Help us promote Lemnos' link to Anzac - Make a donation now

Our Committee is raising funds to create a lasting legacy telling the story of Lemnos' link to Gallipoli and Australia's Anzac story. Our projects include the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial in Albert Park, the publication of a major new historical and pictorial publication and more. To make a donation you can also deposit directly by direct debit into the Committee's bank account: Account Name: Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee Inc; Bank: Bendigo Bank; Account No: 188010037; BSB No: 633000; Include your surname in the reference section. For further information on our legacy projects or to make a donation please contact either Lee Tarlamis 0411553009 or Jim Claven 0409402388M

Sunday, 1 March 2015

Lemnos Hero - Bendigo's Nurse Mary McIlroy

Stephen Lee showing me Mary's wonderful WW1 photographic album.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a descedent of one of our Lemnos Nurses - Nurse Mary McIlroy.
Over lunch with Sandra and Stephen Lee we talked about the serivice of Stephen's great auntie, the sister of his paternal grandmother.
Mary's RVTNA Nursing Certificate.
Born in Bendigo and trained at Bendigo Gold District General Hospital, Mary sailed on the SS Mooltan with the other nurses of the 3rd Australian General Hospital. She served on Lemnos, then Egypt, Western France, England and then on the Italian Front. She was famously present at the wedding of fellow Nurse Clarice Daley and Sergeant Ernest Lawrence on Lemnos in 1915 - signing the wedding certificate.
Nurse Mary McIlroy, second left rear, at the Clarice Daley's wedding on Lemnos, 1915. AWM image.
While on service Mary took a number of photographs and wrote a series of postcards home which document her service and experiences in WW1. Viewing these fragile images at our meeting, I was moved by their survival and yet again more records of life on Lemnos in 1915.
These records are cherished by Stephen and his family and has shared them with me.
More to come on this unique story.
Thanks to Stephen and Sandra Lee.
Jim Claven
Secretary
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee

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