The Courage and Compassion of Australian Wartime Nurse Kathleen Hope Barnes

The Courage and Compassion of Australian Wartime Nurse Kathleen Hope Barnes

Today I  want to continue looking at some of the remarkable nurses who served during the Second World War. I want to tell you about Kathleen Hope Barnes.

Kathleen Hope Barnes was born on the 19th of May 1909 in Cottesloe in Western Australia. Her parents had emigrated from Scotland and Ireland, and her father ran a local shop. She went to  Methodist Ladies’ College in Claremont. Nursing was starting to be seen as  a profession and a public service.

When the Second World War started in 1939, Kathleen joined the Australian Army Nursing Service. In April 1940, she became part of the first group of Western Australian nurses who were sent overseas. She left from Fremantle on board Nevassa. For many of these brave women, it would have been the first time they had travelled so far from home.  

By October 1942, Kathleen was serving in Port Moresby in Papua during the New Guinea campaign. She worked with the 105th Casualty Clearing Station that cared for wounded soldiers in the harsh tropical conditions.  Disease and exhaustion were a huge part of everyday life. In March 1943 she was promoted to lieutenant, and just a few months later she became a captain.

In late 1944 and early 1945, Australian forces moved into Jacquinot Bay on the island of New Britain. Kathleen led some of the first Australian nurses to arrive there. Their arrival meant that injured troops could finally receive medical care closer to the front lines.

Her dedication did not go unnoticed. Kathleen was mentioned in dispatches for her wartime service and became an Associate of the Royal Red Cross. She was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

After the war, she continued nursing in Australia and helped to expand community healthcare services before her death in 1981 at the age of 72.