Selwyn Times: April 22, 2020

4 Wednesday April 22 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
SELWYN TIMES
DEDICATED: New Zealand Army nursing service sisters on the Western Front in France sometime during 1917-1918. Right – Staff nurse Fanny Abbott of
Southbridge seated in a sand cart in Egypt in 1915.
Sacrifices made in war remembered
THIS TIME of shared national
confinement leading up to Anzac
Day gives us an opportunity
to reflect on the sacrifices New
Zealanders made during World
War 1 between 1914 and 1918.
We can get a greater
appreciation of the personal loss
when we read of the experiences
for individual families and the
price they paid for service to
King and Country.
One such example of this is
the Abbott family of ‘Clifton,’
Southbridge.
The year 1915 proved tragic
for the widowed mother, Isabella
Abbott, who had four of her
adult children serving in the
New Zealand Expeditionary
Force overseas. By the end of that
year, two of her sons serving in
the Canterbury Mounted Rifles
had lost their lives.
Ameral Abbott had died of
enteric fever in Egypt in May
and George Abbott was killed in
action at Gallipoli in August. A
third son, Charles, was serving
in the Auckland Mounted Rifles
at this time but managed to
survive the campaigns in Egypt
and Palestine.
However, that year Mrs Abbott
came very close to suffering
further loss when her daughter,
Fanny, was a passenger on a ship
that was torpedoed and sunk in
the Mediterranean Sea.
Fanny was one of 515 nurses
who volunteered for overseas
service in the New Zealand
Army nursing service during
the war, of which 12 were to lose
their lives. Nurses proved an
integral part of the New Zealand
Expeditionary Force, but their
sacrifice has been overshadowed
and sometimes forgotten due
to the huge loss of lives to our
soldiers, sailors and airmen.
It was with the sinking of the
SS Marquette near Salonika,
Greece, on October 23, 1915,
that led to the greatest loss of life
for the nursing service during
the war. Of the 35 nurses of the
NZ No.1 Stationary Hospital
on board the ship, 10 drowned,
including three from Canterbury
- Nona Hildyard, Lorna Rattray
and Margaret Rogers.
Historian and district council staff member Wayne
Stack continues his monthly look at Selwyn’s past.
Anyone with suggestions for future features can phone
Wayne on 021 119 9107. Leading up to Anzac Day this
month’s article is about the experience of World War 1
nurse Fanny Abbott who narrowly escaped death after
the ship she was in was torpedoed and sunk in the
Mediterranean Sea
This incident was contentious
in that it was argued the staff
should have been travelling
on the clearly marked British
hospital ship, Grantully Castle,
which had left Alexandria empty
for Salonika the same day as
the Marquette. As a result of
this incident the New Zealand
Government requested the War
Office in London to ensure that
the subsequent transfer of New
Zealand medical staff by sea
would be made on designated
hospital ships.
Three days after the tragedy
Fanny wrote home to her mother
letting her know she was safe,
describing her experience during
the sinking. At this stage of the
war it was common for letters
to families to be published in
local papers as a way of providing
communities with a greater
understanding of the ordeals of
overseas service during the war.
In January 1916 extracts from
her letter were published in the
Ellesmere Guardian, and this
showed how close Mrs Abbott
came to losing a third child in
the war:
Well, here I am on board this
hospital ship (HMHS Grantully
Castle), safe and well as can
be expected, except for
scratches and bruises and a
whole bit stiff, but thankful to
be alive. We are only allowed
to say so much.
The ship was torpedoed at
9.05am on October 23. I was
in the bathroom and was only
partly dressed. There was no
mistaking the knock was from
anything but a torpedo. Made
a wild rush for the cabin for a
lifebelt, at which we had had
two practices and lucky for us
we had each been given one.
I did not wait to finish dressing
but put on my dress on the
way to the cabin. I thought of
the ‘Royal Edward’ and the
three minutes it took to go
down and did not wait to save
anything – even my watch
and money belt had to be left
behind.
Most of us were in the water
at 9.15. The boats were lowered
in a sort of way, but the
crews were so panic-stricken
that they were absolutely
useless. One boat got away
safely with Colonel McGavin
and about 50 men. The officers
who were with us called to the
men, “Get out of that boat and
play the man,” and they very
foolishly got out, but it was too
late, the ship went too quickly.
I slid down a rope into a boat,
along with Popplewell and
Rattray, and this boat crashed
Our Great
history
WITH WAYNE STACK
DOOMED:
The SS
Marquette
prior to
being used
as a troop
transport
ship in 1915.
on top of some sisters in the
next boat. I jumped into the
water and called to the other
two to do the same, but they
stuck to it, although one end
was half under water.
I swam out a few yards and
caught a floating lifebelt, but
could not get far owing to the
suction, and I could see the
huge keel of the ship towering
above me and thought I would
never clear it. However, I did
get clear and paddled about
on my own – thought I was
better there than going back.
I was just about done after
an hour when a RAMC (Royal
Army Medical Corps) boy
caught me by the waist and
said: “Here sister, I must save
you.” He held me for about
half-an-hour, then we struck a
raft and to this I held on.
We gradually collected
a few more drifters and
altogether we were about 16.
We kept two poor stewards,
hauled them on to the rafts
and had to let them go about
an hour before help arrived.
They passed away from
exhaustion, poor things. One
had a wife and tried to give us
a message at the last, but we
could not catch it.
We were all under water
up to our armpits, except the
two boys sitting on the raft,
who were supporting two sick
ones, and they were waistdeep
in water, so you can
imagine how far the raft was
under water.
I could not see a sign of any
of the other girls and thought
they could not possibly have
held out, but here we all are, all
but 10 of us. Nine of the nurses
(myself included) were picked
up at 4.40pm by a patrol boat,
H.M.S Lynn, and we shall never
forget the kindness shown to
us.
In all 150 survivors were
picked up. Of course, we all
regret having lost everything,
but we are glad so many lives
were saved. A good many of
the girls had a very bad time
– caught hold of boats which
turned over and over and kept
going under. Three Christchurch
girls were lost.
It was just like pictures of
the Lusitania and Empress of
Ireland disasters. The wireless
operator was with us and sent
out a message, but evidently
no one got it.
Oh, it was a dreadful time.
A feeling came over me that I
must let go, but the help I received
from a boy – brave lad
– and the thought of you gave
me renewed strength.
We don’t know what we are
to do, for we have no hospital
and no money, but, as Major
Acland says, New Zealand will
not see us stuck.
Fanny Abbott showed great
strength in surviving over seven
hours in the water and continued
to serve overseas, mostly on hospital
ships, until early 1919. She
got married in Sydney in 1921.
The Nurses’ Memorial Chapel
at Christchurch Hospital commemorates
the three Christchurch
nurses who lost their
lives during the sinking of the
Marquette.
•Our People, page 6