SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s Name / Edith Ann MoorhouseRank / Sister
Service Number / Not known
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron / Australian Army Nursing Service
Date of Birth / 1886
Place of Birth / Undera, Victoria (reg. 19498, Kyabram)
Family Details / Daughter of Frederick Moorhouse & Deborah McCleary with one brother and two sisters. Her parents died when she was only six and after that she lived with her uncle
Age at Enlistment / Enlisted on 21 August 1915 – 29 to 30 years old
Place of Enlistment / Melbourne, Victoria
Date of Death / Sunday, 24 November 1918 (aged 33)
Place of Death / France
Cemetery or
Memorial Name / Lille Southern Cemetery, France
Grave or Memorial
Number / I. C. 25
PHOTO:
Group portrait of the Staff of the Operating Theatre and X-ray Department of the 2nd Australian General Hospital. Back row, left to right: 1777 Private (Pte) C. Nicholson; 9366 Pte F. A. Cartwright; 741 Pte F. Raysmith; 1804 Pte H. Squires; 8565 Pte H. Downing; 6356 Pte C. A. Kelly; 776 Pte S. Urniarz; 12105 Pte R. Hill. Front row (seated): 6243 Sergeant (Sgt) Percy Alfred Peachey; Sister A. S. Stewart; Head Sister J. Crosby-White; Captain (Capt) Binns; Capt Archdall; Lieutenant Colonel McClure; Major (Maj) H. S. Weedon; Maj Holmes A'Court; Sister M. Thomas; Staff Nurse E. Moorhouse (died of sickness 24 November 1918); 132 Sgt J. P. Thomson.
Source: Australian War Memorial 2015, E02169, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E02169/ (accessed 2 March 2015)
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Laura Fell
Edith Moorhouse trained as a nurse at the Mooroopna General Hospital for 3 years, and was still a resident of Mooroopna when she enlisted as a staff nurse in 1915.
On 9 February 1916, Sister Moorhouse was stationed in Suez and sailed to many countries after that to carry out nursing duties during the war.
On 29 September, she was posted to No.1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station (ACCS) for duty, and then the next month she was promoted to Sister. The No.1 ACCS opened at Estaires in the 2nd Army in May 1916, with a nursing staff of seven, drawn from the staff of No.1 Australian General Hospital.
In May 1917, the No.1 ACCS had a busy time during the battle for Messines Ridge, and in July it moved again to Outtersteene, a site near Hazebrouck. On the afternoon of 26 September, the vicinity of the No.1 ACCS was shelled, and one shell fell at the back of the officers’ ward, but fortunately did not explode. The patients were evacuated and the sisters were sent to No.2 ACCS for the afternoon, but returned later that day. After this, a concrete dug-out was built in the sisters’ compound.
Saving many lives, Edith managed to live long enough to see the end of the war on 11 November 1918 only to be evacuated to another hospital due to pneumonia on 24 November 1918.
Edith Ann Moorhouse was remembered as not giving in until she could not move. Sister Leila Brown wrote:
“Then the 1st ACCS moved again after the fall of Lille to a dreary bleak spot called Fretin just beyond Lille. Here we were billeted in an old chateau about 20 minutes walk from the camp. Here I returned to my own CCS, No 2 having closed down ready for another move. My team went on night duty and filthy weather prevailed cold winds and rain for it was now late in October. We were cold and miserable long before we reached our ward for the nights work. It was during this night duty that the late Sister Moorhouse took ill but would not give in until she could not move, and it was too late to save her precious life.”
Edith Ann Moorhouse died on the 24th November 1918 at the age of 33. Sister Moorhouse is the only Australian nurse or woman buried on the Western Front.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian War Memorial 2015, First World War Embarkation Rolls: Edith Ann Moorhouse, http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1844153/ (accessed 2 February 2015)
Every Man Remembered 2015, I've Remembered Sister Edith Ann Moorhouse, http://www.everymanremembered.org/profiles/soldier/278592/ (accessed 2 February 2015)
Molinaro, A. 2015, Edith Anne Moorhouse. http://connectingspirits.com.au/pages/soldiers/2012-soldiers/edith-anne-moorhouse.php (accessed 3 February 2015)
National Archives of Australia 2015, MOORHOUSE Edith Ann: Service Number - Staff Nurse http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=11615420
(accessed 3 February 2015)
The Great War Forum 2015, Australian Nurse http://1914-18.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42244
(accessed 2 February 2015)