Auckland Museum Home

Cenotaph

Search Results 
Need Help? click here to read the tips on searching.   click here to search other Collection Databases.  
Displaying 1 Record 
Printable Record
Record Detail
Full Name: Staff Nurse Mary Helen Rae
Rank Last Held: Staff Nurse
Forename(s): Mary Helen
Surname: Rae
War: World War I, 1914-1918
Serial No.: 22/161
Gender: Female
First Known Rank: Nurse
Next of Kin: Miss Robina Rae (sister), 35 Aldred Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Marital Status: Single
Enlistment Address: Christchurch, New Zealand
Military District: Canterbury
Body on Embarkation: Hospital Ship No. 1, "Maheno"
Embarkation Unit: New Zealand Army Nursing Service Corps
Embarkation Date: 10 July 1915
Transport: Hospital Ship. No. 1, 1st Voyage from NZ
Vessel: Maheno
Destination: Suez, Egypt
Page on Nominal Roll: 600
Last Unit Served: New Zealand Army Nursing Service
Place of Death: Salonika, Greece
Date of Death: 23 October 1915
Age at Death: 36
Year of Death: 1915
Cause of Death: Drowned
Memorial Name: Mikra Memorial, Greece
Biographical Notes:
  • Mary Rae was the sister of Miss Robina Rae, of 25 Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch. Born at Rae's Junction, Otago.
  • Mary Rae was one of the New Zealand nurses who died when the Marquette was torpedoed and sank in October 1915.
Description of Image: Portrait, Auckland Weekly News 1915
Further References:
Additional Information:
  • The Marquette was a British Merchant ship of 7,057 tons. It sank when a torpedo launched from a submarine hit it 36 miles south of Salonica Bay. Twenty nine crew and 182 troops were lost. Ten of those who died were New Zealand nurses who had been working at No.1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital in Port Said in October 1915 when they were ordered to prepare to go to Lemnos. The hospital was to be set up there to care for casualties being brought back from the Dardanelles.
  • The Transport Ship Marquette took on board officers and men of the New Zealand Medical Corps, 36 New Zealand Army Nursing Staff, 610 officers and med of 29th Divisional Ammunition Column , 541 mules and some ammunition in mid October sailed for Salonika. The French torpedo destroyer Tirailleur joined the convoy on 22 October which gave credence to the idea that there was a real danger of being attacked by German submarines in the Mediterranean. The torpedo destroyer left the convoy on 22 October and at 9.15 am on 23 October the Marquette was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side and began to list. Within about 15 minutes she had sunk.
  • Nurses lost their lives in the evacuation as lifeboats tipped over as they were lowered into the sea, some boats falling on others, with some being left on the ship and going down with her.
Sources Used: Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume I. Wellington: Govt. Printer, 1914-1919
 Click on an image for a larger view
Displaying 1 Record 
Printable Record