At the outbreak of World War I, 129 women were registered as medical practitioners in Australia, and many of them were eager to contribute their skills and expertise to the war effort. For the military establishment, however, the notion of women doctors serving on the battlefield was unthinkable. Undaunted, at least twenty-four Australian women doctors ignored official military policy and headed to the frontlines. This book explores the stories of the Australian women who served as surgeons, pathologists, anaesthetists and medical officers between 1914 and 1919. Despite saving hundreds of lives, their experiences are almost totally absent from official military records, both in Australia and Great Britain, and their achievements have remained invisible for over a century. Until now. Heather Sheard and Ruth Lee have compiled a fascinating and meticulously researched account of the Great War, seen through the eyes of these women and their essential work. From the Eastern to the Western Fronts, to Malta, and to London, we bear witness to the terrible conditions, the horrific injuries, the constant danger, and above all, the skill and courage displayed by this group of remarkable Australians. Women to the Front is a war story unlike any other.
About the Author: Heather Sheard was a Victorian secondary school teacher and Assistant Principal. After retiring she researched the history of Victoria's Maternal & Child Health Centres for a Master's degree at the University of Melbourne, published as All the Little Children: the story of Victoria's Baby Health Centres in 2007 and re-printed in 2017. Her PhD, also undertaken at Melbourne was a biography of Dr Vera Scantlebury Brown published in 2016 as A Heart Undivided: the Life of Dr Vera Scantlebury Brown, 1889-1946. Heather has written articles for the Conversation, Spirit of Progress, City of Kingston, and Chiron and chapters in Founders, Firsts and Feminists, Women Leaders in Twentieth Century Australia; Strength of Mind: 125 Years of Women in Medicine; and Women Doctors: Proving their Worth in Compassion and Courage: Doctors and Dentists at War. Ruth Lee has taught Australian history and academic writing at Deakin University, Geelong for 25 years; her major research interest has been documenting women's history. Researching the life of Dr Mary De Garis, she was awarded her PhD at Deakin University 2011 and went on to write the biography Woman War Doctor: The Life of Mary De Garis, which was commended by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria's Community History awards, Centenary of World War One category. She has contributed articles to the University of Melbourne's Medical History Museum exhibition catalogues and entries for The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia.