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Cenotaph record

Helena Kathleen Isdell

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Portrait, Auckland Weekly News 1915 - No known copyright restrictions

Portrait, Auckland Weekly News 1915 - No known copyright restrictions

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Helena Kathleen AWMM
  • Surname
    Isdell AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
    WWI 22/130 AWMM
  • Gender
    Female AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    30 November 1888 AWMM Greymouth, Grey District AWMM
    Greymouth, New Zealand AWMM
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
    WW1 Matron, Kumara Hospital, Westland, New Zealand AWMM
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    WW1 Miss Isabell Isdell (sister), Greymouth, New Zealand AWMM
  • Relationship status
    Pre 10 July 1915 AWMM Single AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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  • War
    World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
  • Campaign
    1914-1916 Egypt AWMM
  • Armed force / branch
    Army AWMM
  • Service number
    WWI 22/130 AWMM
  • Military service
  • Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers

Military decorations

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  • Medals and Awards

Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW1 Nurse AWMM
    AWMM
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes
    Accidental Death, Cause of Death AWMM
    Drowned AWMM

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Helena Isdell was the daughter of Mrs. H. C. Isdell, of Preston Road., Greymouth.

      Helena Isdell was one of the New Zealand nurses who died when the Marquette was torpedoed and sank in October 1915.

      Typo on the Nominal Roll, she was Matron at Kumara; Kumeroa did not have a hospital. The Marquette was a British Merchant ship of 7,057 tons. It sank when a torpedo launched from a submarine hit it 36 miles south of Salonica Bay. Twenty nine crew and 182 troops were lost. Ten of those who died were New Zealand nurses who had been working at No.1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital in Port Said in October 1915 when they were ordered to prepare to go to Lemnos. The hospital was to be set up there to care for casualties being brought back from the Dardanelles. The Transport Ship Marquette took on board officers and men of the New Zealand Medical Corps, 36 New Zealand Army Nursing Staff, 610 officers and men of 29th Divisional Ammunition Column , 541 mules and some ammunition in mid October sailed for Salonika. The French torpedo destroyer Tirailleur joined the convoy on 22 October which gave credence to the idea that there was a real danger of being attacked by German submarines in the Mediterranean. The torpedo destroyer left the convoy that night and at 9.15 am on 23 October the Marquette was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side and began to list. Within about 15 minutes she sank. Nurses lost their lives in the evacuation as lifeboats tipped over as they were lowered into the sea, some boats falling on others, with some being left on the ship and going down with her. AWMM
    • Staff Nurse Isdell's brother Private Charles Creagh Isdell (1883-1917) born Barrytown, Westland, New Zealand - served with the Canadian Forces : Canadian Service # 761027; Canadian Infantry, British Columbia Regiment, 29th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Forces. Private Isdell died of wounds - 13 April 1917 - at France or Belgium. He was 34 years of age. Refer his military profile on this website. Public - Jenifer - Researcher - 4 December 2017 - Military file of Private Charles C. Isdell - AWMM & Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    23 October 1915 AWMM
    Aegean Sea AWMM
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
    Accidental Death AWMM
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name
    • Mikra Memorial, Greece AWMM
    • Nurses' Memorial Chapel, Riccarton Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand AWMM
    • Memorial bed, 1916, Kumara Hospital, Westland AWMM
    • Memorial window, Five Sisters Window, north transept, York Minster, York, England AWMM

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Related Serviceperson

Sources

Sources

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Contributors

Command item
Command item
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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
23 February 2019AllanRotoruaResearcher
04 December 2017JeniferWairarapaResearcher

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