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Record Detail |
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| Full Name: |
Staff Nurse Mary Helen Rae |
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| Rank Last Held: |
Staff Nurse |
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| Forename(s): |
Mary Helen |
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| Surname: |
Rae |
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| War: |
World War I, 1914-1918 |
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| Serial No.: |
22/161 |
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| Gender: |
Female |
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| First Known Rank: |
Nurse |
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| Next of Kin: |
Miss Robina Rae (sister), 35 Aldred Street, Christchurch, New Zealand |
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| Marital Status: |
Single |
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| Enlistment Address: |
Christchurch, New Zealand |
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| Military District: |
Canterbury |
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| Body on Embarkation: |
Hospital Ship No. 1, "Maheno" |
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| Embarkation Unit: |
New Zealand Army Nursing Service Corps |
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| Embarkation Date: |
10 July 1915 |
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| Transport: |
Hospital Ship. No. 1, 1st Voyage from NZ |
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| Vessel: |
Maheno |
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| Destination: |
Suez, Egypt |
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| Page on Nominal Roll: |
600 |
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| Last Unit Served: |
New Zealand Army Nursing Service |
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| Place of Death: |
Salonika, Greece |
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| Date of Death: |
23 October 1915 |
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| Age at Death: |
36 |
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| Year of Death: |
1915 |
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| Cause of Death: |
Drowned |
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| Memorial Name: |
Mikra Memorial, Greece |
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| 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.
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| Description of Image: |
Portrait, Auckland Weekly News 1915 |
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| Further References: |
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| 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.
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| Sources Used: |
Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume I. Wellington: Govt. Printer, 1914-1919 |
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