Identity disc and keepsake made from coins relating to A.A.N.S. nurse Eileen McNamara

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c. 1918

Overview

Identity disc and keepsake made from coins relating to Australian Army Nursing Service (A.A.N.S.) Staff Nurse Eileen McNamara.
The identity disc is made from a silver shilling which features the crowned, left-facing bust of King George V wearing coronation robes on the obverse. The reverse of the coin has been erased and then engraved with Eileen McNamara's details - name, service, force and religious denomination. 'E. McNamara; A.A.N.S.; A.I.F.; R.C.'
A loop is fixed to the top of the silver coin through which two loose metal rings are attached, one containing half of a smaller bronze coin, likely to be a British farthing. This is also engraved with Eileen's name and a date, '21.2.19'.

Historical information

(Honora) Eileen Lilian McNamara was born on 22 August 1889 in Grenfell, New South Wales, the tenth child of 14 born to Timothy McNamara and Hanora Mary Conlon.
She was a 28 year old trained nurse when she enlisted with the Australian Army Nursing Service on 6 September 1917. Her sister, Kathleen Muriel, enlisted 4 days later and they both embarked on board the T.S.S. Wyreema from Sydney on 14 October 1918 bound for Salonika. Due to the cessation of hostilities, the ship was recalled after arrival in South Africa, where it spent a couple of weeks before returning to Australia at the end of December.
By this time, cases of Spanish Influenza were increasing and a troopship (HMAT Boonah) which had recently arrived in Fremantle had hundreds of men on board who had contracted it.
When the Wyreema arrived in Fremantle not long afterwards, nursing volunteers were called for. Every one of the A.A.N.S. contingent aboard the Wyreema volunteered to look after the ailing men at the quarantine station at Woodman Point.
It is believed that Eileen was one of them. She was later awarded a 'Mentioned in Despatches'.

Two of Eileen's brothers, Leo and Ignatius, also served for Australia during World War One.

The date engraved on the half coin is 19 January 1919. The significance of this date is unknown but would coincide with time spent at the quarantine station. Perhaps the other half of the coin was given to a fellow nurse as a keepsake or love token.

A postcard featuring the ship, T.S.S. Wyreema, is also held in the collection.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00905

Item type

Coins

Collectibles

Engravings

Ephemera

Personal Effects

Themes

Social History