KEEBLE, Gwyneth
| Service Number: | VX48618 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Australian Army Nursing Service WW2 (<1943) |
| Born: | Warragul, Victoria, Australia, 3 August 1910 |
| Home Town: | Warragul, Baw Baw, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Warragul High School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Nurse |
| Died: | Neerim South, 1 September 1990, aged 80 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Warragul Cemetery, Victoria, Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 23 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Captain, VX48618, 2nd/4th Australian General Hospital, On 30 Dec 1940 the 2nd 4th General Hospital unit was shipped to the Middle East on the “Mauretania” to Colombo (Ceylon), then on the troopship “HMT Nevasa” to Suez. They sailed up the Suez Canal to El Kantara (Egypt) then went across Sweet Water Canal and along the road to Cairo. They stayed at Hotel of Heliopolis (City of the Sun) near the pyramids. They were then shipped to Tobruk with the return trip to El Kantor on a hospital ship, landing at Haifa before landing back at El Kantara. The unit was then sent back to Ceylon - it was the first time that women had ever been asked to work so hard in the tropics and it was thought they would not be able to stand the conditions. They did and survived. On their return trip to Australia they had to sail via the South Pole. They were in convoy and had to zig-zag to avoid submarines, air bombing and mines. | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Jul 1940: | Enlisted VX48618, Australian Army Nursing Service WW2 (<1943) | |
| 12 Feb 1946: | Discharged VX48618, Australian Army Nursing Service WW2 (<1943) | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement VX48618, 2nd/4th Australian General Hospital |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ros Harding
Gwyn’s Education:
Bona Vista Primary School: 1916 -1922
Warragul High School: 1923 - 1927
West Gippsland Hospital: Trainee nurse 1928 - 1932
Employment:
After graduating she went to a property at Trundle, Parkes, NSW to nurse a patient with scarlet fever.
Nursed at Wollongong N.S.W
Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, Melbourne. 1936
A 9 months midwifery course to extend her qualifications.
Nursed at Ballarat Midwifery then a private hospital at Rose Bay, Sydney.
War Service:
Captain Gwyneth Keeble. VX48618
23.07.1940 enlisted for World War Two Service.
Trained at Puckapunyal, Victoria.
Unit: 2nd 4th Australian General Hospital, served overseas.
Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital.
Sydney - Redbank Repatriation Hospital.
Date of Discharge: 12-2-1946
Further Training:
Specialized in Infant Welfare.
Infant Welfare Sister at Leeds, England, and nursing at Edinburgh General Hospital.
1950: Infant Welfare Sister for the Narracan Shire, visiting four centres each week - Thorpdale, Walhalla, Moe, and Newborough: she worked these centre for nine months seeing up to 70 babies in a morning sometimes.
1951: Obtained position at the Warragul Infant Welfare Centre and held that position for 25 years.
1975: Retired.
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