Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Myrtle Eunice Carr was born on September 8th, 1888 in her hometown of Glenelg, South Australia. She was a natural born British Subject who faithfully followed the religious domination of the Church of England. Her entire life’s works hinted towards the profession of a nurse. Not only did Myrtle excel in her studies of medicine in school, but she also worked as a nurse and trained for the war at the Adelaide Hospital from 1914–1917 before enlisting. On the 18th of April 1917 in Keswick, South Australia, Myrtle enlisted for the war, although her intentions are still unknown. At the time of enlistment, she was 28 years old – approximately the average age of enlistment for nurses in World War 1. Only one week later, Myrtle Eunice Carr left Australia on the No. 1 Hospital Ship Karoola departing from Melbourne. This boat was manned by Australian staff under the control of the Commonwealth Government, and had plenty of room for passengers. Myrtle and the rest of the Australian Army Nursing Service dismounted the boat at Avonmouth, England on the 17th of June 1917, after almost 2 months of being onboard. This is when the war really begun for Myrtle.

After spending a half-month in England, Myrtle proceeded to travel overseas to France for duty with the Imperial Hospital on the 5th of July 1917. She was then posted for duty to the 25th Australian General Hospital, where Myrtle served for the majority of her time in the war. For an entire year, she served well, saving many lives and contributing immensely towards the Army in France. Myrtle was then appointed to duty for a Nurses’ Home in Abbeville, France (25th AGH) – this would have been a difficult adjustment for Myrtle, which brought out her traits of strength and adaptability, which were admirable in the army.  Unfortunately, she fell ill on the 3rd of January 1918, suffering from severe bronchitis. She was admitted to the 14th Australian General Hospital in Boulogne, France. Myrtle was frightened, and confused. Would she die from this disease? Would she ever serve again? She was recovering for more than two long weeks, receiving treatment from the 25th AGH – the same hospital she worked in. She wanted to go home, but she knew that she must never give up, and after building up incredible amounts of strength, Myrtle continued to do her duty. She returned to her unit once she had recovered from her unknown illness, seemingly even more energetic than before. She continued to enthusiastically contribute to the health of many wounded soldiers from battle injuries. The sheer resilience Myrtle contained was very overwhelming, which only helped her to do great things in her area of expertise. Not much is known about Myrtle’s movement or service past this point.

After the war had finished, Myrtle was more than ready to go home and resettle back in Adelaide. On the 28th of August 1919, she boarded the HS Kanowna, feeling uncertain of her future. Almost 2 months later, on the 20th of December 1919, Myrtle arrived back in Adelaide – just in time for Christmas. However, she didn’t feel like celebrating. She missed her friends, many of whom had died in service. She felt extremely grateful to have come out of World War 1 alive, but also very remorseful for those who had lost loved ones, which was an overwhelming number. Myrtle was finding it hard to adjust to home after 2 years of constant war and destruction, movement and devastation, and rightly so. Her first known residence in Adelaide was the Repatriation General Hospital, which was a new building when she moved in on the 1st of April 1921. Afterwards, she moved into the Royal British Nurses’ Home in Kent Town, South Australia, where she lived until her death. On the 19th of August 1922, Myrtle received a British War medal for her service towards the 4th military district. She also received a victory medal and the 1914-15 Star medal on the 9th of September 1922. These medals give physical evidence of Myrtle’s bravery and service.

Myrtle Eunice Carr died of natural causes on the 20th of February 1957, at the age of 67. She had no relatives of any kind to mourn her, however she was a friend of all – she still had the sorrow of many people. Her tombstone is located at the AIF cemetery at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.