newspapers with alarming regularity. The wounded and the sick were returning on hospital ships bringing home the reality of the war.
On her enlistment form, Alice listed her mother as her next-of-kin. Mary Cooper was living in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield. [NAA, Service Record, Alice Cooper]. Alice’s father had died in 1912. On the enlistment form, Alice was described as 5 foot 5 inches tall (1.65 metres), weighing 11 stone 5 pounds (72kg) with fair hair and complexion.
Alice Cooper was given the rank of Matron, AANS, and her main unit was No 1 Australian Hospital Ship A63 Karoola.
The Karoola first sailed from Australia in June 1915 as a troop carrier to Egypt. After conversion to a hospital ship in England, Karoola had accommodation for 460 patients, including 288 cots. On her first trip back to Australia, the Karoola brought men wounded at Gallipoli.
The Karoola made numerous voyages between England and Australia between 1916 and 1919. On outbound voyages the ship carried medical reinforcements to England and returned with invalided soldiers. The Karoola remained under charter to the Australian government until June 1919.
Alice Cooper spent the war supervising the transport of soldiers suffering varying degrees of disease and injury to Australia or England depending on their prognosis. Her service record shows a woman who had to adapt to changing staff.
The long trip home to Australia was usually reserved for soldiers unlikely to return to the front. Transport nursing was difficult and hazardous because of the U-Boat risk and sea mines which littered the waterways like confetti. Hospital
ships were ostensibly protected from attack, but nurses also worked on troopships [Ruth Rae, Veiled Lives. College of Nursing, 2009].
On arrival in England or Suez, Matron Cooper would await her next transport order. She must have been a remarkable manager to continue this form of nursing for the duration of the war. Her ability and dedication were recognised by the award of an Associate of the Royal Red Cross in 1917. The award entitled Matron Cooper to use the honorific ARRC after her name.
In 1920, Alice was awarded the Royal Red Cross. [Service Record, Alice Cooper]. The Royal Red Cross (1st class) is a decoration rather than a medal bestowed for special devotion and competency in their nursing duties. It was instituted by Queen Victoria on 27 April 1883. and was the first British Military Order for females; Florence Nightingale was one of the first recipients.
Those who receive the honour of RRC (1st class) are members of the order and use the honorific ‘RRC’. The badge of the RRC (1st class) is a striking cross with red enamel and gold trim and includes the words faith, hope and charity. [Ruth Rae, Veiled Lives].
When the war ended the need for nurses did not. The 1919-20 influenza pandemic was killing as many civilians as soldiers and for that matter, nurses. Alice Cooper returned to Australia and was discharged from the AIF in March 1919. She continued to care for soldiers. Her wartime experiences gave her a special insight into the physical and mental suffering of soldiers.
The medical and nursing personnel in Australia had no appreciation of what the soldiers had endured. In many
cases, they were ignorant of how to treat them appropriately [Narrative, E Vickers Foote. Records of AG Butler Official Historian of Australian Army Medical Services – Nurses’ Narratives, AWM 41, Canberra].
It was apparent that not all soldiers would be restored to full health or independence. An Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society, co-operating with the Defence Department, was initiated. One of its aims was to develop a scheme of ‘Red Cross auxiliary convalescent hospitals’ [Ruth Rae, Veiled Lives].
Gradually, the AANS nurses returned to civilian and military hospitals after the war. This enabled a sharing of knowledge with staff who had not experienced war service which, in turn, improved the chances of the soldiers receiving appropriate care. It is impossible to effectively nurse a patient if you are unaware of their history.
Alice Cooper shared her war nursing experience by returning to a Red Cross Hospital in Neutral Bay, NSW. The war was over but for nurses of the AANS their work continued, albeit in different uniforms.
Author: Dr Ruth Rae, FACN
Matron Alice Cooper Addendum
The Red Cross established a network of convalescent homes in NSW. At Neutral Bay, they were given the use of Rathmore at 15 Wycombe Rd. The house was one of several owned by Miss Mary Davey. The home for 16 ex-soldiers was opened in 1918. [Daily Telegraph. 17 Aug 1918 p9] Alice Cooper became one of the staff.
The need for soldier convalescent care began to decrease and the Red Cross decided to close ‘all homes no longer required for the nursing or accommodation of men of the AIF’. [Sydney Morning Herald 4 Feb 1921 p8] Later that year, Rathmore became a training centre for the Young Women’s Christian Association. [Sydney Morning Herald 2 Jun 1921 p4]
In the mid-1920s, Alice visited England and returned to live with her unmarried sisters, Charlotte and Mabel, in Chatswood. In her later years, Alice lived quietly with her unmarried brother, Fenimore, and her sister, Mabel, at Harbord, Sydney.
Alice Mary Cooper died on 7 September 1955 aged 90 at Harbord. She outlived nine of her eleven siblings. She was one of 47 Australian nurses awarded the Royal Red Cross for their service during World War I. She also received the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
| Matron Cooper and Karoola nurses 1915 | |
| Hospital Ship Karoola at Alexandria, Egypt | Australian War Memorial image |
