Media enquiries: Jackie at Jackie Evans Publicity on 0407 776 222
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For use: October 7, 2010
MEDIA RELEASE
Deputy Chief of Army Major General Paul Symon, AO launches book to
honour our Australian Army Nurses
In a book to be launched today at the Royal Military College in Duntroon Canberra,the
Deputy Chief of Army Major General Paul Symon AO, honours the integral role
Australian Army Nurses play in the Australian Defence Force.
Willingly into the Fray One Hundred Years of Australian Army Nursing edited by
Catherine McCullagh and published in conjunction with Big Sky Publishing and the
Australian Army History Unit, uncovers what it’s really like to be an Army Nurse. They
serve close to the fighting, often in harm’s way and in extreme conditions.
Among the guests attending will be Lieutenant Colonel David Collins, Head of Corps
of the Royal Australian Nursing Corps (RAANC), Army Nurse Lieutenant Colonel
Judith Spence who served in Rwanda and is the inspiration behind the book and
retired Army Nurses who have served close to the fighting in conflicts such as
Vietnam, Gulf War I and II and Iraq.
The book is a collection of first-hand accounts from sixty-five Australian male and female
army nurses, many told for the first time. The stories begin in the Boer War of 1899 and
end in Banda Aceh in 2005.
“The nurses’ ability to adapt to almost any situation regardless of the conditions and the
level of personal danger is a common theme,” says editor and former Army Officer
Catherine McCullagh.
There are many things that have changed over the last one hundred years. Nurses no
longer simply care for wounded soldiers like they did in the Boer War and World Wars but
also now treat refugee children and inhabitants of war ravaged countries and provide
relief aid after natural disasters.
Certainly medicine and nursing techniques have evolved dramatically; uniforms have
changed as have the titles of matron and sister. However, in every campaign and every
deployment, nurses mention having to ‘make do’.
It is typical of Australian Army Nurses to proceed ‘willingly into the fray’, often with little
warning, but always with courage, determination and a strong sense of humour.
Our nurses are renowned for their commitment to provide quality medical care and have
forged a proud and enviable reputation.
Book Launch 10.30am for 11.00am start -11.45pm RMC Officers Mess Duntroon,
Royal Military College Plant Road Duntroon Canberra.
Deputy Chief of Army Major General Paul Symon AO to launch book
Book titled:Willingly into the Fray:100 Years of Australian Army Nursing, edited
byCatherine McCullagh Big Sky Publishing, $34.99
For interviews with Army Nurse Lt Col Judith Spence or more information contact:
Jackie Evans, JEP: 0407 776 222 jep.pub@bigpond.net.au
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