Service of war nurse Greta Towner to be recognised in Blackall

Greta Towner was one of 133 Australian nurses who served on the island, 80 kilometres from the Dardanelles, in a crude hospital made up of 60 canvas tents and 1200 beds.

They arrived at the beginning of winter, shortly after the disastrous August offensives at Gallipoli and the battles at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and The Nek, where Anzac soldiers had taken heavy casualties.

Lemnos was the landing point where all the injured from the campaign were sent for treatment and later transport, and on her arrival the young nurse, who had been working at the Rockhampton Children's Hospital prior to enlisting, saw 'ships by the hundred'.

The conditions on Lemnos Island are often quoted as being the worst of all the Australian hospitals in World War I and possibly any war since.

In the eyes of AG Butler, in the Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services, the conditions at Lemnos were 'more crude than any met with afterwards. The physical discomforts were great.'

Greta and her fellow nurses cared for patients in tents that collapsed in wintry conditions, had no running water or sewage systems, lacked medical supplies, and they were subject to chauvinism from male military officers.

They had to improvise, tearing up sheets for bandages, turning off lamps and sitting in the dark to conserve fuel, and propping up patients with rocks when bedding was not available.

There's already a bronze statue to Greta's brother, VC recipient Major Edgar Thomas Towner, unveiled in Blackall's Memorial Park in 2009, but the town is now preparing to honour their Anzac nurse's own courage and tenacity with the installation of a similar statue in her memory.

It's being created by Sunshine Coast sculptor Cam Crossley, who is depicting her as a woman of action in her working uniform.

"I'm calling it 'Walking with Greta' - I want her to appear strong but sensitive, in the thick of it," he said.

A maquette has been presented to the community for feedback, and Mr Crossley said it had been a 'blast' to take it to the local schools and hear the reaction of the younger students.

It depicts Greta with her head turned to the right, so that when the statue is installed, she'll be looking in the direction of her brother on his plinth.

Mr Crossley said there was very limited photographic material for him to work with and so he was using artistic licence to some extent.

"Her uniform has been preserved in Tambo and so I was able to take measurements - she had a 27 inch waist and was almost six feet high," he said. "Apparently the whole family was tall, and the statue will be lifesize."

The memorial was commissioned by the Blackall RSL sub-branch, and its president, Captain Terri-Ann Eden-Jones said statues do more than beautify parks.

A serving nurse in the ADF, Captain Eden-Jones said monuments like the one for Sister Greta Towner taught the next generation about the real Anzac stories, including the nurses.

"I appreciate that this statue came out of the research of school students, (which) gives me hope for the future of remembering in Blackall," she said.

Students from the Blackall State School, under the guidance of then-Head of Department Avril Fazel, produced a film in 2015 as part of the State Library of Queensland's Q-ANZAC 100 Project.

"Greta Towner's story is one of courage and tenacity," Ms Fazel said. "This statue will stand representative of the role women have and continue to play in the ADF."

The student film will be linked via a QR code on the statue, which will also link to a website with more about Sister Towner's story, making it accessible to all.

In the words of Cam Crossley, it won't be "just a mute metal object".

The young woman, who had been born at Glencoe Station, just outside Blackall, in 1891, was a nurse at the Rockhampton Children's Hospital when she enlisted in 1915 with the rank of staff nurse.

She embarked on RMS Orontes on July 31, 1915, beginning duty at the 1^st Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis, Cairo on September 11, 2015.

She arrived on Lemnos Island on September 17, 1915 and departed on January 24, 1916 on the transport ship, Demosthenes for Australia, most likely nursing repatriated Anzac soldiers.

She had only been on furlough in Brisbane for a fortnight when she was recalled for duty, embarking on the HMAT Kyarra A55 in June 1916, and then departing Sydney in November that year.

She arrived in London in January 1917 and was assigned to 2^nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Southall in England. The hospital specialised in amputations and the development of artificial limbs.

On February 24, 1917 Greta was detached from the hospital at Southall for a posting in France at the 8^th Australian Stationary Hospital at Rouen, arriving on March 2.

Her war record shows her being admitted to hospital with 'influenza' twice in 1918, promoted to sister in that year and taking a period of leave to the United Kingdom on September 8, resuming duties on September 24.

After her return home on January 15, 1919, Greta was officially discharged on July 4, in Australia.

Her service period was 3 years 11.5 months.

On her return to Blackall in 1919, Sister Towner decided to study pharmacy at the University of Sydney and later emigrated to the USA where she nursed in veterans' hospitals.

She married an American, Harry Maloney, and was buried with him in the USA.

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