A DECORATED World War I nurse is buried at Springvale Botanical Cemetery.
The final resting place for Mrs Attiwill – known during the war as Sister Ethel Tracey Richardson – blends in with the sea of graves surrounding it.
The nurse from Toorak embarked with the 1st Australian General Hospital on HMAT Kyarra A55 in Melbourne on 5 December 1914.
Mrs Attiwill served in Heliopolis in Egypt before returning to Australia in July 1915 as matron in charge aboard the Kyarra, the first ship returning home with wounded soldiers.
She re-embarked from Melbourne in August and served at the No.1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Harefield, England, and Queen Mary’s Military Hospital in London before returning to Australia in April 1916.
She was appointed the first matron in chief at Melbourne’s Army Headquarters.
In July 1917 Mrs Attiwill was awarded the Royal Red Cross 1st Class in recognition of her wartime service.
She married Walter Edward Attiwill in 1921.
