On 6 August 1914, just days after New Zealand received word that Britain was going to war, the British Secretary of State cabled the New Zealand Government with a request to capture the German territory of Samoa and seize its wireless radio station. 

The New Zealand Government swiftly mobilised to approve the request and on 12 August 1914 the Expeditionary Force Advance Party departed from Wellington aboard the vessels Monowai and Moeraki. On the ships were just over 1400 men and women, mostly Territorials and volunteers, who became some of the first New Zealand troops to see active service.  

Among them was a team of six nurses put together by the Matron-in-Chief Hester MacLean on three day’s notice. Due to the urgent timeframe, all but one of these nurses were selected by MacLean from the Wellington region. The only exception was Christchurch-based Louise McNie who received notification of her selection on her day off and had to scramble, with the help of nursing friends, to pack in time for the overnight steam ferry to Wellington.¹

McNie sailed aboard Monowai with Bertha Nurse (Sister-in-Charge of the nurses) and Vida MacLean while Evelyn Brooke (Second-in-Charge), Fanny Wilson, and Louise Brandon were aboard Moeraki. When these women set off from the shores of Wellington, they made history as the first nurses sent away as part of the New Zealand Defence Force. 

The voyage first brought them to Noumea, New Caledonia on 20 August before venturing on to Suva, Fiji by 26 August. It was in Fiji that Ida Willis, another Wellingtonian, joined the group after she had become stranded while holidaying on the island. Willis had been ordered to take a rest from her position of Senior and Theatre Sister of one of Wellington’s largest private hospitals, electing to take a trip to the Pacific with friends. After arriving in Fiji the very day that war broke out, Willis and her companions found themselves stranded for three weeks with little money. Willis recalls her “delight and excitement” as she saw three fellow Wellington Hospital trainees “sauntering through the town” of Suva.² That evening she met with Major Mathew Holmes, the Medical Officer in charge, who invited her to join the others if she could be on board by 6:30am the next morning. “All this happened so unexpectedly and in such a short time that I was still in something of a dream and had scarcely had time to realise that this was war.”³ 

This sentiment was shared by many of the New Zealand forces sent to seize German Samoa. The reality of war looked very different for these troops when the Union Jack was raised at Apia on 29 August 1914 without any bloodshed. German defences numbered a mere 20 troops including special constables armed with 50 ageing rifles, and New Zealand forces were met with no opposition when they landed.4 One of the nurses recalled that she had “never seen such a disappointed lot of men in my life. From one end of the boat to the other they murmur “no fight” in absolute disgust.”⁵

The New Zealand nurses began work at the hospital the very next day while the previous staff of three German doctors, three German sisters and a matron remained in attendance until they stopped work shortly afterward and were deported as civilians. The hospital was reasonably well equipped and occupied “about five acres of ground and comprises one large block - a bungalow of wards and private rooms entirely surrounded with a wide verandah. The wards are well ventilated and plainly, but sensibly furnished…”⁶ There was much work for them to do as eye trouble was the prevailing disease in Samoa and many locals had been receiving treatment from the German optometrist in a separate eye-ward. For the New Zealanders, the climate was deemed unsafe for those suffering from chest troubles and some of the men who had fallen ill on the journey needed to be sent home in the charge of a medical officer to recover. 

The conditions posed other issues for the health of the New Zealand forces. One Sister, most likely the aforementioned Louise McNie, wrote that “one cannot work very hard in this country. The climate is a very trying one. I find that a light eight-hour duty really tries me more than did a heavy 12-hour one in Christchurch.”⁷ Despite efforts to maintain the nurses’ health, Matron-in-Chief Hester MacLean acknowledged that sisters were unable to stay in Samoa for more than two years, requiring frequent changes to the hospital's staffing.⁸ 

While the climate proved difficult, the beauty of the Samoan landscape was not lost on the New Zealand nurses. Many wrote letters marvelling at the vibrant hibiscus flowers which bloomed alongside tall palms and breadfruit trees all around the hospital. The nurses had a healthy balance of work and recreation with well-structured eight hour shifts that were divided so that two nurses worked in the morning, two worked from 2pm to 10pm, and one worked at night with the assistance of an orderly.⁹ This allowed the women time to explore Samoa and appreciate the unique tranquillity of this military posting. They balanced their work with day tours around Samoa, even visiting the Governor’s residence and hiking the hill overlooking Vailima.¹⁰ As Willis recorded, “although war was already raging in Europe we were far from it on that lonely island.”¹¹

Relations with the Samoan people were also positive, and descriptions of local residents stressed their beauty and the magnificence of their attire, particularly the lavalava.¹² Letters the nurses sent back to New Zealand stated that local Samoans had a sense of admiration and appreciation for the New Zealand forces, accepting the nurses into their community with open arms. 

The impact of the nurses’ work did not go unnoticed and, while they were still in Samoa, Major Holmes advocated for them to be recognised as officers and therefore provided with field allowance to maintain the upkeep of their uniforms. In an unprecedented decision, this was granted and the nurses in Samoa were recognised as officers before the New Zealand Army Nursing Service (NZANS) was finally established in 1915. Major Holmes proved to be a vital advocate for the acknowledgement of the nurses as he also wrote to the Director of Medical Services (DMS) praising their work and requesting that if a group was sent to Europe, these nurses should be considered to be part of it.¹³ This wish came true upon their return to New Zealand in early 1915 as all seven nurses were sworn into new service and Bertha Nurse, Fanny Wilson, and Vida McLean left for Egypt with the first 50 New Zealand nurses on overseas service. The four remaining nurses followed suit shortly after. 

The nurses continued to prove their exceptional dedication and went on to receive huge accolades for their work. Bertha Nurse was Matron of the No. 2 New Zealand Stationary Hospital near Cairo when she was Mentioned in Dispatches (MiD) in 1916. Nurse also became the first New Zealand nurse in World War I to receive the Royal Red Cross (First Class) and was later brought to the notice of the Secretary of State of War in 1919 for her service. Fanny Wilson served at the same Egyptian hospital where she received numerous decorations throughout her service including being brought to the notice of the Secretary of State for War in 1918. Later she received the Royal Red Cross in April 1919 and was brought to the notice again in August 1919. Wilson remained particularly close with fellow nurse McLean who had been promoted to Matron during their time at Hornchurch Convalescent Hospital where she was also awarded the Associated Royal Red Cross and received a MiD. By March 1919 McLean had received the Royal Red Cross and had also been awarded her second MiD.  

The experience in Samoa had forged important bonds and many of the nurses remained connected throughout the remainder of the war. Upon their return to New Zealand, Wilson and McLean maintained their friendship while jointly managing the Malfia private hospital in Willis Street, Wellington. Two of the nurses, Evelyn Brooke and Louise McNie, embarked together for Gallipoli on the hospital ship Maheno. Brooke would go on to become the only New Zealand nurse to be awarded the Royal Red Cross with bar and received a MiD for her service. McNie was equally acclaimed as she worked as a theatre-sister on Maheno before serving on Marama alongside Louise Brandon. Joining the ranks of their fellow nurses who had served in Samoa, both Brandon and McNie were awarded the Associate Red Cross in 1917 and McNie went on to achieve the Royal Red Cross in July 1919. Similarly exceptional, Ida Willis was the only of the seven nurses who was awarded an Efficiency Decoration and became an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1944. She went on to achieve two MiD acknowledgements and was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross, and was brought to the notice of the Secretary of State for War in August 1919.

After their deployment to the unique theatre of operations in Samoa, these seven nurses went on to achieve significant acclaim. By the war's conclusion, each had served over 5 years and 100 days in active duty. Their exceptional contributions and eagerness to serve laid the foundation for the recognition of New Zealand nurses on a national scale and was instrumental to the official creation of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service. Their story highlights the surprising breadth of New Zealand’s involvement in World War I and the impressive determination of women who had to campaign for the right to serve. 

References

¹ McNabb, S. (2015). 100 Years New Zealand Military Nursing. p.43.

2 Willis, L. (1968). A nurse remembers : the life story of L. Ida G. Willis, O.B.E., A.R.R.C., E.D. A. K. Wilson. p.23. 

³ Willis, L. p.23.

4 Seizing German Samoa, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, updated 26-Jul-2018.

⁵ New Zealanders at Samoa, Kai Tiaki: the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, 1 October 1914, p.182.

⁶ New Zealanders at Samoa, p.169.

⁷ Nurses in Samoa, Kai Tiaki: the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, 1 January 1915, p.35.

⁸ Maclean, H. (1932). Nursing in New Zealand: History and Reminiscences. Tolan Printing Company.  p.128.

⁹ New Zealanders at Samoa, p.170.

¹⁰ New Zealanders at Samoa, p.169.

¹¹ Willis, L. p.24.

¹² New Zealanders at Samoa, p.169.

¹³ McNabb, S, p.45. 

Further reading

Romano, Gail. New Zealand troops in Sāmoa. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira. First published: 22 September 2015.