CAMAC, Alice Jane
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Unit: | 1st Australian Convalescent Depot |
| Born: | Bonney Flat, South Australia, 15 May 1919 |
| Home Town: | Balhannah, Adelaide Hills, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Nurse |
| Died: | Aldersgate Residential Aged Care, Felixstow, South Australia, 22 July 1968, aged 49 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Bonney Flat Methodist Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Balhannah Old Scholars Roll of Honor, Balhannah Soldiers' Memorial Honor Roll, Keswick South Australian Army Nurses Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Jul 1915: | Involvement 1st Australian Convalescent Depot, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Jul 1915: | Embarked 1st Australian Convalescent Depot, HMAT Orsova, Melbourne |
Alice Camac
Name: Alice Camac
Service Number: Nurse
Place of Birth: Bonney’s Flat / Balhannah
Date of Birth: 15 May 1876
Place of Enlistment: Adelaide
Date of Enlistment: 6 June 1915
Age at Enlistment: 39 years
Next of Kin: Not available
Occupation: Nurse
Religion: Methodist
Rank: Nurse
Alice Camac completed 3 years of nursing training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1903. Her first position was with Dr Gray in Nairne. She spent 2 years at the Royal Adelaide Hospital as a Sister and eighteen months as Matron. Alice was the first night charge sister appointed at the RAH. Leaving Adelaide on the 19th December 1908, she sailed on the SS Easter from Sydney to Darwin to take up the position of Relieving Matron at the Palmerston Hospital.
Alice enlisted in June 1915 and on July 17 left Melbourne for England on HMAS Orsova. Most of 1915 and 1916 were spent serving in hospitals at Wandsworth, Denmark Hill and Harefield in England.
France was Alice’s next posting, arriving on the 14th August 1917. She spent more than a year there serving at the front with 47 and 19 Casualty Clearing Stations. Her skills in resetting broken bones made her invaluable at the front. Alice was evacuated to England due to nephritis and a nervous disorder, due to depression caused by direct exposure to frontline action in France, according to Alice’s niece Gwen Miller.
She returned to Australia on board the Leicestershire, leaving England on the 9th December 1918.
After the war Alice served as matron at hospitals in South Australia and New South Wales over several years. Upon settling back in Balhannah she worked as a midwife and bush nurse in the Onkaparinga district. She was actively involved in the Methodist Church at Balhannah and was chosen to lay the foundation stone for the Sunday School building. Alice looked after her parents until they passed away. In her later years she moved into Aldersgate Old Folks Home. Alice Jane Camac died in1968 aged 92 and was buried at Bonney’s Flat Cemetery.
• Information courtesy of Gwen Miller, Balhannah.
Submitted 2 October 2023 by christopher collins
Biography contributed by Stephen Miller
Alice Jane Camac was born on 15 May 1876 at Bonney Flat, South Australia. She completed training as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1903 and was appointed Matron after two years. In 2008, she travelled to Darwin and worked as the Matron at Palmerston Hospital.
On 6 June 1915, at the age of 39 years, she enlisted as an army nurse and embarked at Melbourne for England on the HMAT Orsova on 17 July 1915. She worked in English hospitals for almost two years, then left for France on 11 August 1917 and spent more than a year there. Sister Alice Camac was one of the few women sent to the front lines, chosen because of her skill in resetting broken bones and coping well under duress. In October 1918, she was evacuated to England because of ill-health and was back home in Adelaide early in 1919.
She served as Marton in South Australia and New South Wales hospitals for several years. When she settled back in Balhannah, she was a midwife and visiting nurse in the Onkaparinga district for many years. She looked after her parents until their deaths, then lived with Mary Kerr until she died. Alice then moved into the Aldersgate Aged Care Facility. Alice died on 22 July 1968, aged 92 years, and was buried at Bonney Flat Cemetery.
Click images to start slideshow.