Supporting our Campaign - Melbourne's Nurses Memorial Centre

Australia's WW2 nurses march through Melbourne at the end of the war. In the collection of the Melbourne Nurses Memorial.

Yesterday members of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee were invited to make a presentation to Melbourne's Nurses Memorial Centre.

The Nurses Memorial Centre was establised after the Second World War to commemorate the service of Australia's nurses in that conflict and to support Australian nurses into the future.The forecourt near the Centre contains Melbourne's major commemorative memorial to our Australian nurses who served in the Second World War.

Two tragedies inspired the establishment of the Memorial - the sinking of the Hospital Ship Centaur on 14th May 1943 with the loss of 11 Australian Army Nursing Service nurses and the Banka Island massacre of 21Australian Nurses in 1942. Only one nurse survived this massacre, Sister Vivian Bulwinkle. Vivian, along with Sister Betty Jeffrey - another Australian nurse who survived the horrors of Japanese POW camps, played a large role in the establishment of the Centre and Memorial.

The Centre's Ms Arlene Bennett at the Nurses Memorial.

Today, in addition to providing a place for nurses to meet and commemorate nurses' war service, one of the major activities of the Centre is to provide important higher education scholarships for nurses.
The Centre's Ms Arlene Bennett has already sold many of our Committee's commemorative badges in support of our new Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial.
The Centre is keen to work together with us to ensure that the nurses story on Lemnos in WW1 is not forgotten and is given due recognition in the Centenary of Anzac next year.

The Centre is located on St Kilda Rd, near Toorak Road, with easy access to public transport and the Melbourne CBD. It's facilities include an auditorium or large meeting room, with podium and multimedia facilities, as well as areas for wall hanging displays. Kitchen facilities are also available.The Centre could be a great function local for our fundraising and promotional activities in the future.

It is great that this important Melbourne nursing institution has approached us to assist in achieving our aims. We agreed to work together to identify how we can cooperate to promote the Lemnos Gallipoli link.
Watch this space.
Thanks to Ms Arlene Bennett, Ms Karla Freer and the Nurses Memorial Centre.

Jim Claven
secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee