ANZAC Girls

FACINATING HISTORY, BUT ALSO BEAUTIFUL AS PARTIALLY FICTIONALIZED DRAMA --- A CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT IN AUSTRALIAN TV -- (SDH SUBTITLES)BRIEF HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AT BOTTOM OF REVIEWStories of WWI nurses and their extraordinary contributions are rarely told, let alone those of the Australian New Zealand Army Corp (ANZAC). This extraordinary 6 part series gives an amazing perspective by following the ANZAC nurses as they begin in Cairo and off Turkey, later joining the Western Front in Rouen, France. It was inspired by the Peter Rees book  The Other Anzacs  and based on diaries, letters, historical documents. Here is a cheaper reprint coinciding with this release  Anzac Girls . All the main protagonists are real people. However,some relationships and timelines have been altered to bring these extraordinary women into one story. The general structure remains fairly faithful. In many cases the dialog is taken directly from their correspondence. The historical changes made shouldn't be judged too harshly. A strict documentary would note receive this kind of a profile (though I would love to see one). The filming is stunning and the character development is outstanding. This is one of my favorite shows made in conjunction with the WWI centennial. If you enjoy this type of program, you may also like a more fictional drama  The Crimson Field . This was a turning point in history, but also a turning point in the history of women.THE STORY AS IT RELATES TO THIS PRODUCTION (no spoilers): The story begins with a group of nurses, 4 Australian and 1 New Zealand, arriving in Cairo at the 1st Australian General Hospital (1st AGH) in preparation for the Gallipoli campaign. Central character Alice Ross-King is the youthful and wide eyed adventure seeker who feels she is ready for anything. She has fierce intelligence and self assurance, yet also beauty, romanticism, and vulnerability. All of these traits seem to attract a lot of male attention and it doesn't hurt that she knows how to flirt. Olive Haynes is a little less refined, but very gregarious and steadfast. Though she can seem all business at times, she is also the outlandish personality that boosts moral when things are worst. Elsie Sheppard is elegant, but always willing to roll her sleeves up. She has societal ties, but hides a secret that could jeopardize her standing as a nurse. Hilda Steele is the New Zealander and is more quiet, less self assured. However, her skill and intelligence will eventually pave a way for nurses to perform tasks once reserved for men. These four women and one matron Grace Wilson will make up the five primary characters in this tale. The nurses find immediately that the army holds them as a low priority. They are treated with ambivalence at times, and sometimes disdain. Male officers feel they should not be near front lines. They start together in the story, but quickly split for various assignments more accurate to their real history. The story of these extraordinary women is like a headline of exotic places and awful events during WWI. Cairo, Port Said, Alexandria, Isle of Lemnos supporting Gallipoli, and later Rouen France supporting battles like the Somme and Ypres. The hardships at Lemnos are extraordinary as they arrive and operate without even basic shelter at first. Then arriving in France and working at forward clearing stations, even combat situations find them as they suffer gas attacks and aerial bombardment. The main characters are fully certified nurses not V.A.D.s (Volunteer Aid Detachment). However, not only must the ANZAC nurses fight for respect from the army, they encounter a hostile environment from British nurses when they first arrive in France. All along the way they are proving themselves and even innovating procedures and time honored rules. Love will find some and loss will find others.OTHER THOUGHTS: WWI didn't just change upward mobility in the social classes, it changed the role of women in society as well. This beautiful drama is inspirational and also heartrending at times. It's great TV, but there was also tremendous effort placed in historical details. The actresses are each extraordinary in their own way as well. Anna McGahan as Olive Haynes has such a unique way of speaking, what a terrific character! Laura Brent as Sister Elsie Cook is so elegant appropriate to the social ties she represents, but has plenty of strength for the rougher duties. Georgia Flood as Alice Ross-King is most exceptional of all. They give her such an amazing "Gibson Girl" face and costume, but the strength, wonderment and charm just exude out of her. The character looked like she could have walked out of a Frank Benson painting. I don't know if Georgia was that well known in Australian TV/Cinema before, but she was brilliant here.HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Like British Army nurses, fully certified ANZAC nurses were also called Sister, wore nun like clothing, and were not allowed to be currently married. The accounts depicted in this drama were heavily drawn from diaries and correspondence of three of the nurses in particular. Alice Ross-King, Olive Haynes and Elsie Sheppard Cook. Elsie's diaries are in the Australian War Memorial Museum, Brisbane. Matron Grace Cook had already been a matron (Brisbane Hospital) prior to WWI as you may expect. She also was awarded the first Medal for Nursing Excellence in Australia. She was actually with 3 AGH traveling to France at the beginning of the war and was in England preparing to go forward when they re-routed the 3rd to Lemnos Island instead. She served in many high nursing leadership roles even into WWII. Alice Ross-King appears very youthful in this show. In real life, she did start nursing in Australia before she was old enough to take formal courses. She worked in many capacities, became certified, and even served as acting matron in a private hospital before WWI, so she also had leadership experience though young. The Alice-Harry relationship is also generally true.

Women have generally been given short shrift in history books.That's especially true when it comes to those books that chronicle warfare.I suppose that's not surprising since most histories are written by men and most of those authors have never seen combat.So it is that the stories of women like Nancy Wake - a highly decorated Special Operations Executive agent who once killed an SS soldier with a punch in the throat while on a mission - and Major Wanda Gertz, who received Poland's highest award for valor in recognition of her service fighting the Nazis in World War II, are all but unknown to the general public.Until recently, the brave Australian and New Zealand women who served as nurses during World War I were also relatively unknown. The brilliant mini-series "Anzac Girls" has thankfully changed that even if it did take a century for their story to come out. The series revolves round the true stories of five women who signed up when the war broke out. It is based on the exceptional book "The Other Anzacs" by Peter Rees and on the letters and diaries of the women themselves.It's important to note that these nurses did not serve far to the rear, away from the fighting. Some were, for example, stationed aboard a hospital ship that was torpedoed while anchored off Gallipoli during the ill-fated and ill-conceived effort by Australian and New Zealand troops to gain a foothold on Turkish soil. Others, meanwhile, weathered primitive conditions on the island of Lemnos not far from the fighting and later, after the disastrous Gallipoli campaign was abandoned, they were bombed and strafed while serving in France. If the threat of death was not enough, the nurses faced antagonism from the men who ran the military medical units they were assigned to and from British nurses, who looked down on them as "colonials." Despite that, in the best traditions of nursing, they soldiered on, doing their duty regardless. Some of them - including Sister Alice Ross-King - were among the few women who were decorated for bravery during the war while others, such as Sister Hilda Steele - pioneered new roles for women in medicine.This is not just a series that focuses only on the war itself, however. It is also a story of friendship, loyalty, and love; of women who risked not only their lives but also their hearts. As such, it gives a well-rounded picture of the lives these women led during the war as casualty figures reached truly horrific proportions, the likes of which had never before been seen.There are no weak links in the cast but I would single out Anna McGahan - as Sister Olive Haynes - and Caroline Craig - as Matron Grace Wilson - for their truly excellent work in the series. The cinematography of Geoffrey Hall is outstanding and the direction by both Ken Cameron and Ian Watson is top notch. Both directors give their actors room to work within a well-paced series.The verdict?You will truly enjoy watching this story of women at war. It is a series that I cannot recommend highly enough.

03/13/2020 I thought this was going to be a “chick flick”, how wrong I was. It’s a War Movie, with all the blood and guts. I will say it is suitable for mid-year teenagers and up.War, portrayed only as the Brits, Aussies & New Zealanders can do. Hollywood would be unable to produce a picture like this. As they would have the nurses dropping out of their scrubs and jumping in bed with someone they had met 15 minutes before.It exposes the underside of how life experiences shape who and what you are capable of being.A good family watch. Bring your tissues.

I first saw this as a library checkout and after I finished it I sat down and bought it. This literally opened up a new chapter in history to me, of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), the nurses who came from those shores to serve "their boys" near the front lines, and the woeful battles of Gallipol, the sea war-front, and Anzac Cove (renamed to Anzac because of those men who stormed the beaches). It is beautiful, flowing, emotional and powerful in following five women's accounts (based on the letters and diaries of five real life nurses) and their response to the Great War and bloodshed they would witness. This is a unique snapshot of Australia and New Zealand's service in the war and how they shone despite their devastating losses. A true winner for me with superb acting, locations, sets, script, and docu-drama appeal, offering a fresh perspective for WWI.

I really enjoyed this mini series. It tells the story - in a wider aspect - of the over looked contribution of women to the war effort, women often being airbrushed out of the official histories. More specifically this is a dramatisation of the stories of actual women who volunteered to serve with the ANZAC forces, one even winning an award for bravery when her hospital was attacked. This film should be watched by feminists, anyone with an interest in World War 1. I think it should be compulsory in schools!The only nit-pic I have (and it is a nit-pic!!!) is over the films portrayal of British officers being chinless wonders who didn't have a clue etc etc, but this tends to be typical with films from "down under"...

Brilliant film. Worth the cost. It was interesting to see how hard the Australian & New Zealand nurses worked. The British nurses were very rude & behaved as if they were better than the Anzac nurses. It was an eye opener to see how our nurses behaved so appalling towards colonial nurses as they called them. Hard hitting & surprisingly accurate this is one of the best war films based around nurses that I have ever seen. These nurses deserve more credit than they actually received. Well worth watching, highly recommend.

Bought this on impulse but then read reviews first before buying and i love true stories , wasnt sure what to expect but have to say it was great . My hubby watched 2 episodes wk with me and he really enjoyed it too it actually leaves you wanting another series was hooked . The Anzac nurses endured such dreadful living conditions but they also showed amazing courage skill and empathy towards the injured men with horrendous life changing wounds if they survived , they loved and lost and some luckily found happiness all in all fab series and recommend highly .

We both really enjoyed this series about a little known aspect of WW1. Well written, well acted and well told. I recommend to anyone either with or without an interest in military history.

So sad how the ANZAC Nurses were treated during WW1. Brilliant program a must to see historical encounter.